Page 33 of Hawk on the Hunt

“Apologies.”

“Stay at home tomorrow, no matter what happens. Keep your regular cellphone and your burner switched on. It’s important. Your cellphone may provide you with an alibi should any of the events tomorrow be linked to you. And should anything change, I need to be able to reach you on the burner. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. In the morning you will call your office and tell them you have food poisoning and will stay at home.”

“All right.”

“Good. It’s paramount that you follow these instructions to a T. I can’t have anything threatening my plans tomorrow.”

“You can count on me… uhm…”

“Yes? What else?”

“Uhm… the money, you know, for my services… when can I expect the funds in my account?”

Polo scoffed silently. Smith wasn’t any better than a common whore. He sold himself for money, whereas Polo believed in something.

“You’ll receive what is due to you by the end of tomorrow.” And that wasn’t even a lie. Smith would indeed receive what he deserved.

“Thank you, sir, I appreciate it.”

There was something akin to relief in Smith’s tone of voice. If only the fool knew what he deserved, but weasels like Smith had no idea of their true value. Or lack thereof.

“Thank you for your service,” Polo said and disconnected the call.

He turned the cellphone around, opened up the back of it, and took out the SIM card. He placed it in a marble ashtray, took a decorative paperweight from the coffee table and smashed the SIM card with it.

There would be no more communications with Smith.

19

“Are you sure you can get us in?” Dylan asked, giving Zara a sideways look as she maneuvered her car through early morning D.C. traffic. He sat in the passenger seat, while Tiger sat behind him.

“As long as you get through the metal detector at the Dirkson Senate building, you’re good to get into the Capitol,” she assured him. “I’ll have visitor passes ready for both of you. Make sure you text me before you get there, so I can meet you in the lobby.”

Dylan nodded. They’d discussed every detail of their plan several times to make sure everybody knew what they needed to do.

“And don’t bring that thing with you,” she said, gesturing behind her, where a small backpack lay next to Tiger. “You won’t pass through security with it.”

“Understood,” Tiger said. “We’ll ditch it when we’re done with it.”

“Shame having to toss it,” Dylan added.

“Yeah, but there won’t be any time to store it somewhere safe,” Tiger said. “The moment we use it, we’ll only have so long before Polo gets wind of what’s happening. We have to get to him before that, or he’s in the wind, if he values his life and his freedom.”

Dylan nodded. He knew what time constraints they were under. “All right.” He pointed to the next street corner. “Let’s get out here.”

“It’s still a few blocks to the White House,” Zara replied.

“We’ll walk from here. You need to get to your office on time so nobody suspects a thing.”

Zara pulled the car to the curb and stopped. “Good luck.”

Dylan leaned over to her and kissed her. “Be careful. If anything unexpected happens, send me a message.”

Zara nodded, and Dylan exited the car. Tiger already stood on the sidewalk, a small backpack slung over one shoulder. As Zara merged back into traffic, he joined Tiger, and they started walking toward the White House. Dylan looked at his wristwatch. They were cutting it close. During rush hour traffic it had taken them longer to get here than he’d estimated.