Inherent Danger

by Matt Lincoln

  Then, from somewhere out to my left, I saw what I thought was a strobing beam. I peered into the darkness, willing myself to see it again. Bam! There it was. That had to be coming from Wraith, Rosa, and Xavier. I swam with everything I had left in me, pushing up and forward toward it. It was getting tougher to handle the pressure on my lungs, and I could feel the weight of my limbs increasing with each stroke and shove.

  The light was brighter but getting narrower to my eyes. I knew what was coming next. “Hey guys, I’m about to lose consciousness out here. I just thought you should…” I had to force myself to stay awake and cognizant. “Hey…” I tried again. It wasn’t as easy to speak anymore. “I… ma… marc…” the black water enveloped me, and I felt my eyes close for the last time.

  “Polo.”

  There was a soft, solid voice sounding in my ear. I could feel something dragging me up, or maybe to the side, I didn’t know. But there was motion and movement, and I wasn’t in command of it. My eyes were fused shut. They had to be because they simply wouldn’t open up. I tried, I told them to, but nothing happened.

  The subsequent actions had to be done by someone else entirely. I couldn’t make my arms or legs function at all. There was a heavy weight pressing down all across my body, and it hurt so much. “Hey…” I wanted to tell it to stop. “Hey… stop… th…”

  “It’s okay, Header. We’ve got you.” That was Xavier’s voice. I tried to open my eyes again, and I could finally see warm light spread out all around me. There was a large, domed head staring down at me, and then it vanished. It was replaced by a halo of red, wispy strands of hair and a pair of brown eyes that slowly came into focus.

  “Hey…” My voice was beginning to work again. “Rosa… angel… gorgeous… marry me…” then I started to cough and spit up bile, among other things. “Oh God…” I moaned.

  My gear was being peeled off of me, piece by piece, by Rosa. The light from above was beautiful with the warmth of fresh sunshine, and the air blowing across my body was crisp and cool. It felt… well, it felt good.

  “Doc?” I managed to say out loud. “Is he here?”

  Rosa signed at me, but most of my brain didn’t want to register her reply. I attempted to sit up, bracing myself on my arm and elbow as I looked around for the rest of my team. We were on the deck, just Rosa and me. So, I focused on her hands and made myself understand her.

  “Xavier… Xavier’s doing the diving?” The domed head that I saw earlier, yeah, now that made sense. “So, he’s the one that brought me up then?”

  Rosa nodded, and that made me laugh and then cough a little. “Keeping it simple, good idea.” I pushed myself up into a sitting position and immediately got the waves of nausea. I vomited up whatever it was that I’d had for breakfast and maybe dinner. “Oh, God…” I laid back down on the deck and covered my eyes with my arm. “Give me a minute, what do you say?”

  I don’t know how long I laid there, but pretty soon, I heard movement coming up over the side of my boat. I removed my arm from blocking my sight to see Xavier and Doc burst onto the deck, spraying water all over the place. Rosa was quick to jump to Doc’s aid and to help Xavier remove his gear and check for injuries.

  “We need to get them both to a hospital now,” Xavier spoke up after getting all of his own equipment and gear off and stowed. “Help me get them inside, and then please, get us back to Miami as quickly as you can, Rosa.”

  There was a shuffle of movement, and I could see that Rosa signed to Xavier, who just shook his head at her.

  “No, I only found one of them,” he replied. “And he was very dead.”

  There was more action, and I couldn’t see what Rosa was signing this time, either. They moved Doc and me to a safer, more comfortable spot.

  “I’ve never seen a boat explode like that,” Xavier continued. “Maybe they accidentally detonated one of their own bombs on board. I don’t know, Rosa.”

  I kept watching and hearing all of this through blurry, tired, and weak eyes and ears. My normal capabilities were gradually coming back to their standard levels, but it was going to be a while. Once Rosa and Xavier left us, I looked over to Doc. He wasn’t looking so good. I was in no condition to help him, even though I wanted to, badly.

  There was motion, and that told me that Wraith was on her way home. The rest of the mystery and answers would all have to wait, I guessed. I thought back to Xavier’s words to Rosa. “I only found one of them.” He probably meant that other boat, with the people trying to kill us. The exploding boat? A victim of their own actions against us? Could be. I’d have to wait to find out. Right now, I needed to rest, recover, recuperate, and… I’d find another “R” word to finish that later.

  33

  Eve

  I got a call from Xavier, asking me to meet “them” at the hospital. There had been a complication with the latest part of the mission, and since George was out of the picture, they were going with “Plan C.”

  “When and where?” I asked, trying not to sound too concerned yet since I didn’t know what was going on.

  “We’re on our way into Miami from the marina.” That was all he would tell me so far.

  “Xavier, is everyone alright? Is Jake okay?” I was already out of the door and heading for my car when I asked this.

  “He will be, but it’s kind of serious,” he replied quickly. “He and Doc took the worst of it all. Oh, and we have Zaid with us, so, um, try not to act too surprised when you see him. And don’t mention Doc’s condition and, well… Rosa and I will see you soon. Thanks, Eve.” Xavier then hung up, and that was all I would get until I met up with them at the hospital.

  I found myself walking back and forth in the ER waiting room and checking my phone a few times every minute. The area was full up, and this was just for the families of the actual patients. There were seven sofas, five armchairs, a coffee pot on a stand next to a sink, and a silent tv lodged into an upper corner of the space. It was set on the weather channel, but the little picture was of a soccer match being replayed and subtitled in Spanish.

  There were a handful of children, all clinging to a family member in desperation. There were no toys to be found and no magazines, which I found to be odd. I thought every waiting room in America would have at least one torn and used-up copy of Redbook or something like that.

  This time, when I looked at my cell, I saw a new message from Xavier.

  ‘We’re here.’

  My eyes turned instinctively to the open doorway, half expecting him to be there when I looked. But no, nothing yet.

  My mind wandered, my thoughts filled with nothing but worry. I wanted to avoid the impulse to yell at myself after not fighting back against Jake this morning and standing up for myself. I should have stood my ground and told him that this wasn’t some silly scheme to trap him into a long-term relationship or anything like that. It was just that I thought we’d be helping each other out. And that it would have been nice to see if this “thing” was going to lead to something more… permanent.

  I did it all in my own mind, of course. Now certainly wasn’t the time to bring up the fight we’d had. But this tense time of being alone made me second guess and analyze each and every word we’d said to one another. Then with Jake possibly being hurt, all the unresolved feelings were just compounded and eating at me with everything that I should have said to him and to myself. To top it off, I had huge news that would probably fix a lot of the stress going on in his life. Then this had to happen.

  “Eve?” I heard my name being called, and I swerved around to see Xavier and Zaid standing before me.

  I rushed forward and hugged Xavier, holding him tightly and probably enough to make this a scene. Then I knelt down and tried to give Zaid a high-five or something more kid-like, but he wasn’t having any of it. I could accept that. I settled for something more casual.

  “Hey Zaid, how are you doing?” I tried.

  The boy shook his head a little at me. “I’m thirsty.”

 
; I glanced over to the coffee pot and motioned. “How about a cup of water for right now?” Zaid shrugged, but I went to serve it up, anyway. When I got back, he was sitting on the floor, watching the other kids, and most likely hoping that they’d come over and play with him. I handed him the cup and quietly tried to get more information from Xavier.

  “Can you tell me what’s going on now?” I asked quietly.

  He sighed and did this weird kind of head shake and nod combined. “We went for a dive, and things got… explosive.” I could tell that he was careful with how he phrased things around so many people. But no one looked to be paying any attention to us. Then again, could they ever be too careful with what they did as a team?

  “There’s an enclosed patio a few halls down. It might be less crowded?” I said this barely above a whisper, but Xavier nodded and got Zaid’s attention for us to leave.

  As we walked the hospital corridors, I wanted clarification. “So, when you say, ‘explosive?’”

  Xavier scoffed. “Header and Doc found a remote detonation device while they were uncovering some, well, some evidence for both of our cases.” We got to the patio and found only a half-dozen people present. This was going to be much better.

  Plus, there was a small child-size table that drew Zaid to it right away. He sat and drank his water without a word. Xavier and I stayed within a few feet, and we both faced him so we could keep our eyes on him. The area as a whole wasn’t too bad. It had a lot of foliage and rocks as décor, with rattan and wicker furniture with tropical-inspired padded seating.

  I thought about the last thing Xavier had said. “You found evidence for both cases? Really? That’s amazing. But how are they doing? What are their injuries?” That was far more important to me.

  Xavier looked tired. “Header has some broken ribs and mild decompression sickness. He’ll be in and out of the hospital quickly, I’d imagine. Doc, though,” Xavier peeked at Zaid and had a guilty look on his face, “he’s got a broken collarbone, and the doctors are determining now if he’ll need surgery. He also has a little decompression sickness and a concussion.” He sighed as he finished telling me this.

  “Wow. I guess… it could have been worse, though, right?” It sounded bad to me, but I didn’t know the entirety of the situation or all of the circumstances. “And you and Rosa are okay, though?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, “we were on the boat when the device went off underwater. Rosa was able to helm us to a safer distance, and she made Wraith ride those waves like a, well, like a surfer, I guess.” Xavier smiled, and that was a good thing to see. “Header and Doc were in the water, though, coming up to the surface when the other boat, the people, oh wait…” Xavier must have realized that I didn’t know the whole story. “Crap, um, well, okay… that particular site that we were diving at was being used as a dumpsite for some… disreputable items.” He winked at me, and I thought I got his meaning.

  “I see,” I replied. “That certainly fits with what I’ve been told. Go on.”

  He gave me a look as if he were unsure, but he continued. “The other boat, with the people who we can only assume had been doing the dumping there, showed up, and they detonated the thing.” Xavier checked to make sure Zaid didn’t react to what we were saying. The kid was really into his water cup, apparently. “They got really close to the shock wave themselves, and, well, they didn’t have Rosa as their captain.”

  “They lost control of their boat?” I asked, surprised and, actually, more than a little relieved to hear that.

  “Yep,” he nodded. “It capsized and just disintegrated before our eyes. Of course, we had torn it up the last time we tussled, so maybe they weren’t in great shape to begin with.” Xavier looked smug and pleased with himself. I couldn’t begrudge him that.

  “And the people on it? Did you find them?” I really wanted to hear that they’d dropped them off at the police station on the way over, but I doubted that at this point.

  “Nope,” Xavier answered, shaking his head. “I found one of the bodies, but not the rest. That one wasn’t wearing any gear, nothing to protect himself, so I have to assume that the others weren’t either.” His features changed a bit, the smile and cockiness faded. “I would have stayed and looked longer, but I got Header onboard, and then when I found Doc, he was in too bad of shape to stall coming in.”

  I placed my hand on his shoulder, hoping that would comfort him. “At least you tried.” I offered that as a small condolence. “And you did the right thing, you know? You put the team first, just like Jake would have.”

  “Maybe.” That didn’t seem to cheer him up at all. Xavier looked around the patio and took it all in. He was probably making mental notes on what to do next. Or, he was thinking about all the things he could have done. I hoped that wasn’t the case.

  We both stood there, watching the room, Zaid, and each other from time to time. There wasn’t that much more to say, at least about all of this. My news was important, but I wanted Jake to be one of the first to hear it. Even after this morning’s… awkwardness, I owed it to him for all that he’d done to help me with Verity’s case.

  So, the three of us made our way down to the cafeteria, had a snack break, and walked all over that hospital. Zaid really liked the long staircases. But soon enough, Rosa texted Xavier that Jake was with her and they needed to know where we were so that they could meet us. He’d gotten released and was anxious to get out of there.

  By the time we got to the exit we’d agreed on, a weary-looking Jake and a stalwart Rosa were waiting on us, rather impatient by the looks on their faces. I rushed forward and gently kissed Jake on the cheek. I didn’t dare hug him with his broken ribs. Then, whether she liked it or not, I did hug Rosa.

  “I’m glad that you’re all alright,” I told her, and I was. No, she and I were never going to be BFFs, but I respected her enough to appreciate her for who she was.

  Jake sighed and drew my gaze to him. “I hear that we need to talk?”

  I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant or what the question referred to because, frankly, there was a lot to discuss between us at this time.

  I gave him a sincere and polite nod. “Yeah, we do, but let’s get you home first. And what about Doc? What’s his situation?” His not being with them worried me. And not just for Zaid’s sake.

  “He’s going to be staying overnight, and maybe longer.” Jake looked down at Zaid and smiled. “Hey, buddy? You’re going to be staying with me for a while, okay? Your grandpa needs some time with the doctors, and he asked me to take care of you until he gets better. Does that sound like something you’d be good with?”

  Zaid’s eyes narrowed, and he lost all the cheerful nature that kids his age had. I bent down to his level to help explain some of it to him. “Your grandpa’s going to be okay, really, Zaid. He’s not sick. He just got hurt doing his job.” I looked at the others and smiled toward them. “They were all there, and some of them got hurt, too. But you see? They’re fine. And your grandpa will be too.”

  With his mother’s death and him being so young, Zaid probably didn’t understand the distinctions of what was going on. But I really wanted to help him. I didn’t want him to be afraid, but I couldn’t tell if I was helping or not.

  I took his hand and started to swing it playfully back and forth. “Come on. It’ll be an adventure. And maybe if you ask very politely, Jake will buy you some ice cream or something on the way home.” I flashed him a grin.

  To my surprise, Jake reached out and took my other hand in his. “I think we’ll just order in. And I’d prefer it if everyone came over to my place to talk about where we go next.” He lifted the hand that he was already holding up to his mouth and kissed the back of it softly. “If that’s okay with all of you.”

  “I have no plans. And Rosa doesn’t either.” Xavier smirked in her direction. She shot back with something in ASL, but I had no clue what it was. It made Jake and Xavier both laugh, though.

  “Yeah, I’ve got some news too, that
you’ll all want to hear.” I was so ready to share everything I had to tell them.

  We made our way over to Jake’s condo, and he immediately sank into his sofa, looking exhausted. I offered to serve up the fish and chicken that Xavier had ordered for us, and Rosa took care of the drinks.

  “Where do we want to begin?” Jake called out from the sofa as we worked. “Xavier, I guess that you filled Eve in on the ordeal out on the water, so I don’t need to retell that one.”

  “I got the cliff-notes version. I’m good,” I answered from the kitchen. “But my story kind of goes along with it, so maybe I should start us off with the dinner conversation.” I grabbed a plate of food and a drink and headed for the hallway and spare room. “Just let me drop this off to Zaid, and I’ll be right there.”

  When I returned to the room after getting Zaid settled, I got my own plate of food and joined Jake on the couch.

  I felt all eyes on me, so I sat my plate down in front of me and spilled my news. “I’m not sure how much all of you have been really following Verity’s case, the Weir Fraud Case is what it really is, but anyway…” I didn’t want to start off so scatterbrained, but there it was. “Alright, well, here’s the latest. The man that broke into George’s house the other night had confessed to pretty much being involved in the whole thing. As it turns out, he already had an extensive criminal record here in the US, and in his native Cuba, and in a few other places. He’s basically confessed to a few crimes to avoid prosecution for a lot of others.”

  Xavier was on the edge of his seat, listening and waiting to jump into the conversation. Even I saw this and gestured toward him to speak if he wanted to.

  “So yeah,” he jumped in, “his name is Terro, and all of his colleagues have those kinds of records. They are not great people.” His face fell a bit as he started to remember what had happened to most of them. “Sorry, shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, I know, but, well…” He then stopped talking altogether.