Free Near Dark: A Thriller by Brad Thor

her son, but it had been snatched from him.
    Now, here was Nicholas, on the verge of being given that priceless gift, yet the downbeat tone with which he delivered the news suggested he was anything but happy.
    “What’s wrong with you?” asked Harvath. “That’s wonderful news. You make it sound like you’ve just been diagnosed with a terminal illness.”
    “What’s wrong with me ? All you haveto do is look,” he said, waving his hand over his body, emphasizing how small he was. “What if the baby is born like this?”
    “What if it isn’t?”
    “What if it is ?”
    Harvath understood his friend’s concern, but the chances thatNicholas and Nina’s baby would also suffer from primordial dwarfism were so small they were almost nonexistent. The condition required a mutant gene from both parents andtherefore was incredibly rare.
    “Everything is going to be okay,” said Harvath as he chose a cigar. “When is she due?”
    “In seven months. Give or take.”
    “Your baby is going to be beautiful. Trust me. You’re going to be a great father.”
    Nicholas began laughing so hard, he nearly dropped the box. “From Marquis de Sade to Mother Goose. Sounds like a seamless transition.”
    Again, Harvath smiled.He had missed him. “I didn’t say it would be easy. I said you’d be great at it. And you will be. Congratulations.”
    “Thank you for the vote of confidence,” he replied. Selecting a cigar for himself, he then placed the box on the small table between them and offered Harvath the cutter.
    “You first,” his friend said.
    After Nicholas had snipped his cigar, he tossed the cutter over to Harvath followedby the lighter.
    The tips of their cigars glowed a bright orange as the men puffed away in the semidarkness of the porch and blew heavy clouds of smoke into the air.
    Nodding toward the bourbon, the bottled water, and the ice, Nicholas intimated that it was time for Harvath to pour.
    Once the drinks were made, they quietly clinked glasses and then settled back in their chairs. There was no toast.Neither wanted to break the silence that had settled over them. For the moment, they enjoyed not saying anything at all.
    It could last only so long. Finally, it was Harvath who spoke. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

CHAPTER 9
    W ith the Old Man dead, Lydia Ryan dead, and Harvath not interested, the management of The Carlton Group had fallen upon Nicholas. Right after the murders, when Harvath had gone missing, he had proven himself more than worthy of the challenge. He had worked tirelessly to get him back. This new threat they were facing, though, frightened him even more—and he didn’t scare easily.
    Exhalinga cloud of smoke, he asked, “Where do you want me to start?”
    “Who was the assassin in Key West?”
    “We don’t know, yet.”
    “Is it the same person who killed Carl Pedersen?”
    “We don’t know that either.”
    “Chase said there may be more than one assassin. He also said we have intel the Norwegians don’t.”
    Nicholas set his cigar in the ashtray and looked at his friend. “It’s only RUMINT. Nothing confirmed.”

    Harvath was familiar with the term. RUMINT stood for Rumor Intelligence. He waited for Nicholas to fill him in, and when he didn’t, he cocked an eyebrow as if to say, spill it .
    “Allegedly, someone, or some organization, took out a one-hundred-million-dollar contract on a single individual. At this point, it’s just whispers. Barely audible chatter on the Dark Web and in otherremote places. Wedidn’t share it with the Norwegians because in our opinion it was too vague.”
    “And you think the subject of this contract is me?” asked Harvath.
    Nicholas nodded. “That’s my concern. That’s why we brought you here.”
    “But why not one of our safe houses? Or one of the Agency’s?”
    “Do you want the tactical or the practical answer first?”
    “Tactical,” Harvath replied.
    “One hundred million dollarscan buy even the worst kind of person