Silent Waters
Page 23
At the end of the runway, the pilot revved the engines. Mako looked out the small window. The taillights of the station wagon were disappearing down the dirt drive that led to the main road.
“Hold on,” he said, tapping the pilot on the back. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. “I’m getting out.”
~~~~
Chapter 58
Yale-New Haven Hospital
8:39 p.m.
It was too hot, but they couldn’t open the windows for safety reasons. McCann got up and looked for a thermostat. Finding it, he turned it down and opened the door. He was told they had the hospital wing to themselves. He scanned the empty hallway. He knew which room Brody was in, and wondered which one was Amy’s.
Brody’s condition wasn’t too good. The bullets had been removed from his leg, but he was scheduled for another surgery tomorrow morning. There was a concern he might lose the leg. They had him drugged up for the night.
He hadn’t seen Amy since they arrived here. He wanted to. Dunn had mentioned that Sarah was debriefing her. At least he’d been told the extent of her injuries and that she was okay.
He stepped back into the room. It didn’t matter that the other man was a navy investigator. McCann felt comfortable enough with Dunn to cut through the bullshit and tell him what was on his mind.
“The fact that I’m half Middle Eastern was the sole reason they pushed Parker aside and arranged for me to be on board this morning. They were trying to pin this entire thing on me.”
“Interestingly enough,” Dunn said, “during the first briefing at the Pentagon, that little tidbit of information about your parentage was one of the first things to come up.”
“Who brought it up?”
“Rear Admiral Smith.”
“I thought he was dead,” McCann said.
“He was, but he was resurrected this morning by President Hawkins himself.”
“Did anyone pounce on that information?” McCann asked, angry that idiots like Smith would press that button, in spite of his exemplary record.
“No one. In fact, Admiral Meisner worked hard to quash that discussion as a red herring.”
“So did Commander Dunn.”
Both of them turned toward the doorway. Sarah was leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked as beautiful as ever. Beautiful, polished, and professional.
McCann felt a peculiar rush and realized that it wasn’t for the woman standing in the doorway. This woman had been a friend and even a girlfriend at one time, but that wasn’t it.
Because Sarah was standing here, it meant he could go and check on Amy now, and that gave him a very pleasant sensation.
“It’s good to see you, Sarah,” he said.
He’d heard from Dunn that she didn’t have to work on this case, but she’d wanted to. McCann knew her well enough to know she’d only put herself in this position because she believed in his innocence.
“Thank you for what you’re doing,” he told her. He then turned to Bruce. “And I appreciate you being a voice of reason on my behalf this morning.”
Bruce nodded before getting to his feet. “I should leave you two alone for couple of minutes to—”
“That won’t be necessary,” McCann interrupted. “Actually, I was hoping to visit with Amy for a bit.”
The two investigators exchanged a look. “I don’t see a problem with it,” Sarah replied.
Dunn nodded.
Their response told McCann a lot about whether they considered him a suspect or not in this investigation. They clearly didn’t, or they wouldn’t be allowing him out of their sight.
He paused at the door. Sarah hadn’t moved. He’d known her a long time. Long enough to understand what she needed. What he’d failed to give her. Closure.
“Thank you for being here,” he said gently.
Her composure faltered slightly. He opened his arm, and she hugged him. He held her against his chest for a long time.
“I’m glad you’re alive,” she said, pulling back and smiling. “Happy birthday, you old man.”
“The big 4-0,” he said. She wasn’t far behind him, but he didn’t think she needed a reminder.
“How does it feel?”
“The mileage I’ve put on over the past twenty hours or so is catching up to me. I could probably fall sleep standing up.”
“That goes for Amy, too,” she told him. “You’d better hurry if you want to catch her awake. Second door down, across the hall.”
That was all McCann needed to hear. He crossed to her door and knocked softly.
~~~~
Chapter 59
Branford, Connecticut
8:40 p.m.
The Beech 1900 twin engine aircraft never even cleared the line of trees. Mako figured the fuel tank would be blamed for the explosion that occurred immediately after takeoff. Later, the investigators wouldn’t worry too much about the possibility of foul play, not after the evidence began to mount that the victims of the plane crash were the same hijackers who’d squeezed America’s throat that very morning.
The headlines alone would be nearly enough to explain everything and close the case for the public, Mako thought. Eventually, they’d identify some of them. Home grown terrorists. Mercenaries. All the bodies were found. No survivors. The explosion had guaranteed that.
He was just crossing the moonlit field toward the woods when he heard the sound of sirens in the distance.
He wasn’t even pissed off. In fact, a great calm had settled over him. There was great comfort in knowing that he’d guessed right. He’d cheated death at the last minute. He could have saved the lives of the rest of his crew, he supposed. But in this kind of work, everyone was on his own.
As he made his way toward the main road, he had to hand it to the men that hired him. It was a truly brilliant move to wrap everything up so tidily.
But even brilliant plans could go wrong.
Darius McCann had ruined their plan by simply refusing to die. Mako planned to do some ruining himself.
He wasn’t angry. But he was certainly going to get even.
~~~~
Chapter 60
Yale-New Haven Hospital
8:41 p.m.
The nurses and doctors knocked and then just entered, so Amy knew it couldn’t be one of them at the door. She grabbed a tissue out of a box on the bedside table, wiped her face, and blew her nose. It had to be Lieutenant Connelly, who’d probably remembered more questions to ask. She sat up in the bed.
Or maybe the lieutenant had decided to let her use the phone, after all. Amy much preferred the second scenario.
She called to whoever it was to come in.
“For a minute I thought you were already asleep,” McCann said, poking his head in.
Amy was mad as hell at herself for the way her pulse jumped at the sight of him. Something was fluttering inside of her as if she were twelve years old. What was wrong with her? She’d known he was in the hospital. Lieutenant Connelly had mentioned that when Amy asked about him earlier. She’d never imagined he’d stop to see her.
“No,” she said. “No sleep.”
“Can I come in?”
She should have said no. “Yeah, sure.”
He didn’t have any right to look this good. Not after what they’d gone through. And especially not when she was looking like a dish rag.
Amy noticed that he closed the door. Nerves pushed to the surface. If she weren’t in a hospital bed, Amy figured she’d be running away by now. She was horrible in situations like this. She didn’t know what to say, what to do, how to avoid being nervous and acting like an idiot. That was why she’d refused to date after her divorce. It had been a miracle that her ex-husband, Ryan, had even lasted through their early dates. Maybe she should have thought of that jitteriness as a warning. No, thinking of Kaitlyn and Zack, Amy was thrilled that her life had taken the shape that it had.
“How’s your shoulder?” she asked as he approached her.
His dark gaze moved over her. She felt a charge pass through her, electrifying something at her very core. There was something very intimate happening now. He was interested and she couldn’t figure how he could be, considering how horrible she looked.
“How’s Brody?” she asked in a rush.
“Sleeping. He has another surgery in the morning.”
Amy already knew that. She looked around her as he walked toward the bed. “How’s your sub?”
“They’re still working on her. I don’t know if they’ll be able to save her or not.”
He reached the side of the bed.
“How did your debriefing go?”
“Good. Very good,” he answered.
“How come they gave you a change of clothes, and I’m still in a hospital gown with a turban wrapped around my head?”
“Maybe because you look better in it?”
“That’s not an answer,” she told him, shivering as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “How’s—”
“Amy,” he said, taking her hand.
She hadn’t realized how cold her hands were until his touch warmed them.
“It’s my turn to ask some questions,” he said with a smile.
“This is not your ship. You’re not in command…uh, Commander.”
“Well, we aren’t in a shipyard. So you’re not in charge, either, Ms. Russell.”
“Amy to you.”
“Only if you call me Darius.”
“Darius McCann. Persian and Irish,” she said with a grim. “Do you have a horrible temper?”
“You’re about to find out.”
“Ooh, I’m almost frightened.” Amy felt the most comfortable when they were kidding around. “What have I done now?”
“You were trying to control the conversation.”
“You’re mistaken, Commander…Darius,” she said. “I was being socially adept. Charming. Making sure there’d be no dead air in the room.”
He caressed her hand. “There doesn’t seem to be any dead air in any room while you and I are together in it.”
“Are you bragging?”
“No, only stating the fact, ma’am.”
As far as Amy was concerned, his smile was the most dangerous part of him. It gave him a boyish and vulnerable look that was even more irresistible than his clean-cut, chiseled features. And it made her lose her head. She looked down at their joined hands, not knowing what to expect, or what she was expected to do. She was totally out of practice.
“You should know that I’m all talk,” she murmured. “Nothing else.”
He lifted her chin with his hand until she was looking into his eyes. “I don’t know. I think I’d like to find that out for myself.”
His hand slipped around the nape of her neck, and he drew her mouth to his.
Darius McCann knew how to kiss. Well enough that Amy felt all of her inhibitions suddenly begin to slip away.
She didn’t know who was more out of breath—or whose hands were straying more—when they broke the kiss.
“This is much better. You are not all talk,” he told her, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. He still wasn’t letting her go. “Do you know the one thing I was wishing for on that submarine?”
“That we’d make it through alive?”
He laughed. “Okay. I was wishing for two things.”
“That I’d occasionally follow your orders?”
“Three things.”
“That—” She was silenced by another kiss. She liked his technique. This kiss was hotter than the last, and it took longer for them to surface for air. How long had it been since anyone had kissed her like that?
“I give up. What was the third thing?” she asked.
“That we meet again, have another chance at it, in a different place, a different time. Hopefully, under less stressful conditions.”
His words clutched her heart. But her conscience wouldn’t let her enjoy the moment. Dammit.
“Please tell me you’re not married, Commander McCann.”
“I’m not. Never have been.”
She considered that for a few seconds and shook her head. “I still think what we’re doing here isn’t fair to Lieutenant Connelly.”
He stared at her for a moment and then smiled. “No more than what we’re doing isn’t fair to your ex-husband. Sarah and I broke off our relationship a while ago.”
“What’s a while?”
“More than a year.”
“Does she know you’re here with me?”
He nodded.
“Does she have any objection to it?”
He smiled, shaking his head.
“In that case…” Amy wrapped her arms around Darius’s neck again and kissed him, this time with no guilt and no reserve.
~~~~
Chapter 61
Yale-New Haven Hospital
9:25 p.m.
Kilo walked past two black sedans on the street and the black SUV parked along the circular driveway of the hospital entrance. Extra help was on hand, just in case he needed it. He tugged on the earpiece, testing its connection. They had a live one.
The combination of civilian clothes and NCIS badge always worked like a charm. The security guard at the front desk looked up at his face as he gave back the ID.
“Would you please sign in, sir?” He pushed a clipboard in front of Kilo.
He preferred not to, but the last thing he wanted was to bring any extra attention to himself. A healthy dose of foot traffic continued to stream out through the same door he’d entered. He scribbled the name on the page.
“Commander Dunn and Lieutenant Connelly are expecting me.”
“So you know where you’re going?”
Kilo contemplated telling the truth and saying he didn’t. But the guard’s hand was on the phone. He guessed the man was ready to call upstairs and announce his arrival. The hospital spread in a couple of different directions. He’d never been inside the building, but he knew his backup on the street could walk him through, once he got past the security desk.
“Yes, I do. I just got off the phone with Commander Dunn.”
The man let him go and Kilo spotted the elevators to the left. He turned and headed straight toward them.
~~~~
Chapter 62
Yale-New Haven Hospital
9:25 p.m.
Bruce Dunn ended the call and pocketed his cell phone.
“Anything new?” Sarah asked.
“The group we sent to Canada looking for Captain Barnhardt was able to contact another hunter on the island. They don’t believe Barnhardt is there this week. I guess they all keep an eye on one another in the wilderness.”
“Does anyone know where he is, then?”
Bruce sat on one of the faux-leather chairs next to Sarah. “We’re making some calls and visits. We should hear something soon.”
The two of them had been using McCann’s room as a place to compare notes since he’d gone to see Amy.
“Considering that we have access to Captain Whiting and now Darius, is it that critical to find Barnhardt?”
Bruce shrugged. “Maybe not. But considering his expertise and other things that Seth has dug up over the past couple of hours—things he just told me about—it might be good to get hold of him.”
“What things?”
He paused. “Six of the nine people who were left on Hartford while docked at Electric Boat, including Paul Cavallaro, reported to Captain Barnhardt at some point earlier in their careers.”
Sarah’s head snapped up. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.”
She thought for a moment. “Was Lee Brody ever on his crew?”
“No,” Bruce told her. “Between talking to Barnhardt and McCann, we should be able to come up with some logical reason why these people decided to help the hijackers. They knew these sailors.”
&
nbsp; He looked at the doorway.
“Is McCann still across the hall?”
“I definitely think there’s a romance blooming over there.”
Bruce glanced over at Sarah, trying to gauge her mood. She’d been putting on a great charade of looking relaxed since McCann walked out.
“You really think so?” he asked.
She gave a long and knowing nod. Bruce had been conscious of giving Sarah her space. But she’d appeared focused on what they were doing. And even when he’d been on the phone, he’d watched her stay busy the entire time.
“Are you okay with it?”
She sat back and fiddled with a pen she was using. “I’m very much okay with it. In fact, I believe this is what I needed.”
“What’s that?”
“Seeing Darius genuinely interested in someone else. It makes me feel…feel…”
“Like crap,” he finished for her.
Her blue eyes rounded on him. “Why would you say something like that?”
He shrugged. “Because I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through.”
She seemed at a loss for words, so he decided to reveal a little more of himself for her. “My marriage broke up because my wife became ‘genuinely interested’ in someone else. Unfortunately, that was while we were still married.”
“That’s a problem.”
“It was for me,” he told her.
“Darius and I broke up over a year ago. There’s no reason for me to feel like crap, as you so delicately put it.”
“Have you gone out with anyone else since?”
“No,” she admitted. “I hear rebound relationships are the pits.”
“A year later no longer counts as a rebound.”
She gave him a suspicious look. “Are you speaking from experience again?”