by Trevor Scott
Toni grasped him by the arm before he left. “Jake. Just a minute.”
“Yeah.”
The two of them moved away from the others.
“We need to talk,” Toni said.
“I don’t have time for this.”
“I mean later,” she said. “We never really talked after you lost. . .Anna.”
“I know. I didn’t think you wanted to.”
“I’m ready now.”
“But I’ve got to get Sara Halsey Jones. I promised her brother.”
“After that,” she said, a tear at the corner of her right eye. “Be careful. I’ll be at Sigonella.”
He nodded and left her there in the lounge of the billionaire’s yacht. Something wasn’t right with her. She never used to let missions like this get to her.
When Jake got to the stern of the yacht, he waved to Elisa on the patrol boat. She took this as a sign to power the boat forward. With great precision she shoved the bow of her boat within just a few feet of the larger craft. Jake jumped and landed onto the bow of the boat, his mind still on Toni behind him. As the patrol boat drifted back away from the yacht, Jake could see Toni with her crutches at the entrance to the rear lounge, her wistful gaze concentrating on him.
27
The sport fishing boat sat nearly dead in the water, the light waves rocking them gently back and forth. Zendo wasn’t sure what to do. He was the only one topside, standing before the wheel and instruments. He had always been a man who followed orders without question. But when Petros Caras told him to kill the American professor and throw her body overboard, he wasn’t immediately inclined to do so. After all, this Sara Halsey Jones had discovered something in those catacombs of Siracusa that was worth something. He had heard of that Archimedes manuscript in Istanbul that had sold for millions of U.S. dollars at auction. Yet, it was really the desperation in the voice of his boss that bothered Zendo the most. Maybe the sound of automatic weapons in the background had also sealed his resolve to keep this woman alive for a while.
Demetri came up the ladder and said, “What do we do? What did Petros Caras tell you?”
It wasn’t like he could tell Demetri the truth. The man had never not followed an order. Zendo tightened his jaw and said, “He left it up to us to get the information from her. The rendezvous is off for now. He wants us to take her back to the catacombs and get what she found.”
“Are you serious? Do you think she will do this?”
He had kept the woman safe because that’s what Petros Caras had ordered him to do, but all that had changed now. “He said to make her talk. If she doesn’t tell us the truth, then she is not worth keeping.” That was close enough to the truth. If he succeeded, he could keep whatever she had discovered for himself, since Petros Caras would think they had killed her. He would decide later if he needed to cut out his men from the final pay-off.
“So, let me get this straight. She will answer our questions or she will die?”
Zendo put his hand on the shoulder of his old friend and colleague. “That’s right. Get a rope and the gaff hook.”
Smiling, Demetri went down the ladder to the back of the fishing boat.
Time to put on the act, Zendo thought. Sink or swim.
They hauled the American woman onto the deck and made a rope harness around her body. Then Niko took an end of the rope and dove into the water. He came up on the other side of the boat and handed his end to Kyros. Now they had the woman in a classic keel-haul attachment.
Zendo put his face right into hers and said, “You will tell us what we need to know, or you will die here in the ocean and we will cut you into chum and feed the sharks. Do you understand?”
Sara Halsey Jones was resolute but frightened. “All I have is knowledge,” she mumbled.
“See, we already understand each other,” Zendo said. “That’s all I want is knowledge. Tell me what you found in the Siracusa catacombs.”
“It was nothing,” Sara declared.
Zendo sighed and shoved the woman, who flipped overboard into the ocean. She went under and came up coughing, obviously taking in salt water. She put her arms out and kicked to stay afloat. Zendo nodded to his man, who yanked on the rope from the other side of the boat, pulling the woman under water.
“A little faster Niko,” Zendo said. “Don’t want her to drown just yet.”
A few seconds later and the woman surfaced on the other side of the fishing boat. She coughed out water again and tried to get her breath.
“Don’t do this,” she said. “My family has money. They can pay you.”
Zendo leaned over the rail and said, “Do you really think we want your brother’s money? This is about national pride, Sara.” He turned to his other man, Kyros, and the man whose name he didn’t remember, who both pulled on the rope and hauled the professor back under water. This time Zendo slowed them down somewhat, and the woman tried to pull against their tension.
When the American woman surfaced, she was in much worse shape, having taken in more water and almost out of breath.
“We can do this all day,” Zendo told her. “Can you?”
They did this a few more times to soften her up, bringing her just about to the point of drowning and saving her each time by pulling her to fresh air. She was never really in danger, though, since every one of Zendo’s men knew how to resuscitate her if they needed to.
Finally, out of breath and her resolve beaten back, Sara said, “All right. I’ll tell you. Please, pull me aboard.”
Zendo’s men looked at him for guidance. He shifted his head, meaning to pull her aboard, and they did just that, one man grasping her harness with the gaff hook and the other using the rope to bring her back onto the boat like a huge tuna. She flopped around on the wet deck trying to get herself out of the ropes. But the knots were wet. Kyros pulled his knife and cut her free with a couple of quick slices.
She got to her unsteady feet and said, “Thank you.” Then she coughed up some more water and almost puked.
“All right, Sara,” Zendo said. “Tell me what I want to know.”
Sara cast her eyes down as if considering her options. “You could search the catacombs for years and not find what I found. You need me to show you the way.”
Zendo had a feeling it might come to this. He had already looked at her photographs on her digital camera. But that had been no help. He could bring all of this to someone in Athens who could translate the Doric Greek, but that would take too much time. Yeah, he had no choice but to keep the woman alive. For now. “What is the significance of your find?”
Sara told them about the stone with the carvings that she suspected had been made by Archimedes himself, and how those carvings were a crude form of Calculus. None of them seemed too impressed, with the exception of Zendo, who knew he could make a hefty price from the stone of Archimedes.
●
Jake was in contact with his Agency friends as Elisa piloted the old Italian patrol boat toward their contact, which had been sitting dead in the water until just recently, when the Greeks must have pulled the anchor and headed to the north toward Sicily. But Jake and Elisa were closing on them now, with a visual ahead a few miles away.
“Can they outrun us?” Jake asked Elisa.
“I don’t think so. That’s a fishing boat used to bring tourists out deep sea fishing. It’s not made for speed. We should overtake them in a few minutes.”
But that was the problem. Like a dog chasing a car, the dog never knew what to do once the car stopped. The Greeks would be able to shoot at them indiscriminately, while they could not really shoot back. They had only one chance, and that might take some luck.
Within a few minutes they were plowing through the wake of the fishing boat. Jake could now see a number of men on the stern and two higher up, one behind the wheel and the other, the one with hair past his shoulders flapping in the wind, looking at them through binoculars. When the man pointed at them, his men took up positions behind the gunwale at the ste
rn.
Jake checked over the sub-machine guns he had gotten from the Greek billionaire’s men, and he wondered if he could even take a shot without fear of hitting Sara Halsey Jones. Perhaps if they got close enough.
“Drive right up their ass,” Jake demanded. “At the last second veer to the right and come up alongside them. I should get a shot at the men that way without hitting Sara.”
“Where is she?”
“I can’t see her. But we’ll be close enough to maybe take out a couple of them.”
“Sounds good.” Elisa shoved the throttle forward and the patrol boat lunged ahead.
Jake hurried out to the port side of the boat and took a position behind the gunwale, his gun ready to fire. He had no idea how accurate the gun would be, though, having never fired it.
The patrol boat pulled up quickly within shooting range and Jake could now see two men peering over the back end. Then bullets started flying at them, hitting the bow and moving down the side of the boat as Elisa quickly turned to the right and came up alongside the other craft.
Jake ducked as low as he could, aimed at the two men, and sent a burst of bullets at them. Since they sat a bit higher in the water, Jake at least had the height advantage, being able to see down into their boat as he fired. One of the men slumped to the deck and the other stopped firing as bullets cascaded down toward him.
Suddenly the other boat turned right toward them and smashed into their side, sending Jake flying back onto the deck.
Elisa somehow maintained control, and vectored to the right away from them, lessening the impact somewhat. She powered up the boat even more now and turned back toward the fishing boat.
Jake got up and stuck his head inside. “Are you all right?” he asked Elisa.
“Yes. And you?”
“I’ll live. Now get me closer again. I’m gonna try something.”
She nodded with determination and turned the wheel to the left.
Jake took his position again and waited until they closed in. This time he ignored the men in the back. There seemed to be two of them again, so someone must have come from below deck to take over for the man hit.
As they closed in on the fishing boat, bullets again hit the side of their boat. Jake guessed the craft could take a beating, especially from 9mm rounds. Instead of returning their fire, Jake aimed high and fired at the two men up in the pilot deck. The man with the long hair hit the deck and the one behind the wheel dropped when a few of Jake’s rounds hit him. Now the fishing boat veered hard to the left as the dead man pulled the wheel that way when he fell.
Jake yelled at Elisa through the wind, “Get me right up their ass again. I’m gonna aim for the engine.”
Rushing forward on the patrol boat, Jake got to the bow and lay on the deck. He shoved a new 30-round magazine in and took aim as they moved straight into the fishing boat. It looked like the Yanni long-haired fellow was now piloting the boat. When they got almost too close, bullets again flew at Jake, which he ignored as he aimed low at the boat, just above the water line.
Bullets hit all around Jake.
Finally smoke started to rise from the back of the fishing boat and it seemed to be slowing down.
Elisa turned hard to the starboard to avoid crashing into them. The patrol boat quickly passed by the starboard side of the fishing boat and continued past them.
Smoke continued to rise from the boat as Elisa turned around the bow and swung back past them. The fishing boat was still moving, but at about half speed.
Jake came back to Elisa and said, “I think I took out one of their motors.”
“Now what?” she asked.
He checked both of his sub-machine guns and figured he had at least 60 rounds left between them. Then he would have to use his 9mm handgun. Not a great prospect from those distances and speed.
“Come back around behind them and we’ll figure something out.”
When Elisa piloted back behind the fishing boat, the smoke had gotten more intense, with flames visible from the stern.
“We’ll have to put on some more pressure,” Jake said. “They’ll be busy trying to put out the fire.”
Just as he finished saying that, he saw the long-haired dude up at the wheel, his left arm wrapped around Sara’s neck and his right arm pointing a gun at her head.
“Keep your distance,” Jake yelled. “They have a gun to Sara’s head.”
He watched in desperation, helpless now to these men. They would just have to follow and call ahead to have the Italian authorities waiting at the dock for them. But even then Sara might be in danger. He wasn’t sure any of these men remaining would want to go without a fight.
Unsure of what to do, the decision was made for him in the next few seconds as he watched what unfolded on the fishing boat. First, there was a struggle between Sara and the man with long hair. Then Sara dove from the boat into the water. The men took aim and started shooting at the water.
Elisa saw what he saw and shoved the throttle down, powering the patrol boat closer to the burning fishing vessel.
Rushing to the bow, Jake had a sub-machine gun in both hands. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings as they closed on the other craft. Jake propped his feet into a secure shooting position and opened fire with both guns. Bullets from his gun peppered the other boat and he didn’t stop firing until the bolts stuck back on each gun. He dropped the guns to the deck and he pulled his handgun as their boat passed alongside the boat. But he had no targets to fire upon.
Without warning the fishing boat burst further into flames, followed seconds later by a huge fuel explosion knocking Jake back onto the deck.
Elisa turned the boat to the starboard away from the flames and smoke and sharply back toward where the professor had jumped into the water.
Holstering his gun, Jake searched the water for Sara. He looked back to Elisa and raised his hands, desperate. They cruised slowly and as the boat rose and fell with the waves Jake finally saw a body in the water.
“There,” he yelled and pointed.
The boat slowly closed in and when they got close enough Jake dove into the water. He came up a few feet from Sara and grasped her just as she was starting to slip under water. With great difficulty he pulled her toward the patrol boat. Elisa was waiting at the side of the boat with a life ring, which she threw toward Jake. He grasped on to the ring and with Elisa’s help the two of them were able to haul the professor aboard the old Italian boat. Jake, out of breath, gave Sara mouth to mouth and finally resuscitated her, sending a flow of salt water from her lungs. She began to cough and Jake checked over her body for any possible bullet wounds. But she had not been hit.
“Jake,” Elisa yelled. “Take cover.”
Jake looked up and saw the burning and crippled boat heading right for them. He pushed Sara into the enclosed pilot house and took out his gun, hoping the salt water would not stop it from firing.
Elisa powered up their boat just in time to avoid the collision.
Standing in the stern of the patrol boat, Jake aimed his 9mm auto at the upper deck. Just as he fired he noticed that the man who once had hair past his shoulders now had burned stubble on his head, and his face was black, either burned or full of soot from the flames. As the two boats passed each other only feet apart, Jake fired until his magazine was empty and the slide locked back. He watched behind them and saw the Greek man slumping and finally dropping to the deck, the boat now limping in a slow, long circle, flames and smoke rising into the morning air.
He went inside and found Sara Halsey Jones sitting on a bench, her arms wrapped around herself. Jake found a blanket in one of the compartments and placed it around her.
“Are you all right?” Jake asked Sara.
“I am now,” the professor said. “Thank you for finding me. Both of you.”
Elisa smiled and turned the patrol boat toward the coast of Sicily, which was just visible on the horizon now.
“Are you ready to go back to Texas?” Jake asked.
“Don’t worry about that,” Elisa said. “I had our government secure the site just after our encounter there. Nobody has been in since we removed the bodies from the catacomb.”
Nice touch, Jake thought. He had been so busy trying to figure out how to get Sara back, he hadn’t even thought about that.
They slowly made their way back toward the navy base at Augusta.
“What kind of trouble you suppose we’ll be in when they see all the bullet holes in this beast?” Jake asked.
Elisa shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”
Jake sat down next to Sara. “We’ll get you some warm clothes and onto a flight back to the U.S. Anything else you need?”
She simply shook her head and then leaned it against Jake’s shoulder. They would stay like that until they got to the port in Augusta, Italy.
28
Hours had passed since Jake and Elisa pulled into the Italian navy port in Augusta and turned in the old World War II patrol boat. They weren’t happy with the holes in the hull, but understood once Elisa told them how things went down.
From there they had driven their acquired Fiat to Sigonella Naval Air Station outside of Catania, Sicily. A Gulfstream jet waited on the tarmac outside the operations building as evening set in.
Jake and Professor Sara Halsey Jones stood outside waiting while a couple of sailors prepped the aircraft for flight.
“Thank you again, Jake,” Sara said. “I’m sure they would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”
On the drive from Augusta to Catania the professor had told them about her keel-hauling experience, where she thought for sure she would die. She felt guilty for actually giving in and telling the men about the stone of Archimedes.
“No problem. That’s kind of what I do now.” He was never one to enjoy compliments. They made him feel too. . .normal. Jake continued, “Are they going to let you work on the Archimedes stone?”
“Thanks to Elisa,” Sara said. “She seems to have a lot of pull within the government.”
