BooksBarbecue
Back The Neighborhood
Chapters (59)
  1. Part I Reconnaissance
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Part II Incursion
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Part III Under Siege
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Part IV Course Correction
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Part V Balance of Power
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Part VI Spy versus Spy
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Part VII Winds of War and Flame
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Part VIII Strong to the Finish
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Part IX Spy Games
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Part X What Goes Around
  57. Chapter Forty-Seven
  58. Chapter Forty-Eight
  59. About the Author

Barrett appreciated aggression and action. He respected those who were willing to take what they wanted. Life was too short, too fleeting—a lesson he’d learned young. The man had to know help wasn’t coming, which meant he also knew that he was on his own. But he had the skills to operate that way, with no support. He was trying to force the situation to a resolution. Of that, Barrett was now certain, but the only way to do it was with the laptop. And if he was trying to buy time, as evidenced by the way he’d just ended the conversation with Barrett, it meant that while he knew about the laptop, he was still trying to find it.

It’s now a race. We have to find the laptop first, no matter what.

Barrett reached for the radio and switched the channel to the alternate frequency. Once his men had heard the interloper on their channel, they would’ve recognized the network was compromised and switched channels the way they’d been instructed. You can never have too many contingencies, he thought, and lifted the handheld to his mouth just as the second radio on his gun belt for Griffin and the base of operations came to life.

“This is Hunter Actual, I’m on the way to your position. Take no further action until I get there. I say again, take no further action until I get there. Be there within seven or eight minutes.”

Barrett sighed and released the talk button. If Griffin was on his way, something had changed, something that had a direct impact on the cat-and-mouse game playing out in Hidden Refuge.

He lowered the team radio, raised the command push-to-talk to his mouth, and replied, “Roger, Hunter Actual. Standing by. Out here.”

There was nothing more to add. The team could keep searching until Griffin arrived. But for the first time that night, Barrett felt the balance shift, like a children’s seesaw, in favor of the neighborhood’s last action hero. There are just too many variables, and with each man that you lose, they start to stack up in his favor. You know this. You need to make Griffin understand.

Something drastic needed to be done, something that would force their prey out into the open, no matter what. If this man was some kind of former Special Forces operator or worse, he only understood force, and he had to be shown that resistance would be met with overwhelming violence, even if it wasn’t directed at him.

Come on, Griffin. Get here soon so we can do what needs to be done. Mission first.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter
TWENTY-TWO