But he fell quiet when he hit the ground, a sickening crack echoing off the walls. She hustled down the steps as he lay motionless. After retrieving her gun from her bedroom, she returned to the entryway to find the Russian lying in a pool of blood. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t get the words out. Alex wasn’t sure what had ultimately caused his head wound—the marble floor or John Daniel’s fire truck. The Russian struggled to say something while life drained right out of him.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said as she pointed to her ear. “I can’t hear you nor do I care. You were warned.”
The man slowly moved his hand into his jacket pocket.
“That’s far enough,” Alex said.
He spit at her. “Do you really want to do this in front of your son?”
Alex held his gaze, unsure if he was bluffing. She hadn’t noticed if John Daniel had entered the entryway, but she knew better than to even look. With her eyes fixed on the Russian, she moved around the room, blocking any view John Daniel might have if he were to wander out.
“Revenge is rarely satisfying, provided you actually get it,” she said. “Farewell, comrade.”
She pulled the trigger, hitting him in the head. He collapsed, his eyes staring vacantly into the darkness.
Alex reached into his pocket and took his gun. She felt for a pulse but didn’t find one.
The radio crackled from the kitchen, arresting Alex’s attention. She rushed over to it, recognizing Kyle’s voice.
“Kyle, are you okay?” Alex asked.
“I’m fine, but what about you? I thought I just heard a gunshot.”
“I had a visitor,” she said. “And I’m gonna need you and Xander to come down here right now and give me a hand getting this mess cleaned up.”
“That bad, huh? Was it a raccoon getting into your trash?”
She sighed, realizing that he was completely unaware of what had just happened. “No, just a Russian.”
“A what?”
“Just get down here and help me with this.”
While waiting for Kyle and Xander, she peeked in on John Daniel again. He was still fast asleep.
“Thank God,” she whispered to herself.
She went into her bedroom to grab a housecoat when she saw a notification on her phone. It was from a number she didn’t recognize, but she saw there was also a voicemail. Certain the message wasn’t someone trying to sell her an extended auto warranty, she listened and immediately dialed the number back.
“I’m okay,” Alex said as Hawk answered.
“Thank goodness,” he said. “But did you get a visit from one of Orlovsky’s men?”
“Yeah,” she said. “He eventually came around the property.”
“And?”
“He’s dead.”
Hawk paused. “Did you kill him?”
“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “I more or less helped him to his death by tossing him over the upstairs balcony.”
“Orlovsky has to think you’re dead or he’s going to keep coming around.”
“I’ve already been thinking about how I’m going to stage the picture of my death before I send the confirmation image back to Orlovsky.”
Hawk chuckled. “I should’ve known better than to even suggest that to you. Of course you’re already on it.”
“And based off your voicemail, you’re all right too, aren’t you?”
“Big Earv and I made it out, but there’s still more work to do.”
“Like what?”
“We need to hunt down whoever’s leaking sensitive information. Three Navy SEALs are dead as a result, and if we hadn’t gotten a little lucky, we would’ve missed our chance to sabotage the nuclear warheads.”
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t know about everything as it was happening,” she said. “I’ve at least been sleeping some of the night.”
Hawk waited a moment before responding. “I need you, Alex.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“I mean, if I’m going to do this, I need you helping me.”
“So you want to keep working for Magnum?”
“I do, but I know how you feel about it. Can we at least talk about it when I get back?”
“Sure. We can have a conversation,” she said. “But right now, I’ve got a dead body to clean up. And I need to let Morgan know what went down here tonight.”
“Of course,” Hawk said. “See you soon.”
Alex dialed Morgan’s number, waking her in the middle of the night.
“What is it?” Morgan asked groggily.
“We’ve got a mess out here at our ranch, and we’re going to need some help covering it up.”
CHAPTER 35
Los Angeles
A WEEK LATER, Hawk and Alex joined the Magnum team in their underground headquarters to discuss the operation as well as the fallout from North Korea’s attempted launch of nuclear weapons. Despite the attempt by rogue actors within the U.S. military to provoke North Korea by going beyond what President Norris commanded, the tensions seemed to ease. All U.S. Naval ships had returned to their usual patrolling routes, and Kim Yong-ju was no longer rattling his saber, undoubtedly humbled by his failed attempt to strike at the U.S.
Hawk wore a sling to help with his recovery, though he only used it due to Alex’s insistence that he did. He received a raucous ovation when he entered the conference room with Alex.
“Please,” Hawk said, holding up his good arm, “this isn’t necessary. I was just doing my job, which happened to be something completely different than what I was supposed to do.”
As the clapping subsided, Hawk and Alex found a pair of empty seats located next to Morgan, who was seated at the head of the table.
“I can’t thank the two of you enough for what you did for this country,” Morgan said. “If my uncle knew what you did, he’d be proud of you.”
“He’s probably chewing on a cigar right now and fishing,” Hawk said. “I doubt he even knows how closely we came to war.”
“It’s just as well that he didn’t,” Alex added. “If he thought the world was this tenuous, he’d come out of retirement and kick you out of your chair, Morgan.”
Morgan offered a thin smile. “He’d have a tough time moving me from here.”
Hawk was certain that she meant that too. Magnum was her show, her fingerprints all over it. The thought of J.D. Blunt returning to his post was enough to make Morgan’s good-natured self vanish, if only for a moment.
Morgan clasped her fingers together, resting them on the table in front of her. “I’d like to start off by saying that I’m grateful for every single one of you today. This was a total team effort that required us all to be at the top of our games in order to succeed. Dr. Z’s inventions, Mia’s hacking skills, Big Earv’s bravery in piloting a boat into enemy waters with no way out, Alex’s help with another semi-related project, and of course Hawk’s ability to adapt on the fly and stop an imminent attack on the U.S. that would’ve undoubtedly killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans. Whether you were analyzing data, developing operational tools, or doing the heavy lifting out in the field, you all contributed to Magnum’s success.”
“Only we didn’t get Eddie Tyson home,” Hawk said. “That was the primary objective.”
“But it doesn’t matter,” Morgan said. “The fact that we prevented a war should be good enough for you, Hawk.”
He sighed. “It is, but I can’t stop thinking about Tyson and his young son who needs him. He’s stuck in a North Korean prison somewhere, being treated like garbage. We can’t just leave him there. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d likely already be at war.”
“We can’t just go into North Korea on a reconnaissance mission,” Morgan said. “We have to get word from someone about where he might be before I authorize an extraction team.”