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Chapter 10
As he drove, Fi
Harvath shook his head no.
“I guess I’ll cancel the dancing girls too, then,” said Fi
Harvath didn’t respond. His mind was a million miles away as he pulled his BlackBerry from its holster and checked it again for messages. He’d given Tracy ’s father and her nurses his number in case anything changed. He’d also explained to Bill Hastings, as best he could, why he had to leave.
Remembering that cell phone reception at the resort was notoriously spotty, Harvath was wondering if he should have given them that number too when Fi
“Let’s eat after,” said Harvath as he tucked his BlackBerry away. “Then nobody will have to stay late on my account.”
Fi
“Business is that good, huh?”
Fi
“Don’t worry,” Harvath replied as he stared at the reflection of himself cast against the passenger window and the ever-darkening sky. “It won’t.”
They made small talk the rest of the way to the resort. Fi
Harvath didn’t, so they talked about everything else but.
Approaching the main gates for Elk Mountain, Fi
Though the guards knew their boss and his vehicle by sight, they still stopped the Hummer, recorded its arrival, checked it over thoroughly, and then waved it on through. Harvath had always been impressed with the level of security at Elk Mountain.
At the main lodge, Fi
Climbing into the backseat, Parker removed a Coors from the cooler, reached around, and punched Harvath in the left arm. “Good to see you,” he said.
Looking up, he could see Fi
“Do you think that behavior is appropriate?” replied Fi
Parker leaned between the front seats as he popped the top from his beer and asked, “It’s your other shoulder that got messed up, right?”
Harvath nodded. “My left’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Parker smiled, sat back, and took a long pull from his beer.
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” replied Fi
“Listen,” said Parker, “as of ten minutes ago I’m off-duty. And what I do on my personal time is my business.”
“Then you’re fired. I’ll have the pink slip on your desk in the morning.”
Parker took another swig of beer. “Super, I’ll place it on the spike with all the rest of them.”
Both Fi
Fi
“Not much has changed, has it?” said Harvath.
Fi
Parker and Fi
Harvath knew that the men at the front gate were also strapped; they just kept their iron out of sight. Here, though, Fi
As they pulled away from the checkpoint and drove toward the Sargasso facility, Harvath asked, “Ex SWAT?”
“Special Forces, actually,” replied Parker.
Harvath laughed dismissively. “C’mon.”
“He’s one hundred percent serious,” said Fi
“Doing guard duty?”
“Guard duty is only one of the things they do here,” answered Parker. “They’re on a rotation, so it’s a shift everyone has to pull each month.”
“I know what those guys make in the private sector. You’ve got some very expensive gatekeepers.”
Fi
“But make no mistake,” added Parker. “They’ve got it pretty good here. We’ve got an excellent bonus and compensation package that far outpaces what these guys would be pulling in anywhere else.”
Harvath looked at Fi
The SUV came to a stop in front of the poorly lit entrance of what looked like an old mineshaft.
Harvath was about to ask where they were when he saw a faded sign hanging over the opening that proclaimed Sargasso Mining Company. He was looking at the understated entrance to Fi
Chapter 11
One hundred feet down the sloping tu
He had to give Tim Fi
A rather unremarkable sign was nailed to it that stated Danger. Keep Out.
Fi
The large tu
When they got there they were greeted by another brace of guards. Though they looked just as serious as the last set of guards, these men simply waved them along.
“They get a couple hundred feet below ground and your guys start to slack off, don’t they?” Harvath joked.
Fi
“Everything except whether I’m wearing boxers or briefs,” stated Harvath.
“We’ve got that too,” replied Fi