Page 62 of Storm Warning

“I don’t know. I can’t fathom it. Despite all that, Cole was a great guy. Everyone loved him. Dad was hard on him because—in Dad’s mind anyway—he was simply trying to push Cole to be the best man he could be. Even if that had been the reason, there had to be a catalyst. Something to send him in this direction, and it sounds like it happened about two years ago.”

“Because that’s when he disappeared? Did his unit inform you that he was MIA?”

“No. He disappeared in that I couldn’t contact him or find him. He didn’t respond. I thought he was just on another mission, and sometimes he was deep in the bush somewhere in the world and would get back to me when he could, but it had been going on too long. So I was worried that something had happened to him and was telling John about it, and that’s when he told me. He hadn’t wanted to tell me that he’d learned that Cole was working as a mercenary. A hired killer. That he hadn’t reenlisted. His unit hadbeen killed but he survived.” And Remi’s story, her timeline, fit. “I’m hoping that John will shed some light on things.”

“I’m sorry about all of it,” she said. “Really sorry.”

“Me too. I’m sorry that he’s after you.” He could barely comprehend it.

They sat in silence for a while. Then Remi asked, “What about this Andre guy? You were telling me about him and how it’s all connected to Cole.”

“I’d cornered him. It was a multiagency effort, and I had him. And he mentioned Cole to me. Said that he knew my brother and had information. He shocked me with that.” Hawk hated this part. He really hated it, and it was all on him. “He slipped through my fingers.”

“What? How?”

“The details aren’t important.” No need to talk about his failures. “Then he escaped in a helicopter, and we were called in on an aerial pursuit in Snohomish County. I decided this time I wasn’t going to let him get away. These helicopters are equipped with so much technology. More than you could imagine. Infrared, zoom cameras, GPS mapping, what we call ‘night sun,’ which is a powerful spotlight.” Man, he missed flying for the sheriff’s department, but not the rules and not the politics. “The county works with multiple agencies. It’s something, and after what I pulled, I’m not sure I can work in law enforcement again. But I was so close, why would I let him go?”

“So, what happened?”

“The sheriff tried to reel me in. Gave me some excuse to stand down. But I wasn’t having it. If I lost the guy this time, I might lose Cole for good. But Aslam was more daring than I am, let’s say, and he came around behind me in his bird so that he was pursuing me. Jake was an aviation deputy riding shotgun. The helicopter didn’t need a copilot. But he wanted to take this guy down too. If we didn’t catchhim, he could follow through with his plans. Jake’s dad had died on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.”

Hawk’s heart pounded at the memories. Maybe he shouldn’t tell her while he was driving because his foot was pressing hard on the accelerator. He took a few long breaths and then slowed. Checked the rearview mirror. His exit wasn’t for another thirty-plus miles. He’d finish the story by then.

“Let’s just say that two helicopters went down that day. We collided. Mine went down in Lake Stevens. Aslam was killed, and so was Jake. He drowned.” The memories were excruciating.

“It was a moral dilemma, Hawk. You made a judgment call.”

“If I had followed orders to stand down, Jake would still be alive. I can’t know if Aslam would have been caught, but I can know that Jake would still be alive. And a less important issue, but I would still be working for King County.”

“Do you feel guilty that you survived?”

“I survived with barely a scrape. I don’t know how, and it seems all wrong. Everything has felt wrong since that day.”

“How is that possible?”

He shrugged. “It’s like when someone is pulled out of a car that’s crumpled and destroyed. I don’t know. I just know that we should have caught the guy. But he chose the way of death and tried to take me and Jake out too. I couldn’t have known he would do it.” Maybe his boss had. “I just knew that Aslam had to be taken out.”

“But you still blame yourself, don’t you?”

“I’m responsible. Sure I am. I disobeyed an order. Jake and I both did, and not in any way is this a comparison to the lives lost, but I cost the county a lot of money on that helicopter. If I had followed my orders, we’d have thehelicopter, but again, more importantly, Jake would still be alive.”

“And Aslam would have gotten away and possibly followed through with a terror attack. So, ask yourself, was it worth it, then? The risk?”

“Knowing what I know now, of course not. We could have lived to fight another day, as the saying goes.”

“I’m sorry that happened, Hawk,” she said. “That’s a huge burden to carry. Like this burden you carry for Cole. He’s turned to the dark side and you’re chasing after him to save him.”

“Yeah. He’s my brother.”

“Anything more you can tell me about this man who wants me dead?”

“Or alive. We can’t be sure what he wants, but obviously it has something to do with a lost mission.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now because of my lost memories?”

“That, and it sounds like it was lost all around. A downed helicopter. People are dead. Whatever the mission was, it didn’t get accomplished. Since you were on board, I’m kind of thinking some kind of rescue mission or an extraction.”

“But that would mean I was running from something. Trying to escape. I was just a tourist with a camera.”

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