Hayden nodded. “Yesterday I would have said ‘you’re right’. But then… this.” She hung her head and flicked a controller at the TV screen, saying no more.
Drake watched a news report from the Fox channel, the coverage restricted to events that had transpired in a small, secluded town in mid-America. In one afternoon, 90 percent of the admittedly small population had been poisoned. Men, women, children. All attending some kind of celebration, all dead within minutes of ingesting a deadly liquid.
When it ended, Drake turned to Hayden. “It’s horrifying, but I can’t see how it relates to our secret organization trying to rule the world. Was one of the dead a Pythian? Did they find something in his house?”
Hayden shook her head. “No. The Pythians claimed responsibility for the killings.”
Drake was speechless. One look around the room told him the rest of the team shared similar feelings of disbelief.
“To what end?” Dahl asked. “What could they possibly gain from such slaughter?”
“Notoriety,” Hayden said quietly. “A deadly status. Their intentions and the depths they will sink to have been clearly defined. We don’t know if they’re home-grown or foreign but they’re now on everyone’s radar. Following this and threats in many countries, the Pythians have quickly become world enemy number one.”
“And they already have an army,” Drake recalled. “Christ, if this is their opening performance what’s their first act gonna be like?”
Hayden nodded. “And, it bears the question, their last?”
“Women.” Dahl stared at the TV screen. “Children. We will destroy them all for this. And anyone that has even a dirty fingernail in their organization.”
Drake found his voice again. “We will.”
Hayden turned the TV off and drank from a bottle of water. “The Pythians are a global threat,” she said. “We just don’t know their extent or true numbers. To that end, Drake, I’d like you to enlist Alicia and her new team in our efforts.”
Drake felt a surge of pleasure, but didn’t let it show. “Alicia and Crouch and their team just found a horde of Aztec Gold after destroying half of Vegas and Africa. I’m not sure they’ll be ready for something like this.”
“Something like this?” Hayden echoed. “Alicia is always ready for anything, and the sheer size of it means they have to be ready. Perhaps they won’t be called upon, but contact Crouch, Drake. And Alicia. Put them on standby. It has to be said — they would want you to.”
“Damn good point,” Smyth rasped. “I sure wouldn’t wanna get on Myles’ bad side.”
Drake and Mai shared a look. “It’s a nasty place to be,” he admitted and Mai grunted her affirmation. “I’ll make the call.”
“One more thing before we start,” Hayden said, her blond locks bobbing vigorously as she felt a galvanizing sense of purpose swamp her system. “Not necessarily related but worth a recap. Whilst I’ve been convalescing and most everyone else was playing their little tournament with Coyote, something Jonathan said kept creeping back to me. Something I think may be important.”
At the mention of the old Secretary of Defense — their murdered friend and benefactor’s name, the team sobered, Drake in particular. It was hard enough to find a true friend in this world, let alone a trustworthy official, but Jonathan Gates had proved to be both. No doubt Jonathan had harbored his secret demons, but who didn’t? The poor man’s wife had been killed by the Blood King, early on in Drake’s SPEAR campaign, and then the man himself had been gunned down by Kovalenko’s men as he started to accept somebody new. Some had even whispered about a possible presidential campaign.
“What was it?” Kinimaka broke Drake’s reverie.
“Remember General Bill Stone? The man that stood against us during the whole tomb of the gods saga? He wanted the tombs for the US alone, or perhaps for himself, and actually won the support of the White House.”
“I remember,” Dahl said quietly.
“Well, luckily he didn’t get to fulfil his plan, but something about him raised Jonathan’s antennae. Jonathan said ‘Bill Stone is into something, something deep’. An ulterior plan. He requested that Lauren Fox find out what it was, then changed his mind in the interests of… decency, I guess. Stone is the worst kind of leader.” She shook her head. “One that believes people are his playthings and are beholden to him. The world is his gaming board.”
“He’s not the only one out there,” Mai said.
“Agreed. But he’s the only one on our radar, for now. There’s one more thing. Jonathan told Lauren something in confidence, something she imparted to Mano only after Jonathan’s death. He found out that the government actually said no to Stone’s request.”
Now even Smyth’s face fell, the permanent frown replaced with shock. “But that means—”
“Yes. That Stone ignored the White House and went into those tombs without their knowledge. On his own, and with hired men. Why did he still want to go ahead at such huge risk?”
Kinimaka spoke up. “Whilst you guys were messing about in the UK, Smyth and I undertook a mission of our own.”
Drake gave the man a half smile. “Messing about in the UK?”
“Wandering the Dales. Visiting the funfair. Destroying hotels. Whatever. Our old HQ was raided by a team we believe worked for the Pythians. One of their men told us they wanted to grab everything on Jonathan’s computer that related to General Stone. Everything.”
Now Drake did a double take. “The Pythians? What could they possibly want with General Stone?”
“That’s the question,” Hayden said. “And one of the few leads we have on the group, despite Mano’s heavy-handedness.”
Kinimaka grunted, embarrassed. Even as an adult he retained the clumsiness of a three-year-old.
Smyth rose to his defense. “We did what we had to do. Under fire, we extracted information, what more do you want?”
“More information,” Hayden said. “If you get the chance again I want these people brought in to be interrogated properly. This global threat could be the worse we have ever faced and we’re humiliatingly short of information.”
“To be fair,” Drake added gently, “that’s mainly because they haven’t engaged in any kind of real action yet. We have nothing to follow.”
Hayden opened her mouth to reply but the door to their office opened and Lauren Fox walked in. All eyes turned to her.
She gave them a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “For better or worse,” she said, “we have a plan.”
CHAPTER THREE
Lauren Fox stood before the SPEAR team, unwilling to call herself a fully fledged member and wondering just what the hell she was doing there. Before the man had attacked her in New York, before she became unintentionally linked to a North Korean terrorist plot, before she met Jonathan Gates, she had been a successful two-thousand-dollar-an-hour escort with no more hang-ups than your standard call girl. Back then she had lived next door to a retired hooker who took it upon herself to offer unending sage advice. She was sharp, streetwise, quick-witted and headstrong. She found it hard to apologize. Growing up in a string of grueling foster homes would do that to you.
What the hell am I doing here? she thought again.
But the answer had already passed through her thoughts.
Jonathan Gates, she thought. I’m here for Jonathan. The Secretary had shown her kindness when it might have harmed his standing; had helped her and counted on her when circumstances proved that he should not. He’d even offered her a way out — of sorts. Or at least a safer way.