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T he murky water of the Potomac was clouded with silt and he had to surface several times to verify his bearing. Eventually he could see the lights of the estate and he started to refine his course.

His target was the family’s long pier, which jutted far out into the river. But before he got to the pier, he had to make sure he didn’t bang into any of the acoustic security buoys they used to detect approaching watercraft.

Pulling out his night-vision monocular, he powered it up and scanned the waterline. It took a few moments, but he finally saw the first buoy and was able to give it a wide berth.

Once he made it past the second and the third, he was safe to head for the dock and take temporary refuge underneath.

Dropping back beneath the water, he kicked his fins until he got there, and then used a piling for support against the current.

Breaking the surface, he raised his diving mask and took his time peering through his night-vision device.

As he scanned the shoreline and what he could see of the estate, he paid close attention to the positions he knew contained the lights and security cameras.

So far, nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Confident that it was safe to move closer, he stowed the monocular and, fighting against the sideways current, proceeded under the dock toward shore.

As soon as it was shallow enough, he shrugged off his tank, turned off the air, and, using his weight belt and some ratchet tie-down straps, secreted a chunk of his gear under the dock.

When that was complete, he pulled his phone out of its waterproof pouch and texted McGee. The next phase of the operation was up to them. Harvath would wait under the pier until he received word that it was safe to make his way to the narrow strip of beach at the water’s edge.

Seeing the text from Harvath pop up on his phone, McGee turned to Nicholas and said, “Scot’s in place. Are you ready?”

He gave the harness around Draco’s chest a tug to make sure that it was secure. The last thing he needed was for it to slip. If that happened, he could be severely injured, if not killed.

Of his two dogs, Draco had always been better with the harness.

What’s more, the last time he had done this, Argos had been shot.

It was the night he and Scot had first crossed paths.

They had come to the same villa to kill the same man.

Nicholas had barely escaped with his life.

Harvath had saved Argos’s. It was the beginning of an intense and deeply felt friendship for all of them.

In addition to being better with the harness, Draco was younger than Argos and in better shape; more physically capable of the job Nicholas was about to ask him to perform.

Caressing his dog along its powerful lower jaw, he quietly apologized that it wasn’t cooler outside.

The heat and humidity were going to make the animal’s task that much more difficult.

McGee had his work cut out for him as well. Turning to him, Nicholas nodded and then asked, “You’re all good on the drones? No last-minute questions?”

“I’m good on the drones.”

“And the beacon?”

“Also good on the beacon,” the ex–CIA director replied. He could tell Nicholas was nervous about his role. “You’re going to be fine. Just be careful.”

Nicholas flashed him an uncomfortable smile. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Smiling back, McGee stepped out of the van onto the darkened grounds of River Farm, a popular tourist attraction and home to the American Horticultural Association. It was also the immediate next-door neighbor to the Willis estate.

With a limited system of outdoor security cameras, which had been easy for Nicholas to loop the feeds on, it made for the perfect staging ground.

As he came around to the side of the van, McGee saw that Nicholas had already opened the large sliding door.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked as he watched the man put on a small, child’s-sized backpack.

Nicholas was proud and didn’t like taking help from anyone. It had been drilled into him from an early age that if he were to survive in this world, he had to be able to fully fend for himself.

With that said, he knew how brittle his bones were. Falling from the van to the pavement could result in multiple fractures, possibly even an open fracture, not to mention a punctured lung or worse.

“If you could just give me a spot,” he replied.

McGee was happy to do it and positioned himself accordingly.

Nicholas gave Argos the command to wait in the van and then ordered Draco to climb out.

Once the dog was standing on the asphalt, he had the animal sidle up to the vehicle so that Nicholas could mount him like a jockey. It was one of the most unusual things McGee had ever seen.

Arms out, ready to catch him if the dog suddenly moved or the harness failed, the ex–CIA director asked, “Everything good? You okay?”

“I’m good,” Nicholas replied. “Thank you. Let’s get the drones out. I want number one in the air the minute I hit the tree line.”

McGee removed both drones from the van, along with their payloads, and setting them on the pavement said, “There you go. We’re good. You need to get moving. Scot’s waiting on us.”

Nodding, Nicholas flipped down his custom night-vision goggles. “No matter what happens,” he told McGee, “if Nina ever asks, you and I were in my office talking about a Carlton Group board position.”

The ex–CIA director laughed. “Until this week, I didn’t realize how much I miss this stuff. Don’t tempt me with a seat on the board. I just might take it.”

Nicholas knew when to let good enough alone and, giving Draco his cue, gripped the harness and spurred the beast into action.

Racing away from the van, the dog headed for the trees.

Nicholas tried to relax into the rhythm, to allow his body to be fluid and meld with the movements of the animal beneath him, but it had been a long time.

He knew that gripping the harness too tightly and stiffening up could be just as destructive as falling off, but he couldn’t help himself. Falling off was certain death. Anything short of that, no matter how destructive to his body, was unquestionably preferable.

“Approaching the tree line,” he announced over the earbone microphone attached to his radio.

“Roger that,” McGee replied, powering up the first drone and pushing the launch button. “Drone one away.”

Nicholas and Draco pushed into the trees.

The woods between River Farm and the Willis estate were not terribly dense, nor were they particularly wide.

But what they did have were lots of ground sensors and more than a few cameras.

This was where Nicholas’s contribution would be absolutely critical to the mission.

Because of the rampant deer population, motion sensors were set at a level that allowed deer and other four-legged creatures to pass undetected. What’s more, the advanced AI cameras being used at the Willis estate were trained to identify human beings and to ignore everything else.

Passing through the woods, Nicholas continued to guide Draco and encouraged him onward. There was no knowing what Hale’s people were seeing in their command center, nor if the security system had been tripped at all.

Nicholas decided that it was time to test their luck.

Directing Draco toward the Willis estate, he pushed into a zone he knew was tightly covered by cameras.

Lowering his head, he clung tightly to the dog’s neck and urged the beast forward. Five yards became ten. Ten became twenty. Nothing happened.

There was no activation of floodlights, no launch of security personnel in 4x4s. It was like they were exactly what Nicholas had intended them to be—simple forest creatures. The AI couldn’t spot the threat they posed because the AI had never seen such a threat.

“Drone one status,” Nicholas said over his radio as he steered Draco back on a more direct course to their objective.

“Drone one is directly overhead,” McGee replied. “You’re all clear.”

The degree to which developers had been able to dampen drone-rotor noise astounded Nicholas.

It was, in his opinion, one of the most remarkable achievements of physics and tech.

Someday very soon, he believed, we would be in an age of practically silent helicopters. The science was moving that fast.

Focusing on their objective, yet mindful of the temperature, he encouraged Draco to move a little faster. They were almost there.

As the dog moved, Nicholas used his night-vision goggles to scan from side to side, making sure that there were no threats approaching.

When he redirected his attention forward, he could see their target. It was a small, tastefully designed structure, meant to blend in with all the other buildings on the estate. Even the landscaping was in keeping with the main house.

Surrounded by mature trees and a stone walk, and fronted by a pair of wrought-iron benches, the main security building could have easily been mistaken for a tasteful guesthouse.

Keeping Draco in the trees, he approached the building from the back.

In addition to twin AC condensers, there was a generator and a large, locked cage containing the terminus of all the security cabling and wiring from across the property.

This was the estate’s nerve center, its brain.

If you wanted to interrupt its ability to hear, see, or sense any intrusion, this is where you had to do it from.

When he got there, he coaxed the dog to the edge of the tree line and paused. It was make-or-break time.

“How do we look?” Nicholas quietly asked over the radio.

“Still clear,” McGee responded.

“Roger that. Going in.”

Urging Draco forward, he headed directly for the large metal cage.

The moment he got there, he had the dog stop. Removing the pack from one of his shoulders, he swung it in front of his chest and pulled out what looked like a hockey puck made from brushed aluminum.

Activating a power button, he watched as an LED light went from red to green and then stuck the magnetized device to the side of the cage.

“Goblin one in place,” he said. “Setting Goblin two.”

Directing Draco to the back of the cage, he repeated the process, and alerted McGee. “Goblin two in place.”

Looking over his shoulder at one of the screens in Nicholas’s van, the ex–CIA director could see multiple CCTV feeds from the Willis estate security cameras.

“We’re in,” said McGee.

“Roger that,” said Nicholas. “Prep drone two and tell Norseman to stand by. I’m on my way back.”