The expensive silk sheets were a mess of wrinkles. Emily's professional skirt lay abandoned on the costly Persian rug, alongside the remains of her torn stockings.
She was sprawled on Hawk's sweat-slicked chest, her long blonde hair spread like seaweed. Several strands clung to her cheeks and neck, which were flushed a charming red. She was breathing lightly, her body still retaining the fine tremors left by extreme pleasure, her eyes distant and profoundly satisfied. Moonlight traced the elegant curve of her smooth back, extending down to her alluring dimples of Venus.
Moments later, Emily was fast asleep in his arms, her breathing steady.
Hawk carefully slipped his arm out from under her and tucked the covers around her. He then picked up a uniquely designed, unlabeled encrypted satellite phone from the bedside table, his finger tracing the cold metal casing before dialing a number.
After the line connected, a few seconds of silence passed, then a lazy, magnetic, and slightly cynical female voice broke the quiet. The faint clinking of ice against a crystal glass could be heard in the background:
"Well, well... look who's interrupting a lady's alone time late at night? King?"
The voice belonged to Cipher, the master hacker and intelligence queen who had manipulated and controlled the world in Fast & Furious. Her tone carried that familiar jest, as if she could see him through the radio waves.
Hawk's lips curved upward. Cipher was one of the very few people who knew his King identity. Cipher's intelligence network was exceptionally mature, covering the entire globe.
"Cipher. Interrupting a lady? My memory suggests you prefer the chaos of a midnight show." His voice held the easy familiarity of a long-lost friend.
"Heh," Cipher chuckled, her lazy tone laced with sharpness. "Chaos is my stage. But you, little Hawk, I hadn't heard from you for so long, I thought you'd finally tired of being a costumed weirdo." She deliberately emphasized the term "little," dredging up an old jab.
Hawk leaned against the cold floor-to-ceiling window.
"School couldn't teach me how to blow my enemies sky-high, Cipher. Time, however, has taught me quite a bit." His voice held a new maturity and power. "For example, how to make a woman who once thought I was 'too small and uninteresting' re-evaluate her judgment."
A momentary silence fell on the other end, and the sound of the ice stopped. Hawk could almost picture Cipher narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Oh? The Bates family blown sky-high?" Cipher's voice returned to its usual lazy drawl, but a closer listen revealed a new layer of curiosity and faint interest beneath it.
Hawk smiled, his lips pressed together. "Am I to understand that your intelligence capabilities have weakened, Cipher, or that you're just not paying me as much attention?"
Cipher gave a soft snort. "Sounds like, over the past three years, the little Hawk has not only grown taller but has also gotten a lot more gutsy? Tell me, what kind of skills have you acquired?"
Hawk gave a quiet laugh, choosing not to directly answer her probing. "Whether my skills are good enough depends on whether you can handle my 'assignment.' However, catching up can wait, Cipher. I need your professional services, now."
"Finally getting to business?" Cipher's tone instantly switched. The laziness vanished, replaced by the cold efficiency of a top-tier information broker. "What's the price tag on this 'assignment'?"
"TCRI," Hawk articulated the name. "I need everything on it. Every registered, hidden, or thinly veiled factory, lab, and research facility across the US—precise coordinates, names of those in charge, project codenames, and a security level manifest. The more detailed, the better. The sooner, the better."
The rapid tapping of a keyboard echoed from Cipher's end, like cold raindrops.
"TCRI... Interesting. Their firewall is like an onion, layer upon layer, and armed with poisoned spikes." She seemed to be rapidly assessing the difficulty. "Nationwide, deep dive... This is not a free afternoon tea, little Hawk."
"I never drink free afternoon tea," Hawk stated unequivocally. "Name your price."
Cipher paused, calculating. After a brief delay, she stated a figure: "Five hundred thousand dollars. Within two hours."
"Deal." Hawk didn't hesitate, picking up his tablet with his other hand and beginning the transfer operation.
"Straightforward," Cipher sounded pleased by his decisiveness. "Though I should warn you, little Hawk, messing with something on the level of TCRI tends to draw blood."
"I'm used to the smell of blood," Hawk said calmly, as the tablet screen displayed a successful fingerprint verification. "The money's gone through."
Almost immediately, a faint notification sound came from Cipher's side. "Received. Efficiency, indeed... you've grown up." She chuckled with a knowing implication. "Then, the 'manifest' you requested will be delivered to your designated secure cloud within two hours. Delivering it 'personally' isn't out of the question... if you're still in New York?" The last sentence returned to her lazy, suggestive tone.
"Just send the manifest. As for the 'personal' service, we'll discuss the quality of your work first." Hawk's voice was playful, but the underlying tone was a firm conclusion. "Keep the line open, Cipher."
"I look forward to your feedback, Hawk..." Cipher's voice dissolved into the humming of the encrypted line.
Hawk put down the satellite phone. The cold screen reflected his deep eyes. Outside the window, the city lights still glittered, but a silent war against the behemoth known as TCRI had quietly been initiated by the queen lurking in the network shadows, triggered by his contact.
Emily had rolled over at some point, sleepily mumbling, "...Whose phone call? In the middle of the night..."
"An old acquaintance," Hawk replied, walking back to the bed. He lay down, his large hand naturally pulling her into his embrace. "A very efficient specialist. My reinforcement."
His gaze drifted to the dark ceiling, waiting for that half-million-dollar manifest. Cipher's capability was beyond doubt. Two hours would be enough for her to peel back a layer of TCRI.
He thought for a moment, checked the time, and after a brief hesitation, brazenly sent a message to Natasha.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!