“We’re here,” Morgan said.
“Underneath Paramount Studios?” Alex said before letting out a low whistle. “I never would’ve believed it.”
“If half the actors in Hollywood knew they were working on top of a secret government site, they’d lose their minds,” Morgan said with a wry grin.
Hawk’s eyebrows shot upward. “Half?”
“You’re right,” Morgan said. “More like ninety-five percent.”
“That’s why we prefer Bollywood movies,” Hawk said, flashing a quick smile at Alex. “We don’t have to worry about our favorite actors getting political, one way or the other. Because sometimes I just want to watch a movie and not think about all that stuff. I mean, does anyone really care about the political opinion of an actor anyway?”
“I think you know the answer to that question already,” Morgan said. “Or at least it’d be unanimous here.”
Hawk chuckled. “You’re more like your uncle than I first thought.”
“I’m glad to see you’re keeping an open mind,” Morgan said. “Follow me.”
They continued down a sterile hallway until they reached another set of doors that began to open as they approached. Inside, a handful of men and women sat at computer terminals busily typing or talking on the phone.
“Welcome to Magnum,” Morgan said.
Morgan gave them a brief tour of the facility, which contained a research division dedicated to developing new technology to help with counterintelligence. She tapped on the window and a young man sporting a pair of goggles and a white lab coat hustled over to her.
“Zachary, I’d like for you to come meet someone,” Morgan said.
Zachary nodded before striding over to the exit. His goggles sat cockeyed on his nose and his hair appeared as though he’d just been jolted by a substantial number of volts from a recent experiment.
“Ma’am,” Zachary said as he nodded at her. “Sorry for my appearance. We were working on a device that could disable all electrical currents within a 25-foot radius by shorting them.”
“Looks like that didn’t turn out as well as you might’ve hoped,” Alex quipped.
Zachary put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Not in the least.”
“This is Dr. Zachary Levinson, or, as we refer to him around here, Dr. Z,” Morgan said. “We stole him straight out of Cal Tech. He was valedictorian and after only six months of working here had a dozen patents pending on new surveillance devices.”
Dr. Z beamed like a child being bragged upon by his parents. He smiled and tilted his head back ever so slightly.
Before Morgan could continue, Dr. Z eyed Hawk. “I’m working on a prototype car that perhaps you’d like to road test for me sometime.”
“I’d be down for that,” Hawk said. “Just name the time and place.”
“We still have a few kinks to work out, but in due time,” Dr. Z said.
“I can wait,” Hawk said. “I don’t want my hair to ever look like that.”
They all chuckled before Dr. Z excused himself and scurried back into his lab.
“He’s quite a character,” Alex said.
“Dr. Z is the breath of fresh air we need in the intelligence community,” Morgan said. “One of the first things I wanted to establish at Magnum was a culture of trust. After that, I wanted everyone to enjoy working here. Spies take themselves too seriously. And while there’s definitely a time for being serious, we still need to enjoy what we’re doing or else we’ll get burned out.”
Morgan resumed their tour, leading them to the digital team, which was headed up by Mia Becker, a former colleague of Hawk and Alex’s.
Mia gave Alex a lengthy hug before exchanging pleasantries.
“I’m so excited that you’re going to join the team here,” Mia said. “Morgan has plenty of her uncle’s intelligence intuition in her, but also her own spunky style. And I hate to admit this, but as much as I loved working for Senator Blunt at the Phoenix Foundation, Magnum has so much more potential.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Alex said. “We’re just visiting. Don’t get too excited yet. We haven’t agreed to join the team.”
Mia winked and nodded, her brown pony tail bobbing up and down. “But you will. I’m sure of it.”
The trio caught up on the past few years before Morgan continued to show off the rest of the facility. They descended another level, which opened up into a massive workout facility. Malik Earvin, a former Navy SEAL who later worked for the Secret Service, was engaged in hand-to-hand combat training with three other men. When they took a break, Morgan motioned for Earvin to join them.
Earvin grabbed Hawk’s hand, almost swallowing it, before pulling him in for a hug.
“Big Earv,” Hawk said as he drew back and patted the hulking man on his bicep, “is it me or have you grown since the last time I saw you?”
“I’ve gotten a little stronger,” Big Earv said with a grin, “and you look like you’ve shrunk. Probably just a combination of those two things.”
“Get outta here,” Hawk said.
Big Earv laughed, his baritone voice echoing off the gym walls.
“And of course you two are well acquainted with one another,” Morgan said.
“What is this place?” Hawk asked.
“It’s more or less a continuing education for combat,” Big Earv said. “Close quarters combat here and then we have a range through that door for firearm training. We have a standard shooting range as well as a long-distance one.”
“How long of a distance?”
“On the level below us, there’s a specially designed one that’s a thousand meters,” Big Earv said. “It can even simulate various conditions such as wind and cold that will affect your shot.”
“Incredible,” Hawk said.
They caught up on a few personal matters before Morgan led Hawk and Alex back upstairs. She invited them into her office and shut the door.
“So what do you think?” Morgan asked as she settled into the chair behind her desk.
Hawk and Alex, seated side by side across from Morgan, both looked at each other and shrugged, neither one of them anxious to speak. After a few moments of awkward silence, Hawk answered first.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility,” Hawk said. “It’s got everything an agent in a black ops program could dream of, plus a staff that’s large enough to handle bigger threats than anything we could take on by ourselves at the Phoenix Foundation—”
“Not to mention the technology to make it happen,” Alex added.
“I mean, what’s not to love about it?” Hawk said.
Morgan leaned forward on her desk, resting her chin on her knuckles. “How come I get the feeling that there’s a but coming?”
Hawk sighed. “We’ve talked about what this would mean for us, for John Daniel. And the truth was we don’t want to raise him in Los Angeles. He’s got an idyllic childhood in Montana.”
“But is it your idyllic life?” Morgan asked. “Just mountains and horses and trees? You guys are good with that for the rest of your life?”
“You’re selling us on Montana all over again,” Alex said.
“Frankly, we’ve seen the world and what it has to offer,” Hawk said. “And Montana feels like home in a way neither one of us can describe. It’s like entering a simpler time when we weren’t all worried about terrorists and plots to kill thousands of innocent people.”
“But it’s because of people like you that anyone can live in Montana and enjoy that kind of lifestyle,” Morgan said.
“Exactly,” Hawk said. “And it looks like you’ve assembled a formidable team here already. What’s another duo like us going to add to your roster that you don’t already have?”
Morgan didn’t blink. “The best,” she answered flatly. “You two are the stuff legends are made of. You took down corrupt politicians hell bent on destroying this country. You eliminated terrorists who were determined to murder massive amounts of American citizens. You exposed shadow organizations that wanted to turn the world on its head. Not someone else. You.”