Page 101 of Edge of Honor

Leaning even further into the choke, Harvath tried to finish off his oxygen supply. Despite having a broken right arm, Hale used it to push back, forcing Harvath to ease off. It was a contest of wills.

The only way Harvath could end this was to slip his other hand behind Hale’s head and make it a full choke. But if he did that, it would leave the man’s gun-grasping hand free, which was an absolute nonstarter.

Abandoning the choke, Harvath added his left hand to the fight for the gun.

But as he did, it changed his weight distribution, allowing Hale to bridge his hips and begin attempting to throw Harvath off.

Again and again, Harvath slammed the giant’s meaty left hand against the floor, trying to get him to release the pistol. Finally, it worked.

With a sweep of his hand, Harvath sent the weapon scudding across the bedroom floor and went to reestablish the choke, but Hale was already scrambling to get out from under him.

Using his right hand, Harvath pummeled the man with blows to his jaw and the left side of his head, including his ear.

As he did, he used his other hand to locate the hypodermic needle in his outer left cargo pocket.

Once his fingers closed around it, he pulled it out, flicked off the hinged safety cap, and drove the needle through Hale’s sweatpants into his thigh.

Depressing the plunger, he gave him the full injection of ketamine and stayed on top of him for several minutes until the man went limp.

Harvath knew he didn’t have much time. The effects of the drug could wear off in as little as five minutes. Considering how big Hale was,he worried the man might metabolize it even faster. He needed to get moving.

Standing up, he gave McGee a SITREP as he folded Hale’s blanket in half and rolled the monster onto it.

After gathering up his tactical light, Taser, and the hypodermic needle, he grabbed the top two corners of the blanket and dragged Hale out of the apartment.

Getting the man down the stairs was a pain in the ass, but Harvath managed. The real challenge was getting him up and into the cargo area of the nearest vehicle in the garage, which was the Range Rover.

Try as he might, however, Harvath couldn’t do it. Lifting that much dead weight up that high was a two-man job at least. He was wasting precious time.

Laying Hale back on the blanket, Harvath dragged the man to the other side of the garage.

Like an automotive version of Goldilocks, he walked past the also impossibly high Land Rover, past the 911 with its tiny front trunk or “frunk” as it was known, until he arrived at the Mercedes, which was just right.

With his muscles burning from hefting Hale into the trunk, he zip-tied the man’s feet and hands, put a piece of duct tape over his mouth, rolled a down over his head, and shut the lid.

Grabbing the fob from where it was hanging, he climbed behind the wheel and let McGee know he was ready to move.

“Roger that,” McGee replied over the radio. “I’m in place.”

They were at the final and, quite possibly, the most difficult phase of the plan. Opening the armrest, Harvath found the vehicle’s lone remote. It was capable of opening and closing the garage door, but that was it. There wasn’t a clicker for the front gate. That had to be activated by security personnel in a guard shack at the end of the driveway.

Separate from the rest of the estate’s security system, it wasn’t something that Nicholas had control over. McGee’s timing was going to need to be absolutely perfect.

Firing up the almost 800-horsepower V-8, he hit the button, raised the garage door, and pulled slowly into the motor court. Ahead of him the driveway loomed, dark and oppressive.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, he rolled forward, driving past the main house, the guesthouse, and then the security building where Nicholas had placed the Goblins. Nothing stirred and no one came out to flag him down. So far, so good.

As he neared the end of the driveway, he could see the guard booth and the silhouette of the lone security agent inside, illuminated by his monitor.

Harvath flashed his hi-beams, as he hoped members of the Willis family had done on countless occasions when leaving the property at night, signaling to the guard to begin retracting the gate so that he could drive right out and wouldn’t have to slow down when he got there.

The guard turned to look out the window behind him, but the gate remained closed, blocking Harvath’s path to the main road beyond.

“Come on…” he muttered under his breath, as he gripped the leather steering wheel tighter.

The guard turned back around, but instead of pushing the button, the armed man got up out of his chair and exited the booth.

Harvath could feel his heart rate increasing and forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths.

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