Fist after fist rained down on my stomach. They were landing, but they left my arms open. I reached up with both hands and grabbed him by the back of the skull. I pulled him towards me as I slid my thumbs around to his face. I put my thumbs into his eyeballs and pushed.
He couldn’t see, but he didn’t need to. He knew where my body was positioned and took one full swing that landed to the side of my skull. I was dazed. My grip released.
I could feel his weight no longer on top of me. I was dizzy. My vision blurry. I looked up and saw Devlin walking towards me with a speargun. I waited for him to take aim and rolled wildly to the left. He let loose and a spear landed right where my chest had been.
I got to my feet. Squared myself. The bridge of the yacht was getting too hot. I stepped backwards and out. Devlin was following me closely, but carefully.
“Giving up already, Zamora? I thought you SEALs fought a little harder than that.”
I wasn’t falling for his psychological warfare. I continued backing towards the stern. I pushed off with my right foot and prepared to lunge. As I pushed off everything went sideways. The boat. Devlin. Me.
I landed face down on the deck. Devlin was on his side. I had missed, but we had both wound up being taken down. We had hit something or run ashore on a submerged pile of rocks. We were no longer moving.
I looked over at Devlin. He looked dazed. I rolled twice to my right and on top of Devlin. I put my weight on his mid section and pinned his hands to the deck with mine. I delivered a crashing head-butt to his nose. Blood exploded everywhere. His nose was broken. His eyes full of water.
I dropped a forearm blow into his neck. He gagged. I pulled my elbow up and crashed it into his jaw. Over and over and over again. Each time the blow rotating his neck sideways. His chin hitting the deck. He was dazed. Nearly out.
I stood up. Still dizzy. My vision still blurred. I walked back to the hull. There was another speargun on the rack. I grabbed it and retuned to the stern.
Devlin was gone.
I saw a trail of blood leading off the side of the boat.
I looked into the Aegean. Nothing. I looked over the side to see if he was hanging on. No. I ran back to the hull. We had come ashore on a pile of submerged rocks. I looked. No Devlin. I ran back to the stern. I scanned the water. I couldn’t see a thing. Then, something in the distance. Ten yards out I saw a plastic tip. It was moving. A snorkel.
I dove off the side of the boat and swam towards the snorkel. Devlin tried to swim in a zigzag pattern, but it was too late. I had damaged him too much. Even in my bruised and battered state he wasn’t fast enough.
I swam up next to him. Two yards away. I surfaced for a big gulp of air. I dove down. I swam directly under Devlin. Rolled over onto my back.
Devlin was a perfect silhouette. Completely encased in a sea of blue. Lit from the sun above and behind. It would have made for a beautiful postcard until what I did next.
I steadied the speargun. Took aim strategically. Devlin was still zigzagging. I tried to keep in sync. I got directly underneath him and then zigged. He zagged. I got underneath him again. Faked left and went right. He bit on the left fake. Went right. Right in time with me. Perfect.
I pulled the trigger. The spear released upwards like it was shot out of a cannon. It was instantaneous. Fast. But for me time stood still.
The spear hit Devlin right in the genitals. It passed through. Entered his stomach and passed through. He would bleed out. No escaping this time.
I tread water on my back and stared up. It was the moment I had waited for. Blood was already gushing from his body. The end was near. First he would feel some of the pain he delivered all these years. It was only a fraction, but it was now.
I watched as he suffered. I’m not a sadist, but I enjoyed every second of it. I was going to watch him die this time. No getting away. No second chances.
He struggled until the life left his body. I swam next to him and removed the snorkel. He floated face down. Lifeless.
I had tried to kill him in a swimming pool and failed. He fell into the sea and still survived. The third time would be his last. The water would claim him. He had made his living navigating waterways. First with drugs. Second with people. On a calm, crystal clear summer afternoon it was a waterway which would swallow him whole.
The waterways of the world had been used and abused by Devlin. Taken advantage of. I left him floating there in that Aegean waterway, allowing the sea to claim its revenge as I had claimed mine.
I swam back to the boat. Taking my time. I pulled myself up over the edge. I was still breathing hard. I looked back at Devlin. He was about forty yards away. Still floating face down. I sat on the stern. Thought about all the time that had past. Part of me just wanted to watch him float. Wanted to count the seconds go by. See with my own eyes there wouldn’t be a miraculous escape time. I looked to the sky.
“We got him Smitty. We got him.”
I sat on that stern for nine more minutes. Counting the seconds. Enough was enough.
I got up and walked below deck. The two blondes were passed out on a couch. I checked for pulses. They were OK. Pretty drugged up, but OK.
I heard a faint knocking sound. I thought it was the sound of the boat banging off the rocks. I heard it again. It wasn’t in any rhythm. I checked the rooms. Nothing. I went to the master bedroom. I could hear it a bit louder. I walked around trying to locate it. A faint sound amongst numerous sounds from the sea. I couldn’t pin it down.
I checked by the head in the master bedroom. It was a bit stronger. I knocked on the wall inside the head. I heard a knock back. I knocked three times. Three knocks came back.
I tore at the oak paneling. Something was behind that wall. I looked for a loose board. Nothing. A lever. Nothing. I flipped light switches. Flushed the toilet. Moved the toothbrush from the holder. Nothing. But the faint knock continued.
What could it be! I buried my head in my hands and leaned against the wall. My left elbow caught the side of the towel rack. It twisted down. I broke it off the screws. I looked down. It wasn’t broken. It had rotated. I put my weight into it and pushed it vertically. I heard a pop. The paneling moved out a little bit. I pried my fingers inside the space and pulled. Four feet of boards slid out.
I reached my hand inside. I felt a light switch and flipped it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could have swum back out to Devlin’s body and killed him all over again.
There was a woman. She looked to be mid thirties. She was tied to the wall. Dressed in a white gown. There was a bowl there with food. Like it was there for a caged animal. Something was in her mouth. I pulled it out and threw it down.
“The key is in the cabinet,” she said.
I ran back to the bathroom. Opened the medicine cabinet. Behind a bottle of mouthwash I found a key. I returned. Uncuffed her from the wall. She fell into my arms. Began to cry.
“Please tell me you’re here to help me,” she said in between sobs.
“I’m here to help you. You’re going to be OK. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Her cries grew louder.
“Are you Agent Johnson?” I asked.
She stopped crying and looked up at me. Terrified.
“Wait. How do you know that?”
“I’m a friend of Agent Abbey. She’s looking for you. Looking real hard.”
She smiled then started crying all over again. Burying her head in my shoulder.
“I have to interrupt you. Is there anyone else here? Anyone else being kept against their will?”
“No. Just me. The other two girls don’t know anything. They’re lucky. They were in for a rude surprise soon.”
I looked at her curiously. She could read my expression.
“I’ve been on this boat for awhile. I lost track of days down here in the dark. They bring me up every once in awhile so I get light. I can hear him talking on his phone. I was going to be a gift. I think they were taking me to Bahrain, but they were waiting on some
special visitor.”
“Did they know you were DEA?”
“They figured it out. They had some computers and they took photos of me. Probably to try and run matches in various databases.”
“They had connections?”
“I don’t know. I think they were just hacking systems. If they were they had good hackers. Can we turn the light out? It’s too bright. I’m not used to it.”
“Absolutely.” I went over and turned off the light.
“The light from the other room is enough. I’ll be adjusted in a few minutes and then I can come out.”
“Take your time. Please.”
“I’ll be OK. I’ll be honest though. I had given up hope. I thought there was absolutely no way anyone was going to find me. I mean, come on. I’m on a boat. Locked in the bowels of this boat. Who in the heck knows what ocean in what part of the world with my odds of survival at a million to one? At best.”
“Not anymore.”
“Thank you. I don’t even know what to say. Words don’t do it justice.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s Special Agents Abby and Frost that were hunting you down.”
“Well, thank you to everyone then. Thank you all.”
“Do you need anything? What can I get you right now?”
“I’m a little worse for wear, but I’m a lucky one. Like I said they hadn’t tried anything yet. They were saving me. I just relied on my training for the rest. Tried to mentally detach from certain things and keep my mind busy with other thoughts so I didn’t go crazy.”
“It worked.”
“It sure did. I mean, I’m going to need some time off. Well, probably some counseling first, but I’ve worked in this field long enough. Luckily I’ve built up a tough shell.”
“You can say that again. You’re one tough cookie.”
“Thanks. And the good news is I overheard a lot of stuff. A lot of names. They thought I was a goner so they spoke very freely. I think I can put them away. A lot of them just based on what I heard. Admissions and confessions paired with what we already had when the case started.”
“Perfect.”
“Where’s Devlin?”
“He went for a swim. He’s not coming back.”
“Good riddance.”
“You ready to get out of here?”
“Am I ever.”
“OK, I’m going to go check the damage to the boat. Figure out a way to get us back to the harbor.”
“What harbor? Where are we?”
“Aegean Sea. Between Bodrum and Kos somewhere.”
“Really?”
“Really. OK, come up when your eyes have adjusted. I have to make this right. Get back and see how Abbey’s doing.”
“Is she OK?”
“Yes. She’s taking care of some of Devlin’s accomplices?”
“Right now?” Agent Johnson was terrified.
“They’re already indisposed. She’s just coming in for the finishing touches. She’s going to be OK. And she’s locked and loaded so no need to worry about her.”
“OK.”
“OK. I’m topside if you need me. Can I get you a glass of water first?”
“It’s OK. Go. Let’s get out of here.”
I went topside to check the damage. We were stuck. If I tried to back us out I’d probably rip a hole in the hull. I had memorized Abbey’s number. She was more than surprised to receive a call from an unknown number. She was even more surprised when I told her it was Devlin’s satellite phone.
She had the situation in Bodrum all wrapped up. The Turkish authorities came in and were doing a great job. Apparently they had eyes on The Turk this whole time. Being a foreign man and because I had made so many visits they had me pegged as an associate. They had been the ones who coordinated the break in to the decoy café I was using. They coordinated with the Greeks to send someone over to my café to snoop around. See what they could find. Ironic that the phone they found lead to the agent who would wind up calling them in for backup.
CHAPTER 9
Devlin was dead. Special Agent Johnson was safe and sound. A massive trafficking syndicate was broken up and its members on their way to the U.S. for a slam-dunk trial and life behind bars. A happy ending if there ever was one, but this wasn’t.
The next day I was lying in my bungalow bed staring at the ceiling. Now that the case was on its way, Abbey would be on her way with it.
My phone vibrated. The message said: Can we meet?
I thought for a second. Was there really a point? I know how these things end. Agents are married to their job. I was a SEAL. I know how these types of careers work. Add in that this had the summer romance element and it looks even all the more fleeting. I began typing. Reluctantly, but out of respect I put Sure. When and where? It sounded a lot better than let’s get this over with.
I heard a knock at my door. I wasn’t due to check out until tomorrow morning and housekeeping knew me well enough not to disturb.
I rolled out of bed. Put on a white t-shirt with my swim trunks.
I opened the wood door. Through the screen I could see Abbey.
“Here to arrest me, Special Agent?”
“Only if you’re lucky, Mr. Sexy Seal.”
I smiled and stepped outside.
We took a seat underneath the cabana.
“So I guess this is it,” I said.
“What makes you say that?” Abbey said.
“Come on. We both know how these things go.”
“Do we?”
“OK. My fault. What were you going to say?”
“Why so negative?” Abbey said.
“Not negative. Realistic.”
“And the reality is you have a pretty good life. I mean you sure seemed to be enjoying yourself when Frost and I found you.”
“Yeah, it looks that way. And it is nice, but come on. That game is wearing thin. It doesn’t interest me anymore.”
“Wild nights with young co-eds on the beaches of hedonistic Greek islands don’t interest you? Are you ill? Feeling OK?”
“Very funny.”
“I’m serious.”
“Those things have their time and place.”
“I hear a but in there somewhere.”
I smiled. “But not anymore. I’m passed that now.”
“Well, what do you want now?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t?” she said.
Since this was it anyways, I figured what the heck. I’ll open up to her. She deserves it anyways. She trusted me. The least I can do is give her a little trust back.
“You know. I was enjoying that lifestyle. Then you guys came along. I got to get my hands dirty again. Work with a team. Lead a team. Do good things for people. Good things for the world. It reminded me why I signed on that dotted line for the Navy years ago. Why I volunteered to try out for the SEAL teams. I like that feeling. I miss that feeling. I wish I could get it back.”
She didn’t say anything. Just stared at me with a little smile.
“But enough about that. What about you? You must be the talk of the town these days.”
She smiled. “Well, I can’t complain. I had a debrief yesterday. Several high-ranking officials on that call from Washington. They were impressed. They thanked me more than once.”
“That’s great. You’re on your way within the agency.”
“True. This case definitely helped out my career. No doubt about that.” She paused. “But that’s not exactly what they thanked me for.”
“They did the okie-doke on you?”
Abbey started laughing. “What the heck is the okie-doke?”
“Played you for a fool. Set you up. Thanks for the great work, now here’s your reward. The worst possible case, because of course you’re the best so you can figure out anything.”
“No, they didn’t try the okie-doke, as you say, on me.”
“What did they try?”
“Well,” she began. “Th
ey tried to remind me that it takes a team to make things happen.”
“Obviously.”
“Calm down, mister. There’s more.”
“It takes a team, and the thing they were most proud of me for was putting together a team.”
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