27. Hawk, Plotting a Robbery, Gets Robbed Himself

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Buzz!

Two thirty in the afternoon.

After landing, the flight from New York touched down smoothly at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Half an hour later, Hawk emerged from the airport with nothing but the essentials. He walked up to a taxi, opened the rear door, and climbed in, then gave the young Black driver the name of a motel in Quantico.

The driver nodded, started the meter, and pressed down on the accelerator, pulling away from the airport.

Although the Marine Corps base and the FBI Academy were both located in Quantico, that did not mean ordinary people were forbidden from going there.

They simply could not freely enter places under military control.

The town of Quantico itself—the area surrounding the base—was still open to the public.

Any disciplined person possessed extraordinary drive, and Hawk was no exception. After all, he was the kind of man who had thrown ten thousand punches every day for a thousand consecutive days.

Hawk’s drive was truly unparalleled.

That morning, he had barely left the Oscorp Industries building before he had appeared at the airport around noon and bought the fastest ticket to Washington.

He had not even gone home to pack a change of clothes.

Fortunately, he had spent the entire previous night studying a satellite map of Quantico. He had also worked out, roughly, how he would retrieve his Gammamium if he went there.

Otherwise, having just gotten off the plane, Hawk would probably have been wandering around like a headless fly, with no idea which way to go.

“Plan A.”

“If I can slip in quietly, I will.”

“But if I’m discovered, I’ll switch straight to Plan B.”

“Finish it quickly.”

Sitting in the back seat, Hawk silently ran through his plan once more. Then he gathered his thoughts and turned to watch the scenery outside the window.

Then…

Without changing expression, Hawk raised his eyes and glanced at the young Black driver in front of him. At the same time, he took the phone from his pocket—the one he had forgotten to turn back on after shutting it down for the flight.

The phone booted up quickly.

A series of notification sounds came through as text messages poured in.

Hawk arched an eyebrow. He was just about to unlock the phone and see what kind of junk messages his carrier had sent him this time when a deep voice rang out inside the car, accompanied by the dark muzzle of a gun thrust toward him from the front.

“Don’t move. Give me the phone.”

“…”

Hawk fell silent.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I doing?

No.

He had come to Quantico to rob someone. How had he barely landed, not even reached Quantico yet, and already been robbed himself?

Damn it!

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This was supposed to be the capital district. Was public safety really worse than in New York City?

In that instant, Hawk’s impression of Washington, D.C., plummeted to rock bottom.

The Black driver glanced at Hawk through the rearview mirror. Seeing him sitting motionless in the back seat, he spoke in a low voice and shook the gun slightly.

“Don’t move. Give me the phone.”

Hawk came back to himself.

“Do you want me not to move, or do you want me to give you the phone?”

“…”

The young man fell silent for a moment.

The next second, he seemed to snap.

“Motherfucker, stop screwing around and give me the damn phone—”

“Ring ring!”

Just as the driver lost his temper, a ringtone sounded from Hawk’s phone.

It was Gwen.

Hawk blinked at the only number saved in his contacts.

There was only one number stored in the phone.

As he had said before, he had no reason to remove the phone. He did not need to call anyone, and no one would call him.

Well…

Except Gwen.

Looking at her incoming call, Hawk answered it immediately and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello…”

“…”

The young Black driver completely lost it.

Through the rearview mirror, he stared at Hawk, who had ignored his gun—the great equalizer—and answered the call without the slightest hesitation. Hawk did not even bother pretending to be afraid.

The driver finally snapped.

The next second, he slammed on the brakes. The car lurched to a halt, and he twisted in his seat, reaching toward the back.

“Motherfucker, I swear to God—”

“Thud!”

“Ah!”

“…”

On the other end of the call, Gwen had just been about to speak when she suddenly heard what sounded like a scream coming from Hawk’s side. She blinked.

“Was that someone screaming, Hawk?”

“…Yeah. Some guy passing by was watching a movie. Probably some violent action film.”

“I suppose so. That scream sounded exactly like the kind someone makes when their ribs are broken.”

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“Uh…”

Hawk bent over, one hand clamped over the driver’s mouth as the man lay pressed against the dashboard. Hawk glanced at the spot where he had just struck the man’s ribs.

“You can tell where someone was injured just from the sound of their scream?”

Gwen laughed on the other end.

“Of course. My father’s a police chief. Let me tell you a secret: I’m probably more professional than some of the new officers.”

“…I can believe it.”

Hawk was speechless.

What else could he say? A top student was a top student. They learned everything faster than other people—and did it better, too.

Just then, Gwen’s laughter became bright and carefree.

“I’m teasing you. How could that possibly be true?”

“…All right. I believed you.”

“By the way, why was your phone turned off? I called you several times, but I couldn’t get through.”

“What happened?”

Hawk remained hunched over, one hand covering the driver’s mouth to keep him from screaming, while he held the phone with his other hand and continued talking to Gwen.

“Come downstairs.”

“What?”

“Doctor Connors heard that you were fired. He also knows you were made the scapegoat, and he felt bad about it, so he prepared a gift for you. But I couldn’t reach you, so I came over instead. Aren’t you home?”

Gwen had already driven her yellow Corolla to the foot of Hawk’s new apartment building. She pressed a hand against an envelope resting on the passenger seat and looked through the window toward the building.

When Hawk heard that Gwen had arrived downstairs at his apartment, he fell silent for a second or two before realizing what was happening.

“Right, I’m not home. Why don’t you take it back for now and give it to me when school starts?”

“I’m already out of the car.”

Closing the door, Gwen began walking toward Hawk’s new apartment building.

“You live in the top-floor apartment near the road, right? Your window is open. I’ll go in through the fire escape and leave it inside for you.”

Hawk was stunned.

There was nothing strange about Gwen knowing where he lived. She had been there when he filled out his employment paperwork and might have seen the address.

But…

“How did you know which apartment was mine?”

“I saw the shorts hanging by your window.”

“Uh…”

“You’ve been wearing those for three years. And if I remember correctly, they weren’t shorts originally, were they? You altered them back in tenth grade.”

“All right, that’s enough. I’ll leave the envelope inside for you. I need to get back, too.”

“…”