Hush-Hush

by Stuart Woods

  “Stone,” he heard Rocky say.

  He turned and found her lying on her back, her chest bloody.

  “Watch the back door!” Stone shouted and ran to Rocky’s side. “Hey, girl, I’m here,” Stone said to her. She blinked her eyes a few times and tried but failed to speak.

  Stone had to calm himself and think for a minute. Civilian 911 wasn’t going to get here fast enough. He called the state police and asked for the guy he knew.

  “Stone?”

  “We’re under heavy armed assault, and a woman here has taken a chest wound. We need a chopper at the Islesboro airfield stat!”

  “We’re on it!” the sergeant said.

  “Bring fully suited men and the heaviest weapons you can manage. They’ve got automatic weapons and grenades.”

  “Departing now,” the sergeant said, then hung up.

  “Dino, you watch the back door. Seth, cover my back at the front door. I’m going to look for opposition. When we’re clear, put the rear seats down for Rocky.”

  Mary came out of the kitchen with a stack of clean dishcloths and applied one to Rocky’s chest, making encouraging noises. Stone flipped on the TV and used his iPhone to turn on all the cameras. Why hadn’t he done that before? He did a quick survey of the front of the house, then went to Rocky and picked her up in his arms. “Seth, the station wagon!”

  Seth opened the garage door, and Stone followed. They got the seats down, and Stone crawled into the back with Rocky. “Hang on,” he whispered in her ear. “We’re on our way to the chopper.”

  Seth got the garage door open and the engine started.

  Dino leapt into the shotgun seat, and they were on their way.

  54

  Ed Rawls sat inside his battened-down house; rolled-down steel shutters covered every window. Sally was loading magazines while Ed watched his twelve views of the property on TV. He could see no one. He called Stone’s cell and got no reply. Oh, shit, he thought. “Stone, it’s Ed; call me when you can. Let me know if you need anything.” He hung up.

  Ed looked at the image from the camera covering his dock and used the joystick on his iPhone controller to pan Penobscot Bay, then zoomed in on an approaching boat. It was a lobsterman’s boat, but he didn’t know who was driving it. He knew that some of the lobster boats could do 40 to 60 knots. They raced them in the bay. The boat grew larger on his screen.

  * * *

  —

  Stone lay in the rear of the old Ford wagon, cradling Rocky in his arms, whispering encouragement in her ear. They were parked on the ramp near the runway, and he could hear a chopper approaching, but whose was it?

  Dino stood at the edge of the runway. “We’re okay, Stone. It’s the state cops!”

  “Hang on, Rocky, they’re landing.”

  The chopper set down and four combat-suited men carrying assault rifles hopped onto the runway. Stone and Seth got Rocky out, while men on the chopper handed out a stretcher. They loaded the stretcher, but a large man barred Stone’s way.

  “No room for anybody but the wounded,” he shouted over the noise of the spinning rotors.

  Stone grabbed the rim of his flak jacket and pulled him close. “Listen to me!” he shouted. “She’s going to die, and I don’t want her to be alone! Leave two men. They’re needed here!” The man nodded, pushed Stone into a canvas seat, buckled his seat belt, and handed him a headset. Stone adjusted it, then held Rocky’s hand as they lifted off.

  * * *

  —

  Ed spotted a rifle barrel protruding from the cockpit of the lobster boat, and the driver was wearing a helmet and combat mask. He went to his weapons locker and pulled a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and fastened a round to it. He checked the monitor again, and saw the lobster boat was pulling into his empty dock, as he had hoped it would. His own boat was in the boathouse.

  “Sally,” he said, “I’ve got to go out onto the porch for a couple of minutes. You stop loading and get a weapon ready, should somebody breach a door. And for Christ’s sake, don’t shoot me; I’m the one in the red flannel shirt.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Ed,” Sally said, picking up an assault rifle and shoving a magazine into it.

  Ed checked his monitors one last time, then raised a front window shade a couple of inches and looked out at the dock. They were ten meters out. He was only going to get one shot at this, he thought, as he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. He leaned against an upright and brought the weapon up to its firing position, sighting in on the boat, a little forward of the cockpit, in line with the driver. As they coasted in close to the dock, Ed judged their distance at forty yards. He was going to have to be accurate. He took a breath, let half of it out, and slowly squeezed the trigger.

  * * *

  —

  The state police helicopter settled onto the hospital pad, and Stone helped unload the stretcher. Two men grabbed the sheet under Rocky and lifted her onto their gurney, which had the advantage of wheels. They tried to brush Stone aside, but he held on to Rocky’s hand and trotted alongside the gurney. They crashed through a set of double doors and picked up speed on the smooth, tiled floor. Stone could see two people down the hallway ahead of them, both fully garmented for surgical work, standing outside a door with an overhead sign reading Trauma 1. A doctor stopped them, got the bandage out of the way, and took a quick look at Rocky’s chest. “OR 2, straight ahead! They’re ready for her.”

  As they turned through the swinging doors of the operating room, a gowned nurse stepped between Stone and the gurney. “You can’t help her anymore,” she said to him. “Let us do our work.” She pointed at a steel stairway. “You can see from up there.”

  Stone ran up the stairs and found himself on the upper level of a theater. He saw them lift Rocky onto the table, and two nurses began cutting off her clothes. There were now a half dozen gowned people clustered around Rocky, and they were connecting her to all sorts of equipment, which now came to life, and an anesthesiologist was injecting something into her IV tube. Stone centered his gaze on one screen, which seemed to be displaying her heartbeat.

  To him, at least, it looked erratic.

  * * *

  —

  Ed kept his eye glued to the telescopic sight and watched the rocket-propelled grenade fly. He wished he had time to load another round, but he couldn’t stop watching. The grenade struck the side of the boat about eight inches below the gunwale, just aft of the driver’s position, and the boat exploded. Ed could feel the hot air sweep over him, but he clung to the weapon. Suddenly, a voice from behind startled him. “Can you use this?”

  Ed spun around to find Sally standing there, holding another round. He looked back at the boat. Pieces of it and of black-suited men were falling into the water and onto the dock. “Thank you,” he said to Sally, “but I don’t think I’ll need it.”

  From out on the bay, a half dozen boats had turned toward his dock and were converging.

  * * *

  —

  Stone watched from above as they draped Rocky’s body, and a surgeon called for something. A scalpel larger than Stone had expected was slapped into his hand, and he stepped forward, his body shielding Rocky’s from Stone’s sight, for which he was grateful. He saw the man’s elbow move as he made the cut into flesh Stone loved.

  There was a plastic trash can near Stone’s feet. He picked it up and vomited into it. This, he thought, is why they don’t let civilians stay with the patient.

  Then there came an extra-loud continuous beep from the equipment, and the display of Rocky’s heartbeat flatlined. There was much movement and shouting among the attending medics. An assisting surgeon stepped forward with paddles and applied them to Rocky’s chest. “Clear!” he yelled. Everyone took a step back, and Rocky’s body arched, then collapsed back onto the table.

  The display was still flatlining. />
  55

  Stone gripped the railing of the tier where he watched, gritted his teeth, and muttered, “Come on, Rocky, come on!” As if in response to his pleading, the screen began to beep and display her heartbeats. Stone heaved a long sigh.

  The surgeon was back at work, and Stone was relieved that he couldn’t see what the man was doing. He watched for nearly an hour, then the surgeon stepped back and shucked off his gloves. “Close, Harry, will you?” He left the theater.

  Stone ran down the stairs and found the entrance to the prep room. The young surgeon had shucked his cap and gown, too, and was bending over a sink, splashing water on his face. He saw Stone and turned to look at him. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m with her,” Stone said, nodding toward the OR. “Tell me as much as you can.”

  “She took a single round to her chest, where it missed her heart but nicked an artery. We were able to repair that and some other damage. The good news is, she’s stable.”

  “How long before you’ll know more?”

  “She’s in an induced coma, and she won’t wake up until sometime tomorrow. Then she’ll tell us how she is.”

  Stone looked at his watch.

  “Right now,” the doctor said, “I think she’s in better shape than you are. She’s not going to know you’re here until at least twenty-four hours from now. Since there’s nothing you can do here, I suggest you use the time to get some rest and food. Sleep if you can and come back at noon tomorrow. Maybe you’ll be here when she wakes up.”

  “What if she doesn’t wake up?”

  “If she arrests, there’ll be a team all over her to get her heart started again. You can’t help with that. If you leave me a cell number, I’ll call you if, and only if, there’s any change. Don’t call me. I need some rest myself.”

  Stone found a pad. “What’s your name and number?”

  “Paul Krause.” He dictated a number.

  “May I ask you a rude question, Dr. Krause?”

  “As long as you don’t expect a polite answer.”

  “All right. If you were in her condition, who is the one doctor in the world within flying distance that you’d want attending you, because I can have him here in a few hours.”

  “There is such a physician,” Krause said.

  Stone got a pen ready. “What’s his name?”

  “Paul Krause. And she’s lucky to have him.”

  Stone nodded. “I can accept that. Thank you, Doctor. By the way, the people who shot her are very likely to try again. Can you arrange security for her?”

  “After a fashion, but hospital people are not armed. The state police are your best hope, unless you know of a top-notch security company nearby.”

  “Thank you, I do.” Stone got on the phone to Mike Freeman and told him about Rocky’s condition. “What can you do?”

  “Hang on a minute.” Stone could hear computer keys being tapped. “I’ve got four people in Portsmouth with a chopper. They can be there in less than an hour. I’ll send four more from New York to the island, arriving in the morning.”

  “Great!”

  “What about you, Stone?”

  “I’ve got to check on the house and Ed Rawls. When your people arrive at the hospital, can your chopper give me a lift to the island?”

  “Of course. Keep the bird for as long as you like.”

  “Thanks, Mike.” Stone went into the hallway and approached the nurse’s station.

  She saw him coming. “You can’t see her now, sir, but she’s in room 221, a floor up, for later reference.”

  “There will likely be people coming to hurt her, so don’t give anyone else that room number. There will be four armed professionals here in less than an hour, and they’ll identify themselves as being from a company called Strategic Services. Please tell them where to find her room.” He wrote down his number. “If anybody else asks for her room number, give them a wrong number, then call the state police and me.”

  The sergeant and his chopper were waiting on the pad, when Stone got there.

  “How is she?”

  “Stable, and in an induced coma. More news tomorrow. Some Strategic Services people are choppering in later; can your guys guard her room until they come?”

  “They are already doing so. Do you need a lift back to the island?”

  “You’re a mind reader. We also need as many men as you can spare; we killed at least two of the intruders at my house, but we’ve no idea how many more there might be.” The sergeant nodded, then made a winding motion with his finger, and the pilot jumped in and started engines.

  “I’ll send him straight back,” Stone said, running for the copter. “Can you call Dino and tell him I’m on the way, and to meet me?”

  “Sure, I’ve got his number.”

  Stone hopped into the aircraft and strapped in. The only other person he needed to call was Lance, but there was too much noise to use his phone. The chopper rose, climbed, and turned for Islesboro.

  * * *

  —

  Twenty minutes later, the machine set down on the runway, and Dino and Viv were waiting with the station wagon. Stone thanked the pilot and ran for the car. Dino already had it running.

  “How’s Rocky?” Dino asked.

  “Stable, and on the mend, I hope. Have you heard anything from Ed Rawls?”

  “Not a word.”

  Stone called Ed’s house.

  “Be quick about it,” Ed said.

  “It’s Stone. What’s your condition?”

  “Safe. I can’t say the same for a boat that tried to dock here, loaded with ninjas.”

  “Did any of them get ashore?”

  “Not in one piece. There are body parts here and there.”

  “Jesus, Ed, what did you use on them?”

  “RPG. Worked good.”

  “Rocky took a round and has survived surgery. I’m back on the island. You got any ideas?”

  “I’ve got an idea the Greek is somewhere nearby, but we haven’t heard from him yet. You want to come here? We’re snug and well-armed.”

  “Yes. We’re not far away, in the Ford station wagon. We need to check on Seth and Mary first, though.”

  “I’ll crack my shell when I see you on camera. Drive right in through both gates, then I’ll button up again.”

  Stone hung up. “Have you got any idea where my machine gun is?”

  “On the back seat. I hope you’ve got ammo.”

  “Let’s look in on Seth and his wife, then we’ll go to Ed’s place; he’s got everything, including a grenade launcher, minus one round. He used that to take out an invading boat. Nobody survived.” Dino turned into Stone’s drive.

  He found Seth and Mary in the living room, working on the back door. “Are you two okay?”

  “We will be, when I get this door up, and if they don’t have more grenades.”

  “I’ll be at Ed Rawls’s house. Call if you need me.” He got back into the car. “They’re fine,” he said to Dino, who got the car in gear and headed down the road.

  “Here comes Ed’s driveway. Drive in slowly, so he can ID us.”

  Dino turned into the driveway, and the fallen-log gate started to move, then they were through the second gate. “Look at that,” Dino said, pointing at the smoldering ruin of a vessel moored there.

  “I can see why nobody survived.”

  They got out of the car, and were greeted by Sally, on the porch, bearing an AK-47.

  56

  The inside of Rawls’s place looked like a charming Maine house, with an armory overlaid. There were a dozen loaded weapons lying around and magazines of different calibers stacked neatly on the dining room table. Stone helped himself to some for his machine gun.

  “Some lunch?” Sally asked.

  “I’d love that,” St
one said, “but first I have to call Lance.” He did so.

  He answered immediately. “I understand that Rocky is injured but stable,” Lance said.

  “I understand that, too. Have you ever heard of a surgeon called Paul Krause?”

  “Certainly, the best thoracic surgeon in the United States, possibly in the world.”

  “I’m relieved to hear it.”

  “You’re at Rawls’s place?”

  “I am.”

  “I hear that Gromyko is on the island with as many as a dozen men.”

  “Swell. We’ve knocked out about half of them.”

  “Splendid; keep going.”

  “Is Egon Pentkovsky part of this?”

  “Greco. He’s in Camden, awaiting his family. They have a real estate closing tomorrow, I believe.”

  “So I don’t have to look out for him?”

  “I shouldn’t think so. What do you need from me?”

  “Nothing that you could get here right now,” Stone said. “I’ve already asked the state police for all the people they can spare.”

  “They have a ferry reservation for a truck in an hour or so,” Lance said. “That might be who you’re looking for.”

  “Good. I could use some aerial surveillance of the island, too, particularly around Rawls’s house.”

  “I’ll see if I can redirect a satellite,” Lance said. “It could take a couple of hours, though. My chopper is at the hospital, looking for you; he might be of help.”

  “Sorry, I got another ride.”

  “I’ll ask him to supply you with as much surveillance as he can. What’s the radio frequency of the Islesboro airfield?”

  “It’s 122.9.”

  “Cells don’t always work, but the radio should. I expect Ed has one; he has everything.”

  “I wish I were as well-informed as you, Lance.”

  “You are, now.”

  They both hung up.

  Sally handed him a bowl of beef stew, and he dug in.