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Even so, it had been a close call. Running without his lights, David had watched the first police cutter, its sirens blaring, enter the bay just as he slipped away. The explosion helped cover their escape, distracting the arriving ships.
Still, never in his career had he come so close to capture.
Scowling, David reached the lower level of the ship and crossed to a steel door. He tapped in the electronic code and shoved into the small cell beyond. Though he had lost two good men on this mission, the sortie hadn’t been a total failure. Inside the cell, the Canadian anthropologist was tied, spread-eagled, to the bed. She struggled against her bonds as he entered. Gagged, her eyes grew large at the sight of him.
“Give it up. You can’t escape. ” He slipped his diving knife from its thigh sheath and crossed toward her.
Instead of crying or struggling further, she just glared at him.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he reached out with the knife and cut her gag. She spit out the wad of cloth. “You bastard!”
David fingered the edge of his blade. “We’re gonna have a little chat, Professor Grace. Let’s hope I don’t have to free your tongue with this blade. ” He spotted a trickle of blood running from her hairline down her neck, reached out and pressed his thumb against the lump there.
She winced.
It was the spot where he had bludgeoned her with the butt of his rifle after discovering her hiding place. Her ruse with the penlight had come close to working. He dug his thumb into the tender spot, eliciting a sharp cry from her. “Now are you done with your little tricks?”
She spat at him, the spittle striking his cheek.
He let it dribble down, not bothering to wipe it away. “Just so we both understand each other. ” He grabbed her between the legs. She was still damp from the swim through the canals. He squeezed her, hard.
She gasped, her eyes growing wide, and tried to squirm from his touch. “Get away from me, you goddamn bastard. ”
He held her tight. “Though my bosses may want you alive to pick your brain, that doesn’t mean we can’t hurt you in ways you never imagined. So let’s start again. Where’s the crystal you mentioned in your e-mail to Kirkland?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. ”
“Wrong answer,” he said with a hard smile.
A knock on the door drew him around from his play. He saw Rolfe standing at the threshold, still in his wet suit, half unzipped. The man eyed their prisoner, then his gaze returned to David.
“Sir, Jeffreys has continued to monitor the police bands. Some…um, startling news has come through. ” Rolfe nodded to the prisoner. “Perhaps outside…”
The woman spoke from the bed. “Jack’s alive, isn’t he?”
David struck her with the heel of his hand. “Mind your manners, bitch. ”
Rolfe nervously shifted his feet. “She’s right, sir. They’ve dragged Kirkland from the ocean. He’s hurt but alive. ”
David felt a surge of heat. “Goddamn it! Can’t that man stay dead?”
“That’s not all. ”
“What?”
“He…he’s aboard the Deep Fathom. ”
David was too stunned to speak.
Rolfe explained, “I don’t know how, but his ship is here. ”
Closing his eyes, rage swelled through David. At every turn, Kirkland had thwarted him. He swung to the bound woman. Kirkland had risked his own life so she could escape. Why? He studied her. He sensed an edge here, a way of turning this to his advantage.
David stood up and pointed back at their prisoner. “Haul her ass on deck. ”
11:56 P. M.
Jack woke slowly. It took him several breaths to realize where he was. The teak paneling, the chest of drawers, the captain’s table and hutch. It was his own cabin aboard the Deep Fathom. It made no sense.
“Well, look who’s up,” a voice said.
He turned his head, noticing for the first time the oxygen mask strapped to his face. Tubes led to a portable tank. He lifted a hand to brush it away.
“Leave it. ”
Jack focused on his bedside companion. “Lisa?” Beyond her, he saw Charlie Mollier standing over her shoulder. At the sound of his master’s voice, Elvis lifted his head from the floor and rested it on the bedside.
“Who did you expect?” Lisa straightened his pillow. “Do you feel strong enough to sit up?”
Jack’s mind fumbled, trying to recall his situation. He remembered the chase through the ruins of Nan Madol, the struggle through the underwater tunnel, but…“You’re all dead. ” He coughed thickly as he pushed up, then groaned loudly.
“Careful. ” Lisa helped him sit up, cushioning his back with pillows.
“Ow. ” Every inch of him ached. He lifted his arms and saw an IV line trailing to a bag of saline. His arms were smeared with salve and bandages.
“We’re supposed to be dead?” Charlie said with a toothy smile. “Mon, you’re the lucky one to be alive. ”
He coughed again. It felt as if someone had scoured his lungs with a Brillo pad. “But the bomb…?”
Charlie sat on the edge of his bed. “Oh, about that, sorry, but we needed to make everyone think we were sunk. The bomb is down in my lab, locked away. ”
Jack shook his head, then regretted it, grimacing at the pain. “What the hell happened?” he barked with irritation.
Charlie related the events. The crew had found the bomb, and Robert recognized the trigger as a radio receiver. With Lisa’s skill at electronics, it was a simple matter to remove the receiver. But they knew whoever had set it would not be satisfied unless the ship blew up. So they placed a call to Jack and warned him about the bomb, knowing that if someone were eavesdropping, they would probably trigger the device. “Which they did,” Charlie explained. “When we saw the detached receiver blink, we knew the signal to blow the bomb was being sent, so we staged our own deaths. Dumped a bunch of oil and fuel, threw in some deck chairs and floaters, then lit the whole mess on fire. ”
Jack’s eyes had grown wide by now.
“From there, we just hightailed it here to Pohnpei. Of course, we had to run silent. No communication of any sort or we’d blow the ruse. ”
“But…but…” Jack felt his old anger returning, fueling his strength. He pushed off his oxygen mask and glowered at the two of them. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
Charlie looked innocently at him. “So what are you saying…you’d rather we all blew up?”
Jack stared at Charlie’s hurt expression, then burst out laughing. He held his sides against the pain. “Of course not. ” He glanced up at them; his eyes began to tear up. “You have no idea what it means to see you all here…. ”
Lisa reached over and gave him a quick hug. “Just rest. You’ve had a rough day. ”
Jack suddenly remembered. “But what about Spangler? And the others?”
Charlie looked to Lisa, then back at Jack. “Spangler’s long gone. But I’ve been in contact with Professor Nakano. She was hoping you knew what had happened to Dr. Grace. They’ve been unable to find her. ”
Jack felt a sick lump in his gut. “What does she mean? I left Karen with her. ”
Charlie shook her head. “The police are still questioning Professor Nakano on one of their boats. She asked if she could join us here. I said it would be okay. ”
Jack nodded, but his mind spun. Where was Karen? What had happened?
Running footsteps sounded in the hall. Robert burst into the room and eyed the others. “Thank God you’re awake, Jack. ”
“What is it?”
“A radio call. ” He was out of breath. “From David Spangler. He wants to speak to you. ”
Jack swung his legs off the bed, moving Elvis aside. He motioned Lisa to the IV. “Unhook me. ”
Lisa paused.
“Do it. I’m fine now. I’ve survived worse. ”
Lisa peeled back the surgical tape and slid out the catheter, covering the site with a small Band-Aid. She glanced at Charlie with concern.
Jack stood, wobbling on his feet. Charlie reached out to steady him, but Jack waved him away. “C’mon. Let’s see what this bastard wants now. ”
As a group, they climbed up to the pilothouse. Jack grabbed the mike to the VHF radio. “Kirkland here. ”
Spangler’s voice crackled from the radio. “Jack, glad to hear you’re up and about. Rumor is you got pretty shook up. ”
“And fuck you, too. What do you want?”
“It seems you have something I want, and I have something you want. ”
“What are you talking about?”
A new voice came on the line. “Jack?”
He clutched the phone tighter. “Karen! Are you okay?”
Spangler answered. “She’s enjoying our company. Now let’s talk business. I have no need for this woman. All I want is that bit of crystal. ”
Jack switched off the transmitter and looked at Lisa. “My pack?”
“It’s down in your cabin. ”
Jack returned to the radio. “What are you proposing?”
“An even exchange. The crystal for the woman. Then we all part friends and forget this ever happened. ”
Right, Jack thought. He trusted David about as far as he could throw him. But he had little choice. “When?”
“Just so no one tries to pull any stunts, let’s say dawn tomorrow. At sea. In the light of day. ”
“Fine, but I pick the location. ” A tentative plan began to gel.
“Agreed…but if I see a single police vehicle, the woman gets cut up into bite-sized pieces and fed to the sharks. ”
“Understood. Then we’ll meet at dawn off the eastern coast of Nahkapw Island. ” Jack spelled the name out. “Do you know where that is?”
“I can find it. I’ll see you there. ” The radio went dead.
Jack rehooked the mike.
“You know it’s a trap,” Charlie said.
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