Extreme Measures (A Brady Hawk Novel Book 20)

a muscular guard.
“We’re authorized to shoot anyone who’s broken into this facility,” the other, thinner guard chimed in.
Hawk raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa, fellas. Let’s stay calm here. This is just a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” the muscular man said. “I don’t think tranqing one of our guards is a misunderstanding. That’s a very clear message.”
“I’m Agent Wells from Homeland Security,” Hawk said. “Let me show you my badge.”
“I don’t wanna see your badge, man,” the thin guy said. “You’re not supposed to be in here no matter who you work for.”
Hawk slowly stood. “If you’ll give me a moment, I can explain.”
“I said don’t move,” the other guard said.
“Are you alone?” the thin man asked.
“Yeah,” Hawk said. “I’m just following up on a request from Washington to inspect this container.”
"So, you put a tranquilizer dart in our guard out front?"
Hawk nodded. “He was giving me some trouble. And I didn’t have much time to argue with him, and he insisted that I return tomorrow. But I’m trying to get back home in the morning for my daughter’s fifth birthday.”
“Sounds like a load of bullshit to me,” the thin man said.
“You’re coming with us,” the beefy guard said as he reached for Hawk’s arm.
However, the clattering of a metal object on the concrete floor on the other side of the room arrested the two men’s attention.
“I thought you said you were alone,” the muscular man said.
“I am alone,” Hawk affirmed.
“Then what made that noise over there?”
Before Hawk could answer, another clanking sound reverberated off the walls. When both men turned back toward the direction of the raucous, Hawk seized the opportunity, punching each man in the back. They reached for the place where they were hit, wincing in pain. Hawk kicked the thin guy in the back of the head, knocking him out. The beefy man staggered around to face Hawk. They each held their weapons on the other.
“You don’t have to die tonight,” Hawk said. “Just forget I was ever here, and we’ll move on.”
“You’re in no position to make recommendations about what I should do,” the guard said.
A dart flew into his neck, rendering him unconscious seconds later. Hawk turned toward the direction of the shot.
“Nice shot, hun,” he said.
She shrugged. “You can buy me dinner later tonight as a thank you.”
“I was already planning on that.”
“In that case, I’ll take a half-hour massage.”
Hawk shook his head and huffed a laugh through his nose. “Let’s inspect this container and then get the hell outta here.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Hawk snatched up his bolt cutters, placed the blade edge against one of the pins, and squeezed the handles together. The lock fell apart, clattering onto the cement floor.
“Let’s have a look,” Hawk said as he yanked open the doors.
Inside, bags of grain were stacked neatly on pallets piled high throughout the container. Hawk dug his knife out of his pocket and ripped into one of the bags. Quinoa spilled onto the floor.
“Would you look at that?” Alex said.
Hawk balled up his fist and slammed it against the side of the container. “Another dead end.”

CHAPTER 10
Washington, D.C.
BLUNT PACED AROUND his office the next morning as he processed the latest news from Hawk and Alex regarding the Nicolo warehouse. While Blunt hadn’t ruled out that perhaps Marcos Nicolo was playing the CIA in an effort to get back to his children, all accounts pointed toward him telling the truth. However, two big questions remained: Where were the weapons? And what were they planning on doing with them?
Blunt was still mulling over all the different possibilities when Mia called.
“Please tell me you have some good news,” Blunt said.
“Well, I’m not sure if it’s good or not, but I do have an update,” she said.
“What did you find out?”
“To begin with, I found out my rates are well below market values right now. I’m purposefully difficult to find, so I haven’t been flooded with new clients like some other hackers I talked to when investigating this matter.”
“And that’s noteworthy because—”
“There’s a shortage in our industry. Supply and demand. More people have needs than there are competent hackers.”
“In other words, that confirms that some of these top hackers have disappeared lately?”
“Exactly. I started asking around to see what had happened to a few of the more active hackers in secure chatrooms that I sometimes participate in on occasion. And I can confirm that more than a dozen of the top hackers in the world have been silent for at least three months now.”
Blunt sat down and jotted a few notes. "You know these people and their skillsets probably as well as anyone. Are there any commonalities between them?"
“Such as?”
“You know like where they live or who they dislike or what causes they typically protest for?”
“Nothing jumped out at me. They’re mostly from Europe, but some are from China and Korea. There’s one hacker from South Africa, too. So, that’s not it.”
“NetSlayer91 likes hacking celebrities’ phones, but another missing hacker named Zappd specifically targets other hackers who attack famous actors and athletes.”
“Have you compiled a list of all the people who’ve gone dark?” Blunt asked.
“I’ll text it to you now,” she said. “But it’s probably not definitive by any means. There are some hackers who always stay quiet.”
“Okay,” Blunt said. “That’d be helpful.”
“Anything else you want to know about them?” Mia asked.
“I’m curious if you heard anyone talking about the recent hack of Goldman Sachs.”
“The one last week where someone drained the accounts of their top ten clients?”
“That’s the one.”
“Yeah, I read a few threads about that one. I’m not sure if it’s related or not.”
Blunt kept writing down what he was learning from Mia. “Who’s capable of doing something like that? Anyone from that list?”
"I'm not sure any one person could hack Goldman Sachs. They have some of the best cybersecurity measures in the world."
“But what about a team of people like the one that potentially could be formed? A team of super hackers, so to speak?”
Mia blew out a