Full Black - Brad Thor [130]
“I’ll look into it now,” replied the Old Man. “How bad is his condition?”
“He tried to suck on a cigarette lighter and also managed to Tase himself before shooting himself in the knee, but he’ll live.”
“Understood. We’ll figure out how close the nearest aircraft is and then we’ll decide on an airport. LAX has been shut down and probably won’t reopen for a few days.”
“We’re also going to need someone to sanitize the house I was using,” said Harvath. “I left all the surveillance gear in there.”
“We’ll have someone handle it.”
“You should have a team go through Sarhan’s house as well.”
“We’ll get on that, too,” replied Carlton, who then shifted gears. “In the meantime, I’m assuming you took an unattributable phone with you?”
“Of course I did. Why?”
“You’ve had two urgent calls from a man named Hank McBride.”
Harvath recognized the name immediately. Hank had been one of his father’s SEAL team buddies who used to come by the house and check on things when Harvath was a kid and his father was deployed. He was still very close with Harvath’s mom and his call could only mean one thing. “Did he say what it was about?”
“Negative. He just left a number and asked you to call him as soon as possible.”
Harvath took the number, told Carlton he would call him back, and made for the entrance to the 405 freeway headed south. His mother still lived on Coronado Island across the bay from San Diego.
Speeding through an intersection and a light that had already turned red, Harvath narrowly missed being hit by two cars as he dialed Hank McBride’s number.
“This is Hank,” the old SEAL said as he answered the call.
“Hank, it’s Scot,” Harvath replied. “What’s going on with my mom?”
“Your mom’s fine, relax.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing, I didn’t call about your mom. I need a favor.”
Harvath backed off his speed. “Mom’s okay?”
“She’s fine,” insisted McBride. “I saw her a couple of days ago when I was down her way. Actually, she looks great.”
Thank God, he thought as his heart rate began to lower. “Hank, I’m in the middle of an assignment right now. I’m going to have to call you back.”
“When?”
“I don’t know,” said Harvath. “I’ll get back to you.”
The old SEAL wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Scot, I wouldn’t have tracked you down and left two messages at your office if it wasn’t important.”
Already navigating the freeway on ramp, Harvath decided to give him until the next exit to explain what he wanted. “What do you need, Hank?”
“It’s not for me. It’s for a friend of mine.”
Having worked for a prior president, Harvath was used to people reaching out to him for help with things in D.C. “I can save you some time. I’ve got no pull with the current administration.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“I don’t want to be rude, Hank, but you need to get to the point. I’m really busy right now.”
Hank didn’t waste any more time. “Do you know who Larry Salomon is?”
“The movie producer? Of course I do.”
“Someone sent a Spetsnaz team to whack him.”
“When?” replied Harvath.
“The night before last,” said Hank. “It was all over the news. At least it was until those fuckers blew up all of those theaters. My God, what are they going to do next?”
“Turn on your TV. They just hit LAX.”
“They what?”
“That’s part of why I’m so busy right now, Hank. So is Salomon dead?”
The old SEAL, who hesitated as he tried to flip his TV on in the background, finally said, “The technical adviser on all his films is a former Unit guy named Luke Ralston. He’s a pal of mine and he was with Salomon when he came home and found those guys. The two of them killed the entire Spetsnaz team.”
“Salomon and the guy from the Unit?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story.”
“Which they probably ought to be telling the police.”
“That’s just it,” said Hank. “They can’t. At least not yet. But here’s the good part. Ralston knows who helped coordinate the hit.