“Alex, you gotta help us out now,” Hawk said. “We can’t see a damn thing out here.”
She sighed. “Look, the last location I had for him was about a hundred meters from where you’re at. But there’s a hollow down there and the vegetation is too thick. Even without the leaves, I can’t see anything.”
“So, we’re on our own?” Hawk asked.
“At least for now. When the sun goes down all the way, I’ll be able to pick up heat signatures more effectively.”
Hawk and Big Earv moved stealthily toward Miller’s last known position. They slogged along a small trail for a few minutes. Hawk couldn’t tell if it was a creek or a footpath, but it didn’t matter as long as it allowed them to travel quietly and efficiently.
In the pine tree directly over Hawk, a raven cawed. Then another and another. The woods were soon filled with a cacophony of cries from ravens and a plethora of other birds.
“Anything new, Alex?” Hawk asked over the coms.
“No,” she said.
Hawk looked at Big Earv and spoke in a hushed tone. “Let’s keep moving.”
When they reached firmer ground, Hawk looked for the most logical route out. For all they knew, Miller might have been leading them in a giant circle so he could make it back to the boats, maybe even sabotage theirs. If he’d done that, he’d be able to return home for the evening and shore up his security in case Hawk and Big Earv returned. But they knew this was their only shot. If he got away, he could smear them, frame them, murder them—whatever he wanted to do—and get away with it. Even with the president on Hawk’s side, he wasn’t sure it’d be enough to overcome a man as powerful at Miller. That’s why they had sprung a visit on him in the first place. If he didn’t have cover, maybe they could catch him.
But that was proving to be more difficult by the minute.
Hawk scanned the area and turned to Big Earv. “Which way do you think we should go?”
He shrugged. “I’ve just spent my last few years training to dive in front of bullets. I’ll leave the tracking to you.”
Hawk shook his head as he shot Big Earv a sideways glance. “Let’s go right.”
They ripped through briars and brambles, pressing deeper into a thicket before they reached a clearing. “There’s got to be something around here somewhere.”
Spotting a clearing with a few fallen logs, Hawk slapped Big Earv on the chest and pointed toward the tree. “I think we found a spot to rest for a few minutes.”
As they drew nearer to the trees, Hawk lost his footing.
What is this?
Hawk and Big Earv both slipped and started to fall into a large pit, covered over by sticks and leaves and pine needles.
MILLER LAUGHED and rubbed his hands together before scurrying out of his position up in the nearby trees. Once his feet were planted firmly on the ground, he rushed toward the pit.
If necessary, Miller was prepared to wait out the two men, who were undoubtedly government agents. He was unaware that Thomas Colton even had a son, a comment Brady Hawk had likely made just to get Miller to let his guard down and think they were friends. But the pair had followed him all the way up the Chesapeake and into the Potomac—and now here.
A half-hour earlier, Miller wasn’t sure he wanted to win. He deeply cared about his country, but he was tired of taking orders. He’d grown weary of being a pawn in the game. He’d just as soon make it all stop as he would continue to follow commands. He wanted to give them—and give them with authority. North Korea would’ve already been a sheet of glass if he’d been able to convince President Norris to go along with his idea.
But here he was, scrambling though the forest with his hands becoming more numb by the second, hoping to kill a pair of agents who were surely on the cusp of exposing him. Miller wanted to go out on his terms. Even though he knew what he was doing was patriotic, he didn’t want to be branded a traitor and tossed into a prison. Benedict Arnold was forever reviled for turning his back on George Washington, but at least Arnold had a life.
That’s all Miller wanted at this point—his old way of life back. But he was afraid those days had long set sail on a ship never to return. And he wasn’t sure what was left for him. His position of power and prestige had been reduced to the latter, all his power being usurped by someone else.
Whatever happened, Miller smiled over using his Revolutionary War tactics to outsmart a pair of trained agents. Until a few months ago, the war re-enactment group he’d been a part of for more than a decade regularly trained at this site in the woods of Kinsale, a small Virginia farming community.
Miller paused to catch his breath before peering over the edge into the pit.
“Mr. Hawk? Mr. Earvin?” he called out.
That was the last thing he said before uttering a string of expletives as someone pushed him from behind and into the pit.
WHEN HAWK HAD started to slip, he instinctively reached up and grabbed a vine dragging the forest floor. Big Earv almost suffered a less noble fate, but wrapped his arms around Hawk’s feet. Hawk was able to hold on just long enough for Big Earv to get on solid ground and avoid tumbling down.
Their shouting had alerted Miller that his ruse had likely worked, sending him sprinting toward their position.
As soon as the admiral reached the edge, Hawk eased up behind Miller and pushed him in.
Miller fell to the ground, cursing all the way down.
Hawk used a flashlight from his ruck sack to illuminate Miller’s face. The admiral shielded his eyes as he looked at Hawk.
“Why’d you run, Admiral?” Hawk asked. “Because in my experience, the only people who run are guilty ones or those who are afraid someone is out to get them. So, which is it for you?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Miller asked.
“Not to me, it isn’t,” Hawk said. “We just wanted to talk.”
“Sure you did,” Miller said. “That’s why you have weapons right now.”
“You led us up here to kill us,” Hawk said. “It’s a good thing we brought our weapons.”
Miller sighed and shook his head. “You don’t even know what you’re doing here, do you?”
“We’re here because you tried to sabotage us,” Hawk said. “And I think we all know that you ran because we mentioned the name Doug Mitchell.”
Miller shook his head. “You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve never even heard of that man.”
“Is that why you called him and told him about a special operation by Navy SEALs that occurred recently on the coast of North Korea where their nuclear missiles were housed? There were only a handful of people privy to what was happening there.”
“You don’t understand,” Miller said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Big Earv jumped into the fray. “Who made you do this, Admiral Miller? Was it the president?”
“Of course not. I’ve been trying to do everything I could to get him to get rid of the North Koreans once and for all. If he had, I might be free too.”
Hawk kept his beam steady on Miller. “You keep acting like you’re a slave to someone else’s whims. If that’s the case, you must know who?”
“Have you ever heard of The Alliance?”
Hawk shook his head. “Who are they?”
“They’re going to come for you one day,” Miller said. “And when they do, you’re going to wish you’d listened to me. You do what they say, or they take everything you hold dear in life, mark my words.”
Then Miller started to raise his gun.
“Don’t, Admiral,” Hawk said, placing his hand out and gesturing for Miller to lower his weapon.