Read Online Pursuit Of Honor by Vince Flynn - Free Book Online Page B

were going to go down, he wanted to do it in one final, glorious battle, taking as many Americans with him as possible. The idea of being surrounded and forced to choose between suicide and surrender was extremely unappealing.
    A few steps before Hakim reached the front of the house he heard the squawk of a radio. It was Ahmed calling out the distance to his targets. Hakim walked past the center staircase and reached the front portion of the house. A small dining room was on his left and a living room on his right. Karim was in the living room, kneeling at the window ledge, peering through the lace curtain.
    Karim looked at Hakim and ordered, “Get down.”
    Hakim ignored him and walked straight to the front door, where he looked through the small twelve-by-twelve-inch window. Two men were coming up the gravel driveway and they were definitely dressed in orange-orange hats and orange vests. Hakim was slack-jawed for a moment, and then began to snicker as he thought of Ahmed’s confusion. In Afghanistan the Americans would drape their vehicles and positions in orange panels to reduce the chances of their own planes bombing them. Ahmed assumed these men were wearing orange for the same reason-that they were federal agents and they did not want their own men shooting them.
    “Get down,” Karim hollered.
    “Relax,” Hakim said. “They are hunters.”
    “How do you know?”
    Hakim often grew tired of having to explain the obvious to his friend. “Hunting is very popular in this part of America. Animals are color-blind. They wear orange so they don’t get shot by another hunter.”
    Ahmed’s voice crackled over the radio. “I have the shot. Do I have your permission?”
    Hakim looked up the staircase and yelled, “No. Do not shoot.”
    Anger flashed across Karim’s face. “It is not your place to give such orders.”
    “They are hunters.”
    Karim’s eyes narrowed. “What if they are agents posing as hunters?”
    Hakim hadn’t thought of that, but he wasn’t about to admit it to Karim, so he looked out the window and studied the two men. They were now just fifty yards away. They’d made it up the long, straight stretch of the driveway and were now entering the large gravel square that sat between the house and the barn. The man on the left was half a head taller and quite a bit heavier than the other man. A few seconds later Hakim realized the shorter man was a teenager.
    “They are not agents,” Hakim said assuredly. “One of them is a boy.”
    “It could be a trick.”
    Hakim didn’t even have to think about this one. The Americans would never try such a stunt. In a voice loud enough to carry up the stairs he said, “Both of you stay calm and keep out of sight. I will see what they want.” He bent over and set his gas mask on the floor.
    “No,” Karim ordered.
    “Trust me for once, you fool.” He slid his gun into the back waistband of his pants and covered it with the tail of his black long-sleeved T-shirt. As he started to open the door he heard Karim hissing obscenities at him. Hakim stepped onto the front porch and put a warm smile on his face. Holding his right hand up in a casual, friendly gesture, he said, “Good morning. Can I help you?” His English was near perfect, with only the slightest accent. If a stranger had to guess, he was more likely to think he was Indian or Pakistani than Saudi.
    “Sorry to bother you,” the older of the two said. “My name is Ted White… this is my son, Hayden.”
    “Hello, my name is Harry. How can I help you?”
    The two men stopped about twenty feet from the front porch. “Well… I’m sorry to intrude, especially this early. I saw the No Trespassing signs.” The father looked over his shoulder back down the long drive. “But I didn’t know what else to do… you see, I’m a cousin of the Terwilligers… the family who used to own this place. I assume you’re the new owner.”
    “That is correct.”
    The man smiled a bit awkwardly. “Do you