Any Means Necessary (a Luke Stone Thriller-Book #1)

Chapter Forty Nine

1:03 a.m.

Bowie, Maryland - Eastern Suburbs of Washington, DC

Luke parked a hundred feet away. The house was a raised ranch, sitting on top of a two-car garage. Just about every light in the house was on. One of the garage bays was open and lit up. The place looked like Christmas.

There was nothing in the open garage bay—just some tools hanging along the wall, a garbage bin, a couple of rakes and shovels in the corner. Luke guessed that Brenna had moved his own car out of there so that Chuck could pull straight in when he arrived. These guys had no idea who they were dealing with.

Luke glanced at the sky. It was an overcast night. With everything that was at stake, he wouldn't be surprised if at any second, a drone strike obliterated the house. They would do it and claim it was lightning. Only they would probably wait for Susan Hopkins to get here before they did.

The game was winner take all.

Luke's phone rang. He glanced at it and answered.

"Ed."

"Luke, I'm glad you're still alive."

"Me too. Thanks for the heads-up. It saved me."

"Trudy told me to call. She told me your family is missing. Is that true?"

"It is," Luke said. "Yes."

"Are you going to stand down?"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. My best hope is to keep going forward."

"I want to tell you something in confidence," Ed said. "I once kept a man alive for a week while I killed him. It was a private matter, not work-related. I would do it again. If someone hurts your family, I will do it for you. That's a promise."

Luke swallowed. The day might come when he took Ed up on that offer.

"Thank you."

"What can I do for you now?"

"I have a friend," Luke said. "He's an Iraqi doctor and he works at the Chief Medical Examiner's office down on E Street. His name is Ashwal Nadoori. I blew my cover for him in-country once upon a time. Saved his ass. He owes me. When we hang up, I want you to call him. Okay?"

"Got it."

"Tell him I'm calling in the favor. No uncertain terms. He doesn't have a choice. He told me he would walk across the desert on his knees for me. Something like that. Remind him of it. This is his one chance to repay me. Then go meet... Can you walk?"

"No. Not really. But I can gimp."

"Then gimp over to his office. When you get there, call me back, but don't use the phone you're using now. Steal somebody's phone. I'm answering all my calls tonight. If I see a call from a number I don't recognize, I'll know it's from you. By then, I'll have picked up another phone. We'll do a call between the two stolen phones. I'll give Ashwal his instructions at that time. You might have to help him do what I need done. You might have to twist his arm a little."

"All right, Luke. I'm pretty good at arm-twisting."

"I know you are."

Luke hung up and got out of the car. From his trunk he took a metal box and a green satchel. He walked through the dark neighborhood up to the front door of the house. He had a hunch the neighborhood wasn't really sleeping. Who could sleep on a night like this? He pictured dozens of people all around him, lying awake in bed, maybe talking quietly with loved ones, maybe crying, maybe praying.