As the big 747 circled for its approach into Dulles, Bolan considered his options. The first stop had to be at Robert Hanley's. His files were extensive, but some of the material was too technical. Bolan wanted to ask some straight questions, and he needed simple answers. Too much was riding on this one. He couldn't go off half-cocked.

And time was tight; the enemy was obviously ready to strike. He couldn't afford a wild-goose chase. One mistake might be all he'd have the chance to make. Once the plane had landed, Bolan made his way to the car rental counter, where he picked up the keys to a Camaro. He wanted wheels with a little muscle. Something told him he was going to need it. It was already seven-thirty, and he wanted to get to Hanley's before the scientist went to bed. The hour drive would take him to Chantilly, in the northwest corner of Fairfax county, where Hanley lived.

Once behind the wheel, Bolan felt better.

At least he was moving. He drove as fast as he dared, keeping to a solid seventy. Twice he had to slow to avoid attracting the attention of a state police patrol car that he'd spotted hiding on the far side of two underpasses. Dusk soon changed to darkness as he drove farther into the countryside. The open fields were broken by stands of trees, and the Camaro's throaty rumble echoed off the woods as he barreled through. At 8:25 he entered Chantilly. Hanley's place was two miles on the far side of the small town. Bolan gassed up to make sure he'd have a full tank for the drive back, asked the way to Morgan's Turnpike and pulled out in a hurry.

At the entrance to the tree-lined drive leading to Hanley's renovated farmhouse, Bolan paused. Something seemed wrong. His sixth sense told him Hanley wasn't the only one there. The outdoor floodlights burned brightly and everything seemed serene, but Mack Bolan knew such scenes could explode without warning. He left the Camaro on the road and entered the driveway on foot.

As he neared the house, he thought he heard a scream, but he was too far away to be sure. He opened his jacket and slid the solid comfort of his Beretta 93-R into his hand. Avoiding the crisp gravel of the driveway, Bolan swiftly slipped into the trees to his left and approached the house. At the edge of the broad lawn cover vanished. There was no way to cross the expanse of greenness without being seen. He'd have to waste time now to circle the house. He had to know what, and whom, he would be up against. The lighting was more subdued along the side and toward the rear of the two-story fieldstone building. A quick look in the garage revealed only one car, Hanley's, if the government parking sticker meant anything. He was sorry now that he hadn't called from the airport, but it was too late for second-guessing. If anyone was in the house with Hanley, he had gotten there on foot or he'd come with the scientist.

The rear patio was dimly lit, and Bolan slid against the house. Pressing himself flat, he edged up to the nearest window and listened. This time there was no mistaking it. There were voices, a thump and then silence. Whoever had called on Robert Hanley was not a friend. Bolan reached above his head to unscrew one of the two floodlights aimed on the patio.

Falling to his knees, he crawled beneath the windowsill to the far side and then doused the second.

Pressing his face to the window from the darkness, he could see through to the entrance hall. Bolan could make out the figures of three men, two near the front door and one at the top of the stairs.

They were talking, but the words were too soft to be intelligible. There was no way in through the back that would give him the element of surprise, and he couldn't risk a shot through the glass until he knew who was who. The only other way in was through the front. Swiftly Bolan made his way back along the side of the house, rounding the corner in time to see a huge, bald man carrying a briefcase enter the trees. Probably going to get the car, Bolan thought.

The big man would go first. He was already outside, and taking him out was the least risk to Hanley. Once he was no longer a threat, Bolan could go one-on-one against the remaining man. Unless there were others waiting in the car, who would come running at the first shot. Quickly Bolan crossed the front porch and followed his quarry into the trees. The woods of Virginia were no match for a man who had survived the jungles of Nam. The woods were dark, and there was heavy underbrush just a few yards into the trees.

Bolan could hear the big guy crashing ahead like a bull elephant. After they had traveled about seventy yards, the brush thinned a little, and moonlight filtered through the branches. Bolan could make out the bulky shape of his prey as he passed among the trees. Suddenly the big guy was in open meadow. Bolan was about twenty yards behind and closing the gap. Fast.

Across the open field, Bolan could make out a large Buick. The big guy waved the heavy briefcase high in the air. There was backup. That changed things a little. How much would depend on how many goons there were. The Executioner, with practiced ease, threaded a sound suppressor snugly onto the Beretta and checked the action. There could be no screwups now.

Hanley's life might depend on how well Bolan handled this end of things. It wasn't possible to follow the hulk into the open without giving away his presence. Bolan dropped to one knee and waited for the right moment. It came quickly.

As the large man lumbered ahead, the ground began to slope sharply downward. At the start of the lug's descent, Bolan fired a burst. Three dry coughs, no louder than a gentleman clearing his throat, and a small, tight triangle of death smashed into the big man's skull. The rainbow of blood and bone was quickly gone. Without a sound, he fell like a poleaxed steer. If Bolan got lucky, the guy in the Buick would think he'd tripped. When the hulk didn't get up, the other guy would come to see what happened. And the Executioner would be waiting. Bolan didn't have to wait long.

The dome light winked on and off as the second man left the car. Bolan could see his shadow, dark against the side of the car. The man hesitated, uncertain whether to climb the split-rail fence around the meadow.

Finally the guy made his move. He climbed through the fence and walked cautiously toward the bottom of the slope. He looked back toward the car once, as if trying to decide whether to go back and wait or to push on into the dark meadow. Bolan heard him as he called for his friend Otto. Otto didn't answer him.

He called again, this time as he began to climb the slope. Still no answer, and the guy was getting nervous. He was carrying a machine pistol, sweeping it back and forth in front of him as he advanced.

If he didn't get a little closer, it would be a tough shot with the Beretta. Bolan slipped the smaller gun back into its holster and unslung Big Thunder. He'd have to risk a shot from the skullbuster and hope the guy back at the house was too busy to notice.

Otto's pal was now halfway up the slope, and he knew something was wrong. He looked around helplessly, then crouched as he continued up the grassy rise. Suddenly he froze. He must have seen Otto's body. Big Thunder bucked, and the 240-grain slug tore a hole the size of a quarter in the guy's chest wall. He went down like two hundred pounds of dead meat. Bolan watched the car down at the road. Nothing moved. He pushed through the remaining shrubbery and out into the meadow, crouching just in case. When he reached Otto's body, he turned it over. There wasn't enough of the big creep's face left to identify. The other gunner lay on his back. His face registered a look of surprise.

The intruder was not a patient man.

Otto was slow. Hanley was uncooperative. It had been rather an annoying evening so far. And then he heard the gunshot.