The Reaper (The Phoenix Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “Oh?” Hawk said as he drew back. “Got some baggage with him?”

  “A covered wagon full of it. Tried to find out what he was running from last night, but it was like talking to a boulder.”

  Hawk shrugged. “If you want to be left alone, this is the perfect job?”

  “False,” Walton said. “If you want to be left alone, become a fire lookout in a national wilderness area. No one will bother you, much less see you for three months. So, if Taylor’s runnin’, he ain’t runnin’ as hard as he could.”

  “Maybe he wants to be found?”

  Walton narrowed his eyes. “I know we just met, but you sure seem interested in him. Are you the one he’s runnin’ from?”

  Hawk shook his head. “The only person I chase these days is under four feet tall and falls asleep when I read to him.”

  “Then you’re ready to be a cattleman,” Walton said with a chuckle. “Come with me.”

  Walton took Hawk to the front of the herd before drifting back and to the side. They shepherded the cows until they came to a meadow late in the afternoon. Walton pulled out a map and decided to camp near the river for the night. According to his estimates, they had a hard week ahead of them.

  Throughout the course of the day, Hawk managed to strike up conversations with everyone—except for Taylor. While Hawk watched the man closely, Taylor never gave any indication that he was interested in talking. But undeterred, Hawk settled down next to Taylor to eat dinner.

  Hawk sopped up the juice from his baked beans with a piece of bread and glanced over at the special ops soldier. Taylor wasn’t active duty, but he wasn’t a former soldier either. To endure the type of training and go through all the battle he did, the wealth of knowledge gleaned from those experiences wouldn’t dull Taylor’s skills, no matter how long it had been.

  “Did you meet the old man?” Taylor asked.

  Hawk nodded. “Reminds me of a school teacher who suspects you’re up to no good. Relentless questions and endless prodding.”

  “And zero evidence,” Young said, pointing his index finger at Hawk and then winking. “That’s the worst part. They never stop.”

  In an instant, Hawk discovered that Taylor wasn’t as standoffish as Walton deemed him to be.

  “This your first time out here on the range?” Taylor asked.

  Hawk nodded. “What gave it away?”

  “The hat,” Taylor said, nodding toward Hawk’s wide-brimmed hat. “If it hadn’t been for that, I would’ve thought you were an old pro.”

  Hawk laughed. His plan to initially present himself as a newbie instead of a special ops agent started perfectly. “How ‘bout you? How long have you been doing this?”

  “Off and on, maybe five or six years,” Taylor said.

  “What’d you do before this?” Hawk asked.

  Taylor stared out across the range. “A little bit of everything. I spent some time in the military, government jobs, private security—that kind of thing.”

  “What about you? What brings you out on the range?”

  “Sometimes you need a break, you know?”

  Taylor nodded.

  Hawk looked down and bit his lip before continuing. “And I saw that Billy Crystal movie. You know the one, uh, City Slickers. So, that kind of inspired me to do this.”

  Taylor chuckled. “Inspiration can come in all shapes and sizes.”

  “So, what do you like so much about being out here?” Hawk asked.

  “Same as what brought you out here,” Taylor said. “I needed a break. And I stay for the peace and quiet.”

  “Well, maybe you can show me the ropes,” Hawk said.

  “I’d be happy too, Mitch.”

  “Mitch? No, it’s—” Hawk said before catching Taylor’s City Slickers’ reference.

  “Boy, I crap bigger than you,” Taylor said with a wink.

  “All right, Curly. Let’s go.”

  Later that evening, the team was seated around the campfire when Walton shushed everyone and held his hand in the air. The shadows flickered across his open palm as he looked toward the hills.

  “Did everyone hear that?” he asked.

  Nobody said a word.

  “There’s a wolf pack nearby,” Walton said. “We need to be ready.”

  The men scrambled to their feet and grabbed their weapons. Most men had a rifle with their packs as well as a handgun on their belts. Walton directed the men to fan out around the cows to intimidate any potential attacks on the herd.

  After a few minutes, Hawk took up a position behind a boulder as one of the howls signaled that the pack was drawing closer. Then everything fell deathly silent. The crickets stopped chirping. The owls stopped hooting.

  Hawk froze when he heard a growl. He turned around to find a wolf barreling toward him. As the animal leaped into the air toward Hawk, he fired two shots, knocking the wolf down with the first one and killing it with the second. It didn’t even flinch by the time it skidded to a stop a few meters away from him.

  In the distance, subsequent yelps appeared to be heading away from the camp, not toward it.

  Hawk sank to the ground and leaned against the rock, his heart still pounding.

  Taylor hustled over to Hawk and looked at him and then at the dead wolf. “That was incredible. I was tracking that wolf, but I didn’t realize it had gotten so close to you. You made that shot look easy, and I know better than that. I’m not sure I could’ve made it.”

  Hawk shrugged. “The human body is capable of doing extraordinary things when in survival mode.”

  “That wasn’t a survival shot. That was the shot of someone who knows what he’s doing. Now, what did you say you did again?”

  “I didn’t,” Hawk said. “But I do a fair amount of target shooting.”

  “I’m not sure I know anyone who can shoot that well.”

  “I guess you do now.”

  “Let’s go tell the others. Maybe we’ll be able to get some sleep tonight.”

  As the two men walked back, Hawk wondered if his precise shooting exposed his past. If anything, it created some admiration from Taylor. And that was all Hawk hoped it stirred up in the asset he was directed to extract. Anything more could be dangerous.

  When they returned to the campfire, Taylor bragged on Hawk, who played it off.

  Hawk wasn’t interested in sticking around to hear Taylor embellish what had just happened and instead went to bed.

  Hawk stoked the fire, drawing criticism from one of the men.

  “I’m cold,” Hawk explained. But that wasn’t the truth. If anyone was following them, they’d have to use an infrared scope, which would be rendered useless with a fire roaring nearby.

  Once Hawk was finished piling another log onto the blaze, he situated his pillow and laid down. He looked up on the ridge and strained to see any movement.

  There was a man silhouetted against the moon’s pale light.

  It’s gonna be a long night.

  CHAPTER 28

  Santa Monica, California

  BIG EARV SHIFTED in his chair in the surveillance van a block away from the Santa Monica pier. He and Mia had spent the previous two days baiting the Magnum Group mole. The plan was simple in its scope and execution, yet setting the hook was the hard part.

  Mia pulled down on the sides of her wig and checked for any wisps of brown hair leaking from beneath her bald cap.

  “How do I look?” she asked Big Earv.

  He grunted. “In relation to what? A toad? Miss America?”

  She put on her sunglasses. “You have a strange way of flirting.”

  “I’m not flirting.”

  “Whatever you say, Big Earv. I know you sent me that text last night.”

  He drew back and scowled. “Text? What are you talking about?”

  “American men think they are so clever.”

  “And German women don’t shave their legs.”

  Mia ran her hand down her long legs. “I would let you touch these to refute your st
atement, but I see right through your ploy.”

  Big Earv chuckled and dismissively waved at her. “You’re a trip, Mia. By the way, I happen to have a girlfriend. And we’re quite happy together.”

  “Mmm, hmm. Does she know what you do?”

  “I’m a security guard at Paramount Studios.”

  “I guess that’s believable.”

  “Now, can we get back to prepping for this op?” Big Earv asked. “I want to put this issue to bed by busting this mole.”

  “Then answer my question,” she said. “How do I look?”

  “Perfect,” he said, meaning it in every sense of the word.

  She smiled and then slid open the van door. After winking at him, she climbed out onto the sidewalk. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck,” Big Earv said before she slammed the door and walked off.

  Big Earv followed her movements through a broach she had affixed to her navy blue blouse. A pair of tennis shoes accented her knee-length khaki skirt. With a pair of sunglasses parked atop her curly blonde wig, she headed toward the pier and remained in communication with Big Earv through their coms.

  Tasked with outing the mole, Big Earv came up with a plan to leak some not-so-sensitive information on their server, yet classifying it as such. Mia made it easy to find for anyone searching for secrets. It’d appear as an oversight, a lapse in judgment while uploading intel to the agency’s computer servers. But in reality, it was all by design.

  For the past month, the Magnum Group had been under siege from within—and Big Earv was intent on squashing it. Having a known mole within their ranks made it difficult for the agency to acquire and pass sensitive information. The slow process of eliminating each potential culprit drove him to the edge of sanity, forcing him to work twice as hard as before.

  “Scan the area,” Big Earv said.

  “I still am unclear why I’m not the one sitting in the van right now while you’re out here,” she said.

  “I told you already that it’s difficult to be a large black man pretty much anywhere in the world without attracting a lot of attention,” he said. “When I go to a restaurant, everyone wonders if I play football or basketball. And a few brave souls will ask as much.”

  “And the rest?”

  “They just put their heads down and shoot quick glances at me. But deep down everyone is thinking the same thing—is that person a famous athlete?”

  “You should get a shirt that announces what a nobody you are,” Mia said.

  “If only it were that easy,” he said. “But the truth is, I stand out like a man holding his severed arm.”

  “That’s a gruesome image,” she said.

  “But effective. You’ll probably never forget that now. You’ll close your eyes tonight as you lay your head on the pillow and see Mr. Severed Arm man, escorting you into your dreams.”

  “Just cut it out,” she said. “I need to stay focused.”

  “Ok, right. According to the text, we’re supposed to be looking for a man in a red polo shirt.”

  “I think I see him,” she said.

  Big Earv squinted as he stared at the monitor transmitting back images from her body cam. “Are you sure about that? He looks a little funny.”

  “He’s got his back turned to me, but I’m pretty sure that’s him,” she said. “He’s even got a small leather briefcase, just like he said he would.”

  “Just approach with caution,” Big Earv said. “There’s something strange about the way he’s sitting.”

  As Mia drew closer, Big Earv watched with great anticipation. Finally seeing the face of the man who’d been stealing secrets from the Magnum Group would give Big Earv a sense of relief as well as confidence with future missions. Knowing that everything they did would be done confidentially gave Big Earv hope that they might actually be able to make some progress with several operations that had been tabled by Morgan.

  Big Earv drew closer to the monitor as he noticed something a little off about how the man was moving. “Mia, can you see his face?”

  “Not yet,” she said.

  “Stay right there,” he said. “There’s something off about that guy.”

  “Looks fine to me,” Mia said.

  “No, he’s not,” Big Earv said. “Do you have that scanner that Dr. Z gave you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Use it now before you take another step.”

  Big Earv watched her pull the device out of her pocket and turn it on. She gasped.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s registering that there are explosives on him.”

  “Get everybody off the deck,” Big Earv said.

  Mia wasted no time. She scrambled onto the pier railing and started shouting.

  “Everyone clear the area,” she said. “Official police business.”

  Big Earv saw the man in the collared shirt move his head robotically. “Get out of there now.”

  Mia turned back toward the man before its head turned straight toward her. “It’s not human. The whole thing is a bomb.”

  “Dive into the water.”

  Big Earv continued to watch the scene unfold. Mia turned and glanced down at the water, the choppy waves interrupted only by the waves rolling ashore. She turned and dove. As she did, a flash of light was followed by a chest-rattling explosion.

  The feed on her body cam went out.

  Big Earv knew who the mole was, but that was the least of his concerns.

  He sprinted toward the pier.

  “Mia! Mia!”

  CHAPTER 29

  Open range

  Montana

  HAWK WOKE UP BEFORE sunrise and used a pair of infrared binoculars to scan the ridge. Waking up every hour to keep the fire going had worn him out, but he needed to remain vigilant just in case danger arose. He noticed some heat signatures near a boulder. One appeared to be that of a man, but Hawk wasn’t sure about the other one.

  Maybe it’s the assassin and his horse.

  Either way, he knew they needed to break camp quickly before whoever was up there figured out which one Taylor was and picked him off.

  After dropping another log on the fire, Hawk rushed over to Taylor and gently shook him. “We need to go,” Hawk whispered as he knelt next him.

  Taylor groaned and squinted as he rolled onto his back in his sleeping bag. “Wha—what’s going on?”

  “You need to come with me,” Hawk said. “Your life is in danger.”

  Taylor bolted upright and glared at Hawk. “You led them to me, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I always knew they’d come for me. I just never thought someone would lead them to me. Just who are you anyway?”

  Hawk sighed. “Look, can we talk about this on the way?”

  “The way to where?” Taylor asked, his voice rising to a normal level.

  Cam Walton grunted. “What the hell is going on over there? So help me, if I have to get up and smack you to pipsqueaks to get you to stop talking, you’re gonna wish you were never born.”

  After Walton stopped his tirade, he turned over. Another man moaned and told everyone to shut up.

  “If we keep this up, we’ll have to explain this madness—and no one here will believe us,” Hawk said. “And both of us, plus the rest of this crew, will all be dead by the evening if we don’t make a break for it.”

  Taylor set his jaw and returned his voice to a whisper, speaking deliberately. “Where do you want to take me?”

  “To FBI offices in Seattle,” Hawk said. “You need to talk to some people about what you were involved with. I happen to know that you’re a target, as evidenced by what’s about to go down.”

  “And what is about to go down?” Taylor said.

  “You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but you’ll be making a grave mistake.”

  “The last people I trust on this planet work in the government, so if you want me to talk with some feds, I’d rat
her stay here and take my chances.”

  Hawk sighed. “If you’re with me, you have a chance—and so will these people. You may or may not survive, but you’ll be signing death warrants for everyone here. And based on what I know about you, I don’t think that’s the kind of man that you are.”

  “You haven’t told me anything new,” Taylor said. “I’ve known I had a target on my back for quite a while now. Why do you think I’m out here? You think City Slickers really inspired me?”

  “Look, I understand how you feel and where you’re coming from, but there’s more than just your life at stake here,” Hawk said.

  “Oh really?”

  Hawk nodded. “You’re tied to a plot and we’re still trying to sort it out, but some of the best and the brightest in federal agencies are dying. And you’re connected to it all.”

  “Listen to yourself,” Taylor said. “If someone told you this out of the blue after you were being hunted, would you believe them?”

  “I’d at least give them a chance to explain.”

  “And then what?” Taylor asked. “You’d just follow them blindly? I’ll save the trouble of answering. No, you wouldn’t go anywhere with them. Now, if you are that scared that some boogeyman up in the hills over there is going to pick off everyone on this cattle drive, please leave. But I’m gonna grab a few more minutes of sleep before the sun crests that ridge and these cows are rarin’ to go.”

  Taylor laid down, pulled the sleeping bag taut, and turned his back to Hawk.

  Then there was a click that made Taylor turn over as he asked. “Really? You’re gonna shoot—?”

  He stopped and looked at the barrel trained on his forehead.

  “Get your ass outta here,” Walton said. “I heard the whole conversation. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna die because you’re some modern-day Jonah, trying to run away from your problems. Consider this me throwing your ass out of the boat.”

  Taylor shook his head and grunted. He locked eyes with Walton before snatching the weapon from his hand. After emptying all the bullets, Taylor handed the gun back to Walton.

  “If you were serious about killing me, you should’ve pulled the trigger,” Taylor said.