Page 66 of Storm Warning

He had a line of sight to the restroom and so returned to John’s side. He was pale, but they’d slowed the bleeding for now. Nothing here to start an IV or fluids, so they’d just have to wait.

Hawk couldn’t lose this man. He’d been a pillar in his life.

Lord, please save him.Hawk found himself crying out to God more than he had in far too long, and maybe that’s what despair did. It brought a man to his knees before God.

John coughed, and Hawk gripped his hand. “You with me, John? Stay with me.”

The man twisted his head around and looked at Hawk. His eyes weren’t glazed over but clear. His grip strong. That’s why John had been his CO, his friend, and mentor. His guide. He was as strong as they came. Still, seeing him like this gutted Hawk.

Hawk didn’t want to press him too much, stress him out, but if possible and John was willing, Hawk needed answers in case this was his only chance to get them. “You sent me to Cedar Trails Lodge.”

John nodded. Coughed again. At least now he wasn’t hacking up blood. He shouldn’t talk, he should just rest, but so much was on the line and Hawk suspected that John knew that better than Hawk.

“I told you that I still had connections in the intelligence community,” John said. “But I didn’t tell you everything. The company I work for—Conclave Assets—is an import and export business, but it’s just a front for an intelligence firm.”

So, John was more than just connected to that community. He was in it. But how deep? “A private firm? Or government agency?”

“Private.”

“Whatkindof private intelligence?”

“Contract with government agencies. Cover everything including international and counterintelligence.”

The government didn’t have enough spies, so it had to contract out for them? Hawk nodded, absorbing John’s words. And he wanted to know much more. When would emergency services arrive? This man had to survive.

“I was tasked to find out if she remembered anything in the hospital, and then when she didn’t, I followed her. I’ve known she was at Cedar Trails Lodge from the beginning. I arranged for Dr. Holcomb to send her there and to inform me, but someone else was listening. When Cole came up on the radar...” John paused to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and Hawk feared the man had said his last words, at least for the time being.

Remi returned to the room but kept her distance, giving Hawk and John a moment.

“I suspected he was a threat to Remi, and you’d been searching for him.”

“You orchestrated her being at the lodge to keep her safe and sent me to interrupt Cole’s plans. Why not tell me what I was walking into?”

“Security clearance.”

Remi had somehow ended up involved in a special operation that was classified. What had she forgotten? “What’s so important for her to remember?”

“Tied to Charles Whitman.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s dangerous. An arms dealer and a threat to national security.”

Hawk didn’t understand any of this.

“Then why aren’t the feds involved? Why didn’t you tell me so I could be prepared?”

John closed his eyes.

The man was probably done talking, and he shouldn’t have been sharing information with Hawk, but given the circumstances and the fact that he might be dying, John was ready to give up at least some of the intel.

John grimaced in pain. “Operation Blackout.”

The operation had a name. “What is it? What can I do to help?” Where was that helicopter? Emergency services? Where were the harbor police? How long did it take to get to one stinking, small island?

John opened his eyes again. “Classified intel. You need to be gone before the police get here.”

“You can’t have us talking. You shouldn’t have told us.” Hawk shook his head.

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