24 Declassified: Head Shot (2009)

Free 24 Declassified: Head Shot (2009) by David Jacobs Page A

Book: 24 Declassified: Head Shot (2009) by David Jacobs Read Free Book Online
Authors: David Jacobs
troubleshooting unit for the Sky Mount Round Table. The MRT consisted of Hardin; his second- in-command, Sergeant Cole Taggart; and troopers Sharon Stallings and Miller Fisk.
    They were all state police officers who’d been detached from their regular duties for this special temporary assignment. They operated out of a substation at Mountain Lake, a site on the lower slopes below Sky Mount.
    The substation was a tan brick blockhouse, a minimalist single- story structure with a low, peaked roof. It contained a front desk area, a couple of detention cells, a squad room, Hardin’s office, and several back rooms. It was only in use during the warm weather months; winter’s heavy snows closed all but the main roads for weeks at a time, making it impractical to keep the substation open throughout the icy season.
    Hardin’s office was a modest-sized rectangle whose entrance was in one of the short sides.
    A window in the rear wall opened on a spectacular view of the eastern foothills and the river valley. Hardin sat with his back to it, facing the offi ce door from behind a golden oak desk. A handsome reddish-brown leather couch stood against one of the long walls. The wall space above the couch was decorated with honorary plaques and citations awarded to Hardin for various achievements in law enforcement. A row of gray metal filing cabinets was lined up along the opposite wall. The space above them displayed framed photographs of Hardin posing with important-looking personages, presumably politicians and suchlike dignitaries.
    A pair of armchairs stood at tilted angles facing the front of Hardin’s desk. Jack Bauer sat in one of them. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but even if it had been, Jack was in no mood to appreciate it. He noticed that both chairs were short-legged and set close to the floor, forcing those who sat in them to have to look up at Hardin. Hardin’s desk was flanked by a pair of flagpoles mounted in floor stands. The flag of the United States stood on the left and the state flag on the right.
    Hardin was in his fifties, with wavy dark hair gray at the temples framing a thick- featured, square-shaped face. He was thick- bodied, heavy in the chest and shoulders. His manner expressed sincerity and frankness. It occurred to Jack that Hardin was something of a politician himself.
    Hardin said, “As the saying goes, when I make a mistake it’s a beaut! I pulled a real boneheaded move when I apprehended you, Agent Bauer. I had no idea that we were both on the same team, you being a Federal officer and all. Quite frankly—I goofed.”
    Jack sat holding a towel-wrapped ice pack against the left side of his face, where Fisk had smacked him with his own gun. Jack had seen the blow coming and rolled his head with it, deflecting some of the impact. It had knocked him down and stunned him despite his evasive response. He’d never actually lost consciousness but he’d seen stars for a while. Fisk had slapped him with the flat of the gun and Jack had caught most of it on his left cheekbone. Nothing was broken and his teeth on that side were all intact as far as he could tell. The side of his face was numb and swollen with a purple- brown bruise about the size of a man’s palm. The altitude headache he’d been suffering from earlier was as nothing compared to the colossal, king-sized headbanger he was experiencing now.
    Hardin had picked Jack up off the pavement and half carried, half dragged him to his patrol car and thrown him into the backseat. The first setback to the MRT’s certainty that they had snagged a hot one came when they looked inside the pickup truck and saw its sophisticated dashboard- mounted comm system. Sergeant Cole Taggart had explained it away by saying, “He probably stole the vehicle. We’ll get it all straightened out at the substation.”
    The quartet formed a convoy to the substation. Hardin took the lead, with Jack in the back of his car, a wire safety grille separating the lawman

Similar Books

Vendetta

Fern Michaels

The Last Airship

Christopher Cartwright

Walk Me Down

HJ Bellus

Pure Blooded

Amanda Carlson

Bringing It All Back Home

Philip F. Napoli

Naked Truth

Delphine Dryden