Edge of Tomorrow by Wolf Wootan Read Free Book Online Page A

of Germany, you would quit the
Company. They thought if the Stasi killed her, you would have no
reason to leave. In fact, you would have a good reason to stay.
They figured you would want to stay and take revenge on the
Stasi.”
    “They are right about the revenge part,
asshole. A lot of people are going to die because of this,” said
Hatcher coldly. He pulled Kat’s revolver, flicked off the safety,
and shot Gaines between the eyes.
    “Starting with you!” spat Hatch.
    Hatcher’s mind went into overdrive. Kat’s gun
was not silenced, so the noise of that shot would draw attention
quickly. He took Kat’s gun and put it her right hand and used it to
put four more bullets into Gaines’ face, obliterating it beyond
recognition. She would now have powder residue on her hand in case
anyone went to a lot of trouble to reconstruct what happened here
today. He left the gun in her hand as he lowered her gently to the
ground.
    “Goodbye, Kat darling! Forgive me for leaving
you here like this, but I must go now. I love you!” he said with
emotion. He stripped Gaines’ body of identification and then
disappeared into the shadows, heading for his car two blocks
away.
    • • •
    An hour later, Hatcher was in a seedy bar not
far from the Berlin Wall. He belted down two stiff bourbons to help
calm the rage boiling inside him. He tried to reconstruct the
events that had just shattered his life. Gary Gaines had tipped off
the Stasi about the defection. He said he got the order from John
McGinnis in London. McGinnis would never give such an order on his
own. That meant the order originated in Langley from James Gramble
himself, the Director of all NOC agents in the world! How did
Gramble figure out that Hatcher was going to quit after Blue Moon?
It was unimportant in the bigger scheme of things. The real tragedy
was that Gramble would think Hatcher was naive enough to fall for
such a scam. Well, he would quit anyway, but now on different
terms—his own. He would start his new life—albeit without Kat and
his child—just as he had promised her. First, there was other
business that needed finishing.
    • • •
    At 8:00 P.M., Hatcher found a public
telephone that had nobody near it at the moment. It was 7:00 P.M.
in London, so his party should be home by now. Using Gaines’
international phone credit card, he dialed a number that he dredged
up from the banks of his photographic memory. It was John
McGinnis’s home phone number, a number that was monitored by most
intelligence agencies in Europe. McGinnis knew it was tapped, and
he left it that way so he could disseminate disinformation when it
suited his purpose. He had a different, secure line that he used
for Company business. So when his unsecured line rang at 7:00 P.M.,
he assumed it to be a social call of no importance.
    “McGinnis,” he answered cheerfully.
    “McGinnis, Gaines here. Blue Moon was a
disaster! I told you not to fuck with The Hatchet Man,” said an
excited, slurred voice. “The girl is dead, but so are a Stasi agent
and The Hatchet Man! All hell will break loose when the other NOCs
find out that you set up the Hatchet Man! I’m disappearing! Don’t
even try to find me!”
    McGinnis was red with rage. Blood vessels
were standing out on his forehead. He knew every word of this was
being recorded on a dozen or more tape machines. He hung up
immediately, but he knew the damage had already been done. He would
have liked to have had more details of what really happened, but
not on this phone.
    That fucking Gaines! Why did he call on this
line? Hatcher dead? I told Gramble this was a bad idea. Now every
fucking agent in the world will think I gave the order! I had
better call Gramble. The shit is really going to hit the fan! What
time is it? Two P.M. in Virginia. I don’t want Gramble to hear
about this from the KGB or Stasi!
    • • •
    Hatcher smiled when McGinnis hung up on him.
He knew that would happen, but he got the key words on the line
first.