“Crap!” Hayden dove for the concrete.
With no cover, they were all exposed. And they weren’t wearing their Kevlar anymore. Not even Torsten Dahl could cover enough ground to prevent Kingston from opening fire and they all knew it.
Kingston screamed as he jumped out and managed a textbook landing. “This is what I can do!” he yelled. “I am the future.”
Drake ran straight at the guns. So did Dahl. Komodo followed a second later. Kinimaka stepped in front of Hayden.
Kingston’s fingers tightened on his triggers, the sound of manic laughter fitting for this futuristic figure so decked out in all his advanced weaponry, his cutting-edge hardware with its electric-blue and blood-red lights flickering all over the killproof vest.
He waited an extra second. “Time to shred me some Goddamn pork!” he bellowed and opened fire.
The knife, the primitive shaft of sharpened steel, thunked loudly as it slammed through the lower half of his face — the only exposed part of him — just below the nose and around the mouth. In the millisecond it took for his brain to register death, the force of the blow sent him reeling backward, his weapons shooting at nothing but sky.
The last words he ever spoke were in shock. “A knife?”
Drake slowed and turned. Dahl followed suit. Alicia knelt on one knee, still poised in a throwing stance, eyes narrowed.
“A knife,” Drake echoed. “All that bloody technology. All the money they spent. And he gets taken down by a biker chick with a blade.”
Alicia shrugged. “I want that back. Lomas gave it to me as a keepsake.”
“Whatever you say, Myles.” Hayden used Kinimaka’s proffered hand to pull herself upright. With a quick scan, she inventoried the assorted machinery scattered around the airfield.
“Now, who’s driving what back?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Days later, Jonathan Gates prowled around his office as night pressed implacably against his uncovered windows. He preferred exposed, unadorned casements and skylights — it helped him see clearly in more ways than one.
The new agency had pulled off a great accomplishment but there still remained a few man-eating sharks on the Hill, their cold eyes examining and their bloody teeth bared, ready to swoop in for the kill. Gates knew it didn’t matter how many times you were successful; it just took that one bad day or unlucky decision to wipe it all out. The sharks would always circle. It was their nature.
His plans were afoot. SPEAR was about to get a new HQ courtesy of Hayden Jaye’s old agency, the CIA, one better equipped and more clandestine this time. That damn reporter, Sarah Moxley, continued to bug them, and with more clout behind her now. Gates felt that both he and the agency owed her some kind of an explanation.
But that problem would save for another day. Now, Gates walked around to the front of his desk and picked up the photograph he kept there. It showed his wife, Sarah, and he in better times. He held on to the frame as he clicked a button.
“Show Miss Fox in.”
The door opened almost immediately. Gates replaced the picture and turned around. Lauren Fox closed the door and stood with her hands folded across her breasts. “I really don’t know why I’ve been brought here, sir. Or summoned, I guess you could say.”
Gates gave her a wry smile, sensing her discomfort. “Don’t worry. I don’t wish to engage your services.” He gestured to a chair. “Sit.”
“I’m fine.”
“Please?”
Gates settled himself as she finally perched on a chair opposite him. “I grant you, it’s unusual for a Secretary of Defense to summon an expensive hooker to his office. We could have met in secret, or in public, but for what I have to propose”—he met her eyes—“this seemed more appropriate. Official.”
“Won’t people wonder?” Lauren was clearly thinking of the staff.
“They’re my people. They know me. Now, Miss Fox, I liked the way you handled yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“First — you saved lives during the attack on our HQ. You showed amazing bravery. Second — the assassin. You beat him, and that was no mean feat. The man was well-trained as we’re starting to understand from General Kwang Yong.”
“Are there more of them?”
Gates gripped the bridge of his nose. “Undoubtedly. We don’t yet know how many. We’ll most likely never know who they are. But the head has been cut off that particular snake. Now we wait for the next one to rise. And, Miss Fox, we need all the…” He paused. “Specialist help we can get.”
“Call me Lauren. Now what the hell are you saying? Sir.”
“You’ll fit right in,” Gates said to her and then proceeded to outline his proposal. When he’d clarified the dangers and then secured her acceptance, he watched her walk out of the room.
Damn.
Quickly he occupied his mind with picking up the phone and dialing Hayden’s cell. It was around eight o‘clock in the evening, but his second in command needed to know about his newest recruit and the parameters he’d set for her.
Hayden took the call as she and Kinimaka sat down to dinner. The restaurant was crowded and noisy, but her Hawaiian partner gawked in happiness. Hayden had brought him to Washington DC’s one and only Hard Rock Cafe.
“I’ll get us cocktails.” Kinimaka’s huge fist almost fully concealed the drinks menu. Hayden heard her boss out, at first shocked but then seeing the usefulness of an expensive asset like Lauren Fox. At least now she knew why Gates had been asking all the odd questions. Time would tell if she was up to the job.
Hayden thanked Gates and then told Kinimaka. “Good move,” he said. “She sure can get into places we can’t.”
“We’ll see.” Hayden was more worried about how many times they’d have to go in and save Fox’s ass. But for now, she focused on Kinimaka.
“I kinda brought you here for a reason,” she said a little nervously. “Other than to buy you a shot glass.”
“To get me drunk?”
“Maybe. So Mano—” She touched the top of his hand where it rested lightly on the table. “You got something to say to me?”
The misgivings rose like a castle wall before his mind’s eye. “You’re my boss. I respect you for being my boss. And if it doesn’t work out — how could we work together?”
“Geez, Mano, nothing’s ever gonna be that predictable. And wouldn’t life just get damn boring if it was?”
“We’ve known each other a long time…”
“I can’t promise we’ll always be friends.” Hayden thought about real life and how it always took away those you loved. “Whether we hook up or not.”
Big cocktail glasses full of mixed spirits, gaudy umbrellas and slices of pineapple were placed on the table. Hayden had known her oldest friend would try the Hawaiian-based drink, just to compare it to the island offerings. She also knew he’d go with the island. He always did.
Friendship. Trust. An almost psychic intuition for what each other would do next. That’s what they had. Why risk it?
“There’s always another level,” she told Mano, though she’d never found it with Ben or any other of her past boyfriends. “There has to be.”
“Hayden Jaye.” Kinimaka took her hand and squeezed gently. “Will you be my date tonight?”
The atmosphere at the table suddenly changed. The dynamics shifted sideways and a thrill shot through Hayden’s body. “Sure will,” she said with a grin. “But first things first — I have to pass on the information Gates just gave me. Actually, I’ll tell Dahl to do it. He’s reliable.”