Black Sun: A Thriller by Graham Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

7
     
    I n the heart of the African village, Hawker stared coldly at Arnold Moore. He knew Moore from a mission he’d taken with the NRI two years earlier, the same expedition to the Amazon that had involved Danielle Laidlaw and Professor McCarter. Hawker had been promised a certain type of absolution for his efforts, but in the aftermath that followed, the deal had fallen through.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
    “Looking for you,” Moore said.
    “You’re not exactly dressed for the bush.”
    “No,” Moore said in agreement. “Our intel had you in Kinshasa, drinking and spending money like you’d printed it yourself. But after three days of looking it became clear that you weren’t there. I almost went home. But then I heard about a firefight going on up here, where the bad guys were getting the worst of it for once.”
    “Sometimes bad things happen to the right people,” Hawker said.
    “And sometimes to the wrong ones,” Moore replied cryptically. “I need your help.”
    Hawker studied Moore, acutely aware of their differences. Moore was an important piece for one side of theworld. Not the white king, perhaps, but a bishop at the least. A mover of pawns and a shrewd one at that. Hawker had once been a part of that side, but no longer. In fact, he wasn’t part of any side at this point in his life. In some strange, surreal way he’d become a type of third player, a red knight on a board of black and white. He had no alliances, no one to answer to, and thus no real limits. Reaching out to him could mean only one thing. Moore had a job no white piece could do.
    “The last time I worked for the NRI it didn’t turn out so well,” Hawker said. “In case you forgot, you guys never came through on your end. Though you seem to have set yourself up pretty good.”
    “The CIA got involved,” Moore said. “They think you still owe them a few chits.”
    “They must. They sent a couple of thugs out to try and collect.”
    Moore nodded, grinning. “Yes, well … once you put those men in the hospital, I lost any say in the matter.”
    “You also lost the right to ask me—”
    “It’s Danielle,” Moore said, stopping Hawker mid-sentence and speaking bluntly, like a man running out of time. “She’s been abducted. I know who took her and where she is, but she’s out of my reach.”
    Hawker stared at Moore as if he’d been punched. He and Danielle had initially clashed in Brazil. But as things had gone from bad to worse, he’d watched her change from a win-at-all-costs alpha female to a person who cared more about her team than she did about herself. At the darkest moment of their journey, she’d even been willing to sacrifice herself to give the others a chance at survival.
    Going through that had created a bond he could still feel when he thought of her. Enough that not getting a chance to see her again had been the worst part of how things ended.
    “I heard she’d quit,” Hawker said angrily.
    “She did. But she came back to help a friend.”
    “You?”
    “No,” Moore told him. “McCarter.”
    “McCarter?” Hawker’s mind reeled. Danielle returning to the NRI was one thing, but Professor McCarter? His gaze sharpened, focusing on Moore like a laser. He understood.
    “You’re looking for more of what we found in Brazil.”
    Moore nodded. “And who else could I possibly send?”
    Of course, Hawker thought. Moore needed to keep his secrets. A theory called containment symmetry held that it was best to send agents who already knew those secrets, perhaps especially with what they’d found down there.
    “McCarter is still missing,” Moore added. “He’s injured but he escaped and has gone into hiding. I have teams looking for him and we’ll find him, but Danielle is beyond my grasp. And she will die where she is, but not quickly.”
    Hawker clenched his jaw. “Who took her?”
    “A Chinese billionaire named Kang,” Moore said.
    “And he’s untouchable?”
    “So