A few seconds passed and there was no answer.
“Kyle? Xander? Don’t play games with me, gentlemen.”
She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Kyle’s smooth voice emanate from the speaker.
“We’re both here,” Kyle said. “In fact, I’m looking at Xander right now.”
“How come he can’t answer me himself?” she asked as she heated up a kettle to make some tea.
Kyle chuckled. “He’s taking a leak.”
She giggled and shook her head. “When I check in and ask for a status update, whether your bladder is full or not or even in the process of being drained isn’t something I care to know.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Kyle said. “Just trying to remain open and transparent for everyone.”
“It’s just a bit much,” she said.
“Roger that.”
“I’m going to bed,” she said. “You two have a nice night.”
Alex took the kettle off the burner as it started to whistle and poured the water into a mug. She dunked the tea bag inside and turned off the burner. After shuttering all the blinds around the house, she shuffled back to her room.
She grabbed a book to read and then eased into her bed, covering herself with satin sheets. Hawk hated sleeping on them, complaining about how he slipped around all night and one time slid completely off the side. But she loved the sheets. And with him gone, she pulled them out again.
She lit a candle and started reading a book in her favorite Clive Cussler series. She sped through the pages, the tension losing some of its bite for someone who’d been through far more hair-raising adventures than Dirk Pitt. However, she was thankful that she wasn’t stuck in the cold like Dirk, mushing across the Arctic.
She stopped and glanced at the gas fireplace in the corner of the room. A faint smile spread across her face as the flames danced behind the glass. Everything was as it should be—except for Hawk. She needed him propped up in the bed next to her while he thumbed through a gun magazine.
A half-hour passed and she started to get sleepy. She finished the rest of her tea before returning the mug to the kitchen sink.
As she did, she heard a creak in the floorboard and darted down the hall to look for John Daniel.
“John Daniel?” she called out in a hushed tone. “John Daniel?”
She was almost at his door and then just went all the way in and peeked in on him.
“Are you awake?” she asked.
“I had to pee-pee, Mommy,” he said.
“That’s fine, sweetie. You go back to sleep now.”
“Okay.”
She closed the door, upset at herself for feeling the urge to peek inside. That brief conversation could’ve awakened him enough that it would be hours before he would go back to sleep. In five more minutes, she expected to hear more pitter-patters coming down the hallway toward her room.
Alex checked all the doors one final time before heading off to bed. Just as she was about to close the door, she heard the floorboard creak again. She sighed, exasperated that she’d disturbed him so, unsure if she’d get any sleep herself. Not that it’d matter since she hadn’t slept well since Hawk left.
She ventured into the hall and made a straight line for John Daniel’s room. When she got there, she whispered to him.
“John Daniel, were you in the hall just now?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t even stir.
Alex growled as she marched to the kitchen to check in on Kyle and Xander. Using the small device placed on the corner of the counter, she made the outdoor cameras scan around the property where the two guards were supposed to be.
“Kyle? Xander?”
No response. And in the darkness, she couldn’t see either of them. She fiddled with the camera for a moment until she switched the image to night mode. A grainy black and white picture appeared. The only things moving were branches swaying with the wind.
“Kyle? Xander? Are either of you there? I hope you’re both not taking a leak this time.”
She waited a little bit longer, but still nothing.
Her heart began to pound in her chest when she heard another creak, this time coming from the direction of the living room.
CHAPTER 34
Sonbong, North Korea
HAWK PASSED THE TIME by redressing his wounds. With everything that was at stake, he functioned on adrenaline, almost oblivious to the pain. But now he could feel every little inch of pain spreading throughout his shoulder. He cleaned the blood around the edge of the entry point and used a phone to take a picture of the back of his shoulder.
Hawk studied the image before pondering what had happened earlier with the ambush. The Reaper had an American flag tattoo that spanned his entire back and another one with the first few lines of the Constitution on his right bicep. If he wasn’t a dyed-in-the-wool American, he was definitely an American dipped in red, white, and blue ink.
A foolish man would’ve thought he was lucky, but Hawk knew better. If the Reaper had wanted to kill Hawk, he’d be dead. But he was alive. Why was the question haunting Hawk. Was their brief relationship while serving with the SEALs enough to avoid a kill shot? But then why did the Reaper’s team kill everyone else?
However, even more perplexing to Hawk was why the Reaper was even there? Who told him? And why would they want to stop North Korea from obtaining a nuclear weapon?
Hawk’s mind was spinning, trying to conceive a hypothesis for everything. The diversion was a welcome one, anything to keep him from worrying about Alex.
With the sun rising higher on the horizon, Hawk gathered his pack and scurried deeper into the woods. He maintained visual with the water but also found a spot where he could remain out of plain view in case any patrols revisited the area.
Hawk picked up a cell phone and dialed Alex’s number again. Still no answer. He checked his watch and realized how late it was. If he woke her, he’d feel guilty, but he was desperate to hear that she and John Daniel were still safe. But it didn’t matter. He told himself that they were both probably sleeping soundly and not to be concerned about it.
Hawk was lost in thought when he heard a voice that startled him. He turned slowly and looked behind him but didn’t see anyone.
“Hawk, it’s me,” a man said.
Hawk peered through the woods, trying to locate the figure.
“Over here,” the voice from Hawk’s left.
He turned and saw a familiar face. “Big Earv, boy, am I glad to see you.”
“I got your message, and I got here as soon as I could,” Big Earv said. “I had to swim to shore, which took quite a bit of time. Did you finish the mission?”
Hawk nodded. “It was easy with this shoulder.”
Big Earv scowled as he eyed the area Hawk pointed to. “What happened there?”
“Friendly fire, in a manner of speaking.”
Big Earv scanned the area. “Where’s the rest of the team I brought?”
“Dead,” Hawk said. “We were ambushed.”
“The North Koreans knew they were coming?”
Hawk shook his head. “Someone else did. And before you ask me who, I can only tell you that it was a group of mercenaries—at least that’s what I hope it is.”
“Americans?”
“Yeah.”
Big Earv stroked his chin. “Did you know any of them?”
Hawk held up his index finger. “One guy. A former Navy SEAL buddy.”
“There was a Navy SEAL involved?”
“I’m guessing they were all Navy SEALs, but I didn’t get a good look at some of the other men. There was only one I recognized.”
Big Earv’s eyebrows shot upward. “You recognized one?”
“Yeah, a guy named Doug Mitchell, who we all called the Reaper.”
“Did he say anything to you?”