Hellbent

No sweat sparkling at his graying temples. His breath slow and steady. The past few weeks would have reduced a lesser man to a stressed-out wreck, but he was Jonathan Bennett and his body obeyed his will.

He crossed the Oval Office and lifted the receiver.

He said nothing.

A voice said, “You should have left 1997 in the past.”

Bennett gave his allotted two-second pause and then said, “If you look into it, I will crush you.”

Orphan X saw Bennett’s two seconds and raised him a few more. Then he said, “I think you misunderstand the purpose of this call, Mr. President. Looking into it’s not good enough for me.”

“What does that mean?” Bennett said, only now realizing he’d rushed his response.

The disembodied voice said, “You greenlit Jack Johns’s death. And the girl’s death. And so many others.”

Bennett reseated his eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose, which felt suddenly moist. “I’m listening.”

Orphan X said, “This is me greenlighting yours.”

The phone clicked, the line severed.

Bennett breathed and breathed again. He placed the phone receiver back in its cradle. He circled the Resolute desk, sat down, and set his hands on the blotter.

They were shaking.

Acknowledgments

Despite his propensity for operating alone, Evan Smoak gets a lot of air support. I owe a slew of thanks to my team and to my advisers.

I am privileged to have an exceptional crew at Minotaur Books. Thanks to Keith Kahla, Andrew Martin, Hannah Braaten, Hector DeJean, Jennifer Enderlin, Paul Hochman, Kelley Ragland, Sally Richardson, and Martin Quinn.

And to Rowland White and his team at Michael Joseph/Penguin Group UK, as well as my other foreign publishers who have deployed Evan around the world.

And to my representatives — Lisa Erbach Vance and Aaron Priest of the Aaron Priest Agency; Caspian Dennis of the Abner Stein Agency; Trevor Astbury, Rob Kenneally, Peter Micelli, and Michelle Weiner of Creative Artists Agency; Marc H. Glick of Glick & Weintraub; and Stephen F. Breimer of Bloom, Hergott, Diemer et al.

And to my subject-matter experts — Geoff Baehr (hacking), Philip Eisner (early-warning system), Dana Kaye (propaganda), Dr. Bret Nelson and Dr. Melissa Hurwitz (medical), Billy S__ (___), Maureen Sugden (IQ), Jake Wetzel (cubing), and Rollie White (geography).

And my family. In the words of the Beach Boys, patron saints of the sun-kissed and the charmed: God only knows what I’d be without you.

Also by Gregg Hurwitz

THE ORPHAN X NOVELS

Orphan X

The Nowhere Man

OTHER NOVELS

The Tower

Minutes to Burn

Do No Harm

The Kill Clause

The Program

Troubleshooter

Last Shot

The Crime Writer

Trust No One

They’re Watching

You’re Next

The Survivor

Tell No Lies

Don’t Look Back

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

The Rains

Last Chance

About the Author

GREGG HURWITZ is a New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels. Critically acclaimed, Hurwitz is a two-time finalist for the International Thriller Writers’ Best Novel prize and a finalist for the Crime Writers’ Association’s Steel Dagger. In addition, Hurwitz is a screenwriter, TV producer, and comic book writer. The Orphan X series has been published in twenty-two languages around the globe. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.

Visit the author’s website at www.gregghurwitz.net, or sign up for email updates here.