“Yeah.”
“He’s a lot farther out now. Ahead and to your left. Uh, what is that? Port?”
“How far?”
“A couple football fields, I think. Hard to tell.”
Robert veered a few degrees to port. “Am I on line with him now?”
“A little bit more.”
Robert turned the wheel again.
“That’s it,” Chuck said.
“Give me a heads-up when I’m getting close.”
“You got it.”
Keeping his speed down so that he didn’t accidentally run over his friend in the water, Robert guided the boat carefully across the swells.
It wasn’t long before Chuck’s voice came over the radio again. “Slow down. You’re almost there. Right in front of you, maybe a hundred feet.”
Robert craned his neck, searching the water ahead. At first, he didn’t see anything, then a swell passed by and suddenly there was Dominic. Robert brought the boat up alongside his friend and cut the engine.
Dominic’s arms moved back and forth in a less-than-successful attempt to keep his head above water. He looked exhausted, his eyelids half closed.
Robert leaned over the side and reached out. “Give me your hand.”
Dominic bobbed up so that his mouth was above the waterline. “No. I’m…” The lower half of his face slipped into the water again, and it took a moment before he could get his mouth clear. “I’m sick. You’ll catch it.”
His hand still out, Robert said, “You’re fine. You just need some rest.”
“Robert, I’m sick. I’ve been throwing up and…” Under the water, then up again. “And coughing. I wanted…wanted to get…” He nearly choked as a wave slapped into his face. “I’m trying to get away so no one else…gets it. Trying to get to the current.”
Robert looked out at the open sea, toward the current that ran toward the Costa Rican coast. It was still a good half-mile away. What Dominic was trying to do was admirable but crazy.
“You’re never going to make it,” he said. “You’ll have to let me take you back.”
Dominic closed his eyes as if defeated. When he opened them again, he stared straight at Robert. “You have to help me.”
“Dominic, come on. Let’s get you home.”
“You have to help me. Throw me…a rope, and pull me out there.”
“Absolutely not. No way.”
“You don’t have…a…choice.” Dominic’s head went all the way under. When he popped back up, he gasped for air. “If you take me back…everyone dies.”
Robert pressed his lips together, his jaw clenched. “I’ll take you back to the beach,” he said after a moment. “You’ll be okay there.”
Dominic silently treaded water, then said, “It’s okay. Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked you.”
He started moving his arms again, breaststroke-style, swimming at a snail’s pace.
Robert stood rooted to the deck, confused and stunned. He had three choices, none of them good.
First choice: Forcibly bring his friend back to the island, which would entail exposing himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to die—of course he didn’t—but if he got sick, it would be as Dominic had feared, and others would likely fall victim, too.
Second choice: Return to the dock and let his friend go on. But there was no way Dominic would reach the current, so when the tide started coming in again, he would, too. No matter which beach he washed up on, he’d be bringing the flu back with him.
Third choice: Do as Dominic had asked. It was the only choice that would ensure no one else on the island became infected. But it would also mean playing an active role in his friend’s death.
Dominic had moved about fifteen feet closer to the current, every stroke he took a struggle.
Robert squeezed his eyes shut, the pain of the only real choice he had unbearable. When he opened them again, a tear escaped from the corner of his eye.
With sudden determination, he wiped it away, and removed a coil of rope from one of the seat lockers. He tied one end to a life preserver, which he tossed into the water next to his friend.
Hearing the splash, Dominic looked back.
“Grab on,” Robert said.
“I’m…not going back to shore.”
“I’ll take you where you want to go.”
Dominic studied him for a moment before he reached out and grabbed the life preserver. Robert tied the other end of the rope to a cleat, checked to make sure his friend was secure, and started the engine again.
Keeping his speed slow so Dominic wouldn’t be pulled off, he aimed the boat toward the current.
“What are you doing?” Chuck asked over the radio.
Robert left the walkie where it was.
“What’s going on?” Renee’s voice this time.
“He’s pulling Dominic farther out,” Chuck said, then started to tell her what he was seeing.
Robert reached over and turned the radio off.
Going as slowly as they were, he was able to feel the shift when they entered the current. He went a hundred yards in, and stopped so that the boat was alongside Dominic again. His friend looked even more tired than before, as both he and the boat began moving silently toward Costa Rica.
“I can take you all the way to the mainland,” Robert offered.
“A waste of…fuel. And you wouldn’t have enough to go back,” he said. “Besides…I’d never make it all the way.”
He struggled out of the life preserver.
“I don’t care about the fuel. And you might make it. It would give you a chance.”
Dominic tried to smile. “Thank you, Robert. You’re a good man and a good friend. That’s why they need you here. It’s up to you to make sure everyone survives.”
Before Robert could reply, Dominic let go of the preserver and slipped under the water. Robert nearly jumped in after him to pull him up, but caught himself.
A few seconds later Dominic appeared again, already thirty feet away from the boat.
Robert watched his friend go under again. This time Dominic didn’t come back up.
He remembered little of the ride back to the island. When he reached the dock, Renee and several others were waiting.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Dominic’s gone.”
“You left him out there,” someone else said accusingly.
Robert narrowed his eyes. “I took him where he wanted to go.”
“But why?” Renee asked.
“Because it was the only way he could save us.”
He pushed through the crowd and headed for the bar, intending to start with the first bottle he saw, and work his way through the last.
30
ROCKY MOUNTAINS, COLORADO
11:43 AM MST
JUDSON SMILED AS they neared the house. The car that had been traced via satellite was still parked in front. It was indeed a Suburban.
He ordered the truck to stop in the driveway and block the exit in case the Ash kid and his friends were able to somehow get to their car. While the driver stayed with the truck, Judson and the rest of the team approached the house, weapons ready.
“Everyone, comm gear on,” he whispered.
The men did as instructed.
“You three,” Judson said, pointing, “around back. Let me know when you’re in position.”
“Yes, sir,” the men said, then moved off.
Judson and the two remaining men walked quietly up to the front door. It was locked, but that wasn’t a problem. There was a thin, decorative window next to the door that had been broken at the same height as the doorknob. Someone had taped cardboard over the hole, but it was easy enough to remove with very little noise. This was obviously the way the group from the camp had gotten inside.
Judson slipped his hand through the hole, unlocked the door, and opened it a few inches. He was surprised by how quiet it was inside. It was late morning, and he thought some of the kids would be making noi
se.
“In position,” one of the three at the back of the house reported.
“Hold there,” Judson said. “We’ll go in first. You follow in thirty seconds.” He looked back at his two companions. “Ready?”
Both men nodded.
“Let’s go.”
He pushed the door open and they crept inside.
__________
WHEN THEY HEARD the cars approach the house, Brandon looked back at Miss Collins again. It appeared as if she was going to say something, so he quickly shook his head and raised his finger to his lips.
They moved down into a swallow ravine, but instead of climbing up the other side, Brandon decided to go to the right and follow the less strenuous path, so they could quickly put as much distance between them and the house as possible. As they walked, Brandon continually scanned their surroundings for anywhere that might be a good place to hide, but so far he’d seen nothing useful.
“Brandon, I really gotta pee.”
The little boy from before had stopped and was rocking back and forth, his face all scrunched up.
“Okay. We’ll take a break here,” Brandon said. “Anyone else need to go?”
Several hands shot up, including Ellie’s. He set the girl down.
“Everyone, just find a tree, I guess.”
More than one kid said, “What?” while the others looked at Brandon, confused.
“How about this?” Miss Collins said. “Boys, you go over there behind those trees.” She pointed at a small cluster of pines to the right. “And girls, we’ll go over here.” She motioned toward a similar group on the left.
“We just go outside?” one of the kids asked.
“Uh-huh,” Miss Collins said. “Right on the ground.”
While the boys looked excited about this prospect, the girls didn’t appear to be happy at all.
“We’ve got to make it fast,” Brandon said. “So everyone get going.”
When the groups separated and did their business, Brandon and Loni ended up being the only two who didn’t need to take a break.
“Who are these people we’re hiding from?” Loni asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
She looked almost hurt. “Yeah, I would.”
He realized she was probably right. “They’re the ones who’ve made everyone sick.”
“Are you serious?”
He nodded.
“And they want to make us sick, too?”
“Probably.”
The others started returning.
“I’ll tell you more later,” he whispered.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Ellie ran back to him and held her arms out, but instead he grabbed her hand. “Need you to walk for a little bit, okay?”
She looked disappointed, but nodded.
He was about to tell everyone, “Time to move,” when they all heard a voice yell back toward the house, just loudly enough for them to make out the words.
“Come on back! No sense in hiding! We’re here to help you, not hurt you!”
Several of the kids looked at Brandon, wondering if he’d made a mistake.
“Get back here! Now!” The last was shouted in a harsh burst, like there’d be trouble if the order wasn’t followed.
“We need to keep moving,” Brandon said. “Let’s go.”
__________
THEY HAD BEEN here. They just weren’t here anymore.
The living room was covered with blankets and pillows and makeshift beds. There were several personal bags, too, and an open jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers in the kitchen, all of which led Judson to believe they’d left in a hurry not that long ago.
The fact that the Suburban was still there meant that either someone had picked them up—which seemed highly unlikely—or they had left on foot. A quick search around the perimeter revealed a few footprints out back leading into the woods. Unfortunately, because the cold had made the ground hard, the tracks soon disappeared.
“Goddammit,” Judson said. They were just kids. Why did they have to complicate things?
He looked all around, trying to get a sense of where they might have gone, but each direction was as good and as bad as another.
What he needed to do was flush them out. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Come on back! No sense in hiding! We’re here to help you, not hurt you!”
In the silence that followed, he listened for any sound of movement, but there was nothing.
Dammit, dammit, dammit.
“Get back here! Now!” he shouted, anger sneaking into this voice.
Control yourself, idiot.
A crack off to the right—slight, distant. A branch breaking. It could have been anything, or it could have been them.
He looked back at his team, and pointed in the direction of the sound. “Spread out.”
__________
BRANDON SPUN AROUND the moment he heard the crack.
A dozen feet behind him, Billy looked horrified, his foot still on the branch he’d snapped in two. “Sorry.”
Brandon looked past him in the direction of the house. They were probably far enough away that it wouldn’t matter, but still…
“We need to move faster,” he said. “Watch your step, but try to keep up.”
He started out again, his pace doubled.
He hoped it would be enough.
__________
CHLOE PULLED THE Audi to the side of the road. A hundred feet ahead was the driveway to the house where Brandon had apparently spent the night. As she started to open her door, she could hear Josie doing the same in the backseat.
“Uh-uh. You’re staying here,” she said.
“No way,” Josie said.
“There are armed men up there.”
“Yeah, I know. And what if one of them finds me here while you’re gone?”
Chloe frowned. She didn’t think that was likely, but it didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. “Okay, but stay behind us, and when I say down, you get down.”
“I will.”
Once out of the car, Chloe and Miller supplemented the guns they were already carrying with additional ammunition and, in Chloe’s case, a seven-inch KA-BAR hunting knife from Miller’s duffel bag.
“What about me?” Josie asked. “I know how to shoot. Dad taught me.”
“At targets, yes,” Chloe said. “Not at a person.”
“I could if I had to.”
Chloe looked at her. “Maybe, but not today.”
They ran along the edge of the road, then turned into the woods and worked their way toward the house, parallel to the driveway. It wasn’t long before they spotted the large troop truck. It was stopped in the middle of the driveway, blocking access.
Chloe motioned for the other two to wait. She continued forward through the trees until she was even with the vehicle’s cab. Not seeing anyone inside, she switched her attention to the area beyond the vehicle. She could see the house now. It was a large, modern vacation home that, at the moment, had its front door halfway open. Parked in front of the house were the Suburban and the military sedan that had been following the Audi.
Standing between the two cars was a member of the Project Eden team, holding a rifle. Chloe double-checked to make sure he was alone, then made her way back to Miller and Josie and described what she’d found.
When finished, she locked eyes with Josie. “This time, you stay right here until I motion for you to join us, understand?”
Josie nodded.
Chloe and Miller went around the back of the truck and into the woods on the other side. From there, they worked their way toward the house, stopping just shy of the parking area.
From this angle the soldier’s back was to them. Chloe pantomimed what she wanted to do, and Miller nodded.
Chloe moved in silently behind the soldier, while Miller held back several feet, covering her with his gun. Five feet away, she launched herself, arm flying around the guard�
��s neck. He tried to bash her with his gun as he struggled to throw her off, but Miller moved in and ripped the rifle from his hands.
The man attempted to yell through his constricted windpipe, but managed nothing more than a feeble gasp. His face started to turn red as she clamped down harder. His desperation grew, even as his attempts to free himself weakened.
Finally, his body went limp, but Chloe didn’t release her grip. She had zero compassion for anyone associated with Project Eden. They had taken her past from her and killed her friends, not to mention the little matter of the genocide they were in the middle of committing.
No, she had no compassion at all.
When she was sure he was dead, she laid him on the ground and looked at Miller. He’d been keeping watch while she finished off the guard. He shook his head, letting her know the noise had gone undetected.
Harlan had reported seven men in the Project Eden team that had gone into the mountains. Six more to go.
They moved to the open door of the house, expecting to hear noises inside, but the house was eerily silent.
Keeping low, Chloe crept into the foyer, and peeked around the corner into the rest of the house. Blankets and pillows were scattered all around the living room, but the room itself was unoccupied.
Good, Chloe thought. Christina’s warning had worked, and Brandon had gotten them out.
The question was, had the Project Eden team found them yet?
Chloe and Miller located the back door and headed outside, hoping they weren’t too late.
__________
“WHAT’S THAT?” LONI asked.
Brandon looked in the direction she was pointing. There was something to the left, through the trees. Something manmade. It was white, or at least had been once. A cabin, or perhaps a shed.
“Everyone wait here for a moment,” he said.
“Something wrong?” Miss Collins asked.
“I want to check something.” He looked down at Ellie. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
She didn’t look happy but she nodded and let go of his hand.
As he ran toward the structure, he heard someone following him. He glanced over his shoulder to find Loni keeping pace with him a couple yards back.
Ashes (A Project Eden Thriller) Page 23
