“Oh, davay! Come. Come.” He dragged Corey along the deck, seemingly oblivious or not caring whether she was keeping up or not.
Corey glanced behind her and made sure that Alicia was following her. They moved across to the port side rail where another gangway had been placed between the Oasis and yet another boat.
The guard shoved Corey across the gangway and did the same to Alicia. He pointed to a second cruiser that was tethered behind this boat. “You go. Now. Do not come out again, or Sergei teach a lesson.” He tapped his chest once and then pointed gun fingers at the two girls. “Pow,” he whispered. He didn’t even crack a smile.
Alicia laughed and shot gun fingers back at Sergei. “Pow. Pow.” She waved her fingers at the guard. “Bye-bye Sergei.”
Sergei shook his head and walked away, as though he had just corralled a pair of bubble-headed drunk girls.
Corey waited for him to be out of earshot. “Holy shit, Alicia. You ever consider acting?” she whispered. “How the hell did you do that?”
Alicia shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t care about these assholes.”
Corey tapped her earpiece and turned to face the sea. “Op Lead, this is Kojak One.”
“Copy, Kojak One.”
“We’re off the Oasis on the port side. Heading to one of the secondary moorings. We think the girls are there. Standby.”
“Copy that, Kojak One. Standing by.”
Alicia cocked an eyebrow at Corey. “Holy shit, Corey. You ever consider police work?”
Corey shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for it. What do you think?”
The two girls smiled.
Corey tipped her head toward the smaller boats. “Come on. This way.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Corey led Alicia along the port side deck to the gangway near the stern. There were four rows of yachts tied along this side of the Oasis, and each one had at least one other boat tied behind it and connected with a gangway bridge. They crossed over another bridge, and stepped onto yet another boat, this one totally dark.
“You think this is where he was pointing?” Alicia asked, skeptical.
“I guess. I don’t know. Let’s look around.”
The main deck of the yacht was laid out much like all the other boats with a cabin taking up most of the center space surrounded by a walkway and wide decks.
Corey motioned for Alicia to head toward the front. “Meet you around the other side.” She moved toward the aft deck, while Alicia headed in the opposite direction.
The boat seemed deserted. It didn’t make any sense. Why would Sergei send them this way? She glanced over her shoulder, making sure this wasn’t a trap. But they were alone; Sergei was nowhere to be seen.
Corey met Alicia around the other side of the cabin. She grabbed the handle of the cabin door and pushed it in, glancing inside the dark interior space. There was a feeling rooms gave when they were empty that was different from the feeling when there was a living, breathing person inside. Everything about this boat screamed empty.
Corey pulled the door closed. “I don’t think anybody’s here.” She glanced up at Alicia who stood at attention, squinting at one of the boats tethered across the way.
Alicia tipped her chin at the cruiser tied at the end of the line of boats adjacent to this one. There were three yachts in that line, each tied to each other, and the first one tied to the Oasis. “There is someone on that boat.”
Corey followed Alicia’s gaze and her eyes instinctively zeroed in on motion inside the cabin of the third boat. It was a woman, two women, actually. Both were dressed in slinky evening gowns, hair done in fancy up-dos, their faces obscured by the silky curtain hanging in the window.
“We found them,” Corey said. “I wonder why they’re not on the Oasis?”
Alicia clenched her teeth. “They have them corralled, like animals. I bet they do it so they can have some kind of sick parade, line up all the girls to watch them walk to their doom.” Alicia tapped her ear piece. “We found the girls.”
“Alicia, no. Wait. We need to be over there first. Get them clear.”
Her earpiece popped. “Copy that. What’s your twenty?”
Alicia shrugged off Corey’s protest. “Come on. They’re right there let’s go.” Alicia hurried back across the gangway toward the Oasis in order to make her way to the other row of boats where the girls were.
Corey’s earpiece crackled and Alicia’s voice filled the air again. “We are on the port side. The girls are safe. Bring it on.”
Everyone involved in the operation heard Alicia’s announcement. Corey tried to pull them back, buy her another minute or two to get to the girls. To confirm they were in the right place before all hell broke loose.
She tapped her earpiece. “Kojak One to…” She was cut off mid-sentence.
“This is Op Lead. Operation Oasis go.”
“Oh shit,” Corey swore under her breath. She pushed past Alicia and ran across the gangway back to the Oasis. She kicked off her flip-flops and ran along the deck until she got to the next gangway leading to the new line of boats.
No longer worried about making noise, since time had suddenly become more important than stealth, Corey barreled across the gangway, the makeshift bridge bouncing under her weight.
She jumped onto the first boat, ran across the deck to the next gangway, and did the same until she was on the deck of the third boat where they had seen the women through the window.
Corey’s heart pounded in her chest. She stopped for a second to catch her breath and turned around. Alicia was nowhere in sight. Corey scanned the boats until she spotted Alicia, standing on the gangway where Corey had left her. She was staring at the upper deck of the Oasis.
Corey turned her attention to the big boat and watched as the main deck filled with agents hustling to surround the cabin and secure the boat.
Shouts of “PIO!” And “Prestigium Justice!” rang across the water as the agents burst through doors and moved to secure each room on the massive yacht.
Gunshots popped a staccato rhythm inside the cabin. Return fire came from the familiar sound of a Glock. All the while, Alicia stood frozen, staring up at the Oasis’ upper deck. Bursts of light shot through the air as spells were thrown and returned. A ball of red energy flew past her and hit the water, skipping like a stone until it bounced into the cloak of fog that still surrounded them.
Corey followed Alicia’s gaze and spotted the object of Alicia’s attention. A woman stood on the roof of the upper deck, stooped over one of the antenna boxes. She wore a sleek two-piece evening gown, her midriff showing between a sequined halter top and a matching floor-length skirt. Her red hair pooled around her head, obscuring her face for a moment. Then she tucked her hair behind her ears, and recognition thrilled through Corey. “Agent Rose Gallagan.”
The last time she had seen agent Gallagan, Corey’d been running for her life, dodging magical bullets.
Shots rang through the night, ricocheting off the boat around her. Corey ducked. When she looked up, hoping to spot Alicia and make sure she was safe, Alicia was nowhere to be seen.
Panic filled Corey’s chest. Her throat tightened. She looked back toward the boat where the women were hidden and then back up at the top of the Oasis. “No.”
They weren’t going to come this far only to fail. Corey ran to the railing, and scanned the water, looking for Alicia.
“Alicia!” Corey called. “Where are you?”
Her earpiece popped and crackled with the endless activity of the agents communicating information about cleared rooms and bad guys down. She knew better than to try to communicate with Alicia over the comm now, in the middle of the operation.
Corey ran back toward the Oasis, hopping across the gangways. When she stepped on the deck of the cruiser that had been tied to the main boat, movement on the upper deck caught her eye.
Corey stopped short and blinked.
Alicia climbed the ladder to the roof of the fly bridge
and crouched on the edge behind Agent Gallagan. Corey was about to scream for her to stop, but that would only give Agent Gallagan the benefit.
“Damn it, Alicia. We had one job.” Corey swore and ran toward the Oasis. She glanced up at the roof, just in time to see Alicia launch herself through the air and land on Agent Gallagan’s back.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The scene on board the Oasis was absolute chaos. Dozens of agents, all dressed in tactical gear, swarmed the huge boat, each one laser-focused on the task at hand. Gunshots rang out. Fighting ensued. Attack magic glowed like fireworks in the cabin. Several spells had landed on the furniture where they burned like tiny campfires.
Corey darted across the main deck, searching for the stairs to the bridge deck, which would still be one deck away from Alicia.
She ran toward the rear of the boat, her bare feet slapping on the deck boards, her fists pumping.
Chatter filled her head through the earpiece, and she tried to pay attention to what was happening with the mission, though it really didn’t matter at this point. All her attention was on Alicia. Corey tugged the earpiece out of her ear and let it dangle down her back. She needed to concentrate.
Before they had agreed to go on this undercover operation, Corey got a call from Alicia’s mother, Bronwyn Turnkey, asking to meet with her. They met for coffee.
Bronwyn had leaned across the table and clutched Corey’s hand in both of hers. “She’s my baby, Corey. You look out for her, all right?” Bronwyn had said she felt silly but that she couldn’t help herself. Alicia might be a grown woman, but she would always be her little girl… her only child.
After all they’d been through; Corey understood where Bronwyn was coming from—probably more than most people. They were heading into a dangerous situation. And while Alicia was given a lot of training over the past couple of months to prepare, that didn’t equate to officer training or make up for her lack of a hold on her magic, of allow for any experience to temper her instincts.
Corey held deep conflicts about the whole operation. On one hand, she knew it was crazy having Alicia involved at all. First, Alicia was the victim here. Second, she was a civilian.
But on the other hand, because of what Alicia had been through, they needed her. There were a thousand ways this operation could’ve gone, and the fact that Alicia bore a half-moon scar made her an asset in the vast majority of them. She gave them legitimacy. She added to the completion of their ruse.
Corey had placed her hand over Bronwyn’s, completing their four-handed embrace across the table. She reassured her friend, even though they both knew there was no way Corey could really make any guarantees. “I won’t let anything happen to her, Bronwyn. I promise.” Corey had said the words and had meant them.
She didn’t intend to go home and have to explain anything to Bronwyn. She intended to deliver Alicia back to her mother in one piece.
Corey hurried toward the stern and grabbed the railing of the stairs at the back of the main deck. She took the steps two at a time, weaving through the stream of agents moving in the opposite direction. She emerged on the bridge deck and spun around the staircase so she could bound up the next flight.
The uppermost deck of the Oasis took up only half the length of the boat. It contained a helicopter landing pad, and a low roof, where the radar, satellite, and other technical equipment were housed.
Corey scanned the roof. There was no sign of Alicia or Agent Gallagan.
Her heart in her chest, and her pulse thrumming through her body, Corey tiptoed along the deck, praying to find Alicia safe.
She stepped around the low roof and found Alicia and Agent Gallagan standing face-to-face on the sundeck.
Agent Gallagan’s skirt was torn, and blood dripped from her broken nose.
Alicia’s face was also bloody, though it appeared Agent Gallagan had only managed to cut Alicia’s eye. Even more unlikely, Alicia had Gallagan’s gun, and, just like she’d been trained to do, she clutched the Glock .40 and posed in a perfect model of the modified shooting stance Agent Parks favored for new recruits.
Alicia’s body was angled slightly, feet apart, knees bent to absorb the recoil, her free hand cupping her trigger hand, and the gun at eye level, aimed squarely at Gallagan’s chest.
Agent Gallagan stood facing Corey, her empty hands raised in surrender.
Relief washed through Corey. “Oh, thank God. You’re all right.” She moved toward Alicia, her hand out for the gun.
“Stay back, Corey. I’m not kidding.” Alicia’s voice was steely and cold.
A knot formed in Corey’s belly. “Alicia. Don’t do it. Let us bring her in. She’s not worth it.”
“She called someone. On the radio,” Alicia said, tipping her head to the right.
Corey glanced around, looking for a radio.
“It was a walkie talkie. It fell over the side.” Alicia tilted her head to indicate the direction the walkie talkie had fallen. “She also had this.” Alicia handed Corey a leather-clad satellite phone.
Corey clicked the phone on and could see by the readout that a call had recently been made. “Agent Gallagan. Who’d you call?”
“They’ll never let you take them. Never.” Agent Gallagan’s voice was thick through her swollen nose that still ran with blood.
There was a lot of hustling and shouting on the deck below them, but the gunfire had stopped and it was clear the agents were in charge.
Alicia took a step toward agent Gallagan. “Answer the question. Who’d you call?”
Agent Gallagan shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
Alicia tensed and flexed her fingers to re-clutch the gun.
Corey moved forward, her eyes on Alicia’s face. “Alicia. Put the gun down.”
“I can’t, Corey. She doesn’t deserve to live.” Tears streamed down Alicia’s cheeks. “How could you, Rose? All those months in witness protection with me? I thought we were friends.”
Gallagan scoffed. “You’re so naïve, Alicia. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. You think they’re going to let you go? You think you’re walking out of here? They own you. Can’t you feel it? They may not have cut out your magic, but they have a piece of your soul.”
“You shut up!” Alicia cried.
Gallagan dropped her hands. “Why? You’re not going to shoot me. And there’s no way you’re leaving alive. Even if everything goes sideways here, you’re dead. They’re going to put a price on your head. Let me tell you, little girl… You made this personal when you decided to go against them.” Gallagan lowered her hands and placed them on her waist. “You could have walked away. You could’ve moved on, put all the shit they put you through behind you. But now? You made it personal. You’ll never be safe.” Gallagan smiled, her blood-streaked teeth making for a gruesome grin. “Never be safe.”
“You don’t get to tell me what’s personal.” Alicia’s arms tensed.
“Don’t do it. Alicia. Put down your weapon.” Corey spoke softly, hoping to get through to her friend.
Alicia shook her head and steadied her aim. “I can’t, Corey. Sorry.”
Gallagan slid her hand off her waist and moved it behind her back. Did she have a second gun? Corey’s instincts took over. She threw herself at Agent Gallagan, tackling the woman. She ran so hard, they stumbled backward until they ran out of roof and the two ladies fell through the air. Gallagan’s hand appeared, holding a compact wand, the tip of which was glowing.
“You’re out of your league, Proctor.”
Corey grabbed Gallagan’s wrist and shoved it away as they fell through the air. She turned her face away when Gallagan’s wand exploded.
On the deck, Alicia fired.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
They hit the water hard. Corey landed on top of Agent Gallagan, and the two women fought for control. Corey reached into her leg holster and pulled out her gun. Gallagan and she grappled for the weapon. Gallagan dropped her wand when she snatched the gun from Corey’s grip.
<
br /> Corey’s gown threatened to trap her under the water. She kicked her legs, fighting to tread through the fabric and the tangle of Gallagan’s legs. She took a deep breath and submerged herself, letting the water pull her for a moment so she could gather her bearings.
Agent Gallagan swung the gun around and fired.
The sound of the gunshot exploded in the water around them, pounding Corey’s ears and making them ring.
She grabbed Gallagan by the waist, pulling the woman below the surface. Once she was underwater, Corey grabbed Gallagan by the neck and pulled her head down into her waiting knee. Gallagan’s nose crunched audibly underwater. Agent Gallagan’s hand released Corey’s gun, which sank quickly into the depths.
Corey let go of Gallagan, and kicked away, struggling against the weight of her gown. She surfaced, sputtering, fighting to catch her breath. Then she turned, prepared to fight Gallagan once again. But Agent Gallagan was nowhere to be found.
Alicia called out from the top of the Oasis which towered like a building above her. “Corey! Swim to the back. There’s a deck. I’ll help you!” She pointed to Corey’s left, toward the stern of the Oasis.
Corey spotted the floating deck and started swimming.
When she got to the deck, she grabbed hold of the ladder and allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. It wasn’t easy swimming in an evening gown.
Alicia hurried down the steps and hopped onto the swim deck. “Oh my God, Corey. I am so sorry. Are you shot?”
Corey looked up at Alicia, furious and forgiving at the same time. “I’m fine. Help me out of the water.”
Alicia helped Corey pull herself up the ladder and flop onto the swim deck. Her gown clung to her, adding a ridiculous amount of weight to her soaking-wet frame.
Corey grabbed the hem of her dress and began wringing out the water. “What the hell were you thinking, Alicia? You could have been killed. Gallagan is trained for this.”
Death Comes Ashore Page 19
