Chapters (59)
- Part I Reconnaissance
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Part II Incursion
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Part III Under Siege
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Part IV Course Correction
- Chapter Fourteen
- Part V Balance of Power
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Part VI Spy versus Spy
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Part VII Winds of War and Flame
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Part VIII Strong to the Finish
- Chapter Forty-Two
- Chapter Forty-Three
- Part IX Spy Games
- Chapter Forty-Four
- Chapter Forty-Five
- Chapter Forty-Six
- Part X What Goes Around
- Chapter Forty-Seven
- Chapter Forty-Eight
- About the Author
Josh hugged his dad instinctively. “Like father, like son.”
Brandon felt the enormity of the moment, a combination of love, pride, and sorrow threatening to overwhelm him and prevent him from facing his fate.
“I love you, Josh, always,” Brandon said, and broke the embrace, knowing there was likely only one way this would end for him.
* * *
Zack knew his former team leader would follow through with his threat. It was a veritable certainty, just as the sun rose in the east and set in the west.
God help me. I do not want to have to do this. But Zack knew he was the only one who could. If there was a fighting chance that his neighbors could be saved, he had to give it to them. He had no idea how many hostiles remained, and given the addition of the most dangerous man he’d ever met, psychological status notwithstanding, he had to try. He owed his neighbors that much.
One M4, three magazines; one Glock, three magazines; one Kevlar vest . . . and one bad attitude, Zack thought, and smiled to himself. Time to get your game face on.
As he moved silently through the woods, he thought of Griffin, Malta, and a promise he’d privately made to himself the last time he’d set eyes on his old team leader, a promise he’d spoken clearly and loudly.
“If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you, no matter what the agency says about it.”
Griffin had grinned that arrogant smile of his, his hair hanging down near his shoulders like a Harlequin Romance cover. “I look forward to it, Zachary.”
As he approached his reckoning, Zack hoped he’d be able to fulfill that promise.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter
TWENTY-NINE
The wind intensified, pushing Zack forward through the woods as he neared his final approach to the hub of Hidden Refuge. The cold front approached quickly, the temperature drop imminent, the blast of cold air denuding the trees of leaves the way that the voice of Griffin Huntsmen had wiped away the past six years. There’s no point in wondering why or how. For whatever reason, he’s here, and you have to deal with him, once and for all.
After the way their last encounter had ended, he wasn’t eager to face him. But he also wasn’t going to allow Brandon Harper to politely hand himself over to face certain death once Griffin realized the retired deputy director didn’t possess the laptop.