The Loch Ness Legacy tl-4

by Boyd Morrison

  “What about our strategy do you not like?” Zim asked.

  “You’re betting everything on Locke finding the monster.”

  “Believe me, I know the man. He won’t give up. He’s a pro.”

  “But then we have to make sure that not only do we kill the monster and dispose of it, but we also have to make sure Locke doesn’t get away with a tissue sample.”

  “That’s why we need to question his men. That GhostManta under the tarp may be our ticket to making this all work.”

  “See? You’re thinking too narrowly. All we need to do is prevent him from finding the monster in the first place.”

  “You’re insistent you torched the journal,” he said sarcastically, “so that’s taken care of, isn’t it?”

  “I’m open to the possibility that they may have been able to reconstruct it even if it was partially burned. That’s why we need to be thinking offensively as well as defensively.”

  Zim slammed his fist on the table. “I am not thinking defensively! I’m beating Locke at his own game. I’m letting him do the work for me.”

  Dunham rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, you’re a brilliant mastermind. But it didn’t occur to you that we can stop him before he even gets onto the loch.”

  “How?”

  “Can your phone be traced?”

  “Not if I route it through an Internet anonymizer that Pryor set up.”

  “Then give it to me.”

  “Why?”

  “So you can learn a lesson in alternative thinking.”

  Zim bellyached, but he handed over the phone and told her how to dial so that the call couldn’t be traced.

  She dialed the Inverness operator and asked to be connected to the police.

  Zim stared at her, incredulous. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “You’ll see.”

  The line picked up. “North Constabulary,” a woman said. “How may I help you?”

  Dunham put on her best freaked out voice. “Oh, my God! I just saw the man who escaped after being arrested at Edinburgh Castle this morning.”

  That got the call center operator’s attention. The events in Edinburgh had blanketed the national news all day.

  “Which man, ma’am?”

  “Tall, brown hair, good-looking. He’s with three other people: a red-headed woman, a dark-haired woman, and a huge, bald black man.”

  Zim sat back and fumed at her.

  “Where did you see them, ma’am?”

  “I was passing through Fort Augustus and saw them get into a small boat that went out to a ship. I think it’s called the Sedna.”

  “When was this?”

  “Just a few minutes ago. And they had guns with them.”

  “Guns? Are you sure?”

  “Oh, yes. Big ones, like the military carry. You know, machine guns.”

  “How many people are on the ship?”

  “I don’t know. A lot. And they looked dangerous.”

  “And what’s your name?”

  “Oh, I’m just a tourist. I don’t want to get involved. But please hurry. I’m very worried about our safety here with people like that roaming around.”

  She hung up.

  “What the hell was that about?” Zim asked. “What if Locke isn’t even on the ship yet?”

  “Then he won’t be able to get on it. The police will realize that it’s a Gordian-owned vessel and make the connection. It’ll take hours for them to search it and question the crew. They’ll probably even leave police behind in case he shows up here.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Why? Because now you aren’t able to carry out your little revenge angle? Do that on your own time.”

  Zim glowered at her, then held out his hand. “My phone.” She gave it back.

  He stood and drained the rest of his coffee.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I was under the impression that we were done. I’m going to do some of my own questioning.”

  “Why?”

  “I have to work on the assumption that your clever little idea won’t work. The men we captured are going to show me and Pryor how to use Locke’s own technology against him.”

  FORTY

  Tyler drove through the tiny village of Fort Augustus at a steady pace to give the impression that they were a group of travelers passing through on their way to a destination in western Scotland. The flashing lights of parked police vehicles in town had been visible from a mile down the road.

  Alexa stared at the array of patrol cars and vans lined up at the dock. “What’s going on here?”

  “Someone ratted us out,” Grant said.

  “I think we can all guess who,” Tyler said.

  “Looks like we’re not getting on the Sedna tonight.”

  “But we have to!” Alexa protested. “We don’t have time to wait around.” Tyler saw her eyes focus on Grant.

  “The longer we stay on the run,” Brielle said, “the likelier it is that you or Tyler will be recognized.”

  “We’ll figure out something,” Tyler said, already forming the outline of a plan.

  They could only dare one pass through the town, so he noted as many details as he could during the short trip along its main thoroughfare. The quaint village consisted of a few dozen small buildings holding businesses that catered to tourists coming by car or boat. The canal split Fort Augustus in half, and Tyler crossed it by the only route, a swing bridge that could be opened to let boat traffic from Loch Ness access the water staircase of five locks leading south. Tyler counted three boats in the middle lock slowly rising to the level of the lock above it.

  To the north, Tyler could see the Sedna approaching a dock along the canal, a phalanx of policemen in body armor ready to board. The white ship looked unbalanced with the command deckhouse located at the very bow of the ship. The aft portion of the ship consisted of a stowed crane and a retractable covering that angled down toward the stern, giving the boat an aerodynamic appearance. The covered area was useful for protection against the elements when launching its craft.

  This had to be the most excitement the town had experienced in years. Tourists gathered to watch the proceedings, and others wandered amongst the shops or stood in line for one of the loch tours ready to set sail. A policeman directed traffic around the parked police vehicles. Within a minute, they were out of Fort Augustus and on the road leading along the western edge of Loch Ness.

  “Now what?” Brielle asked.

  “Alexa,” Tyler said, “when did you say Darwin and Edmonstone had their encounter with Nessie?”

  “At twilight.”

  “And you saw the creature at sundown?”

  She nodded. “Right. Our best chance to find it is to go out at dusk.”

  At this northerly latitude, sundown in June was around 10:20 p.m.

  “That gives us seven hours,” Tyler said. “If the police are gone by then, we can continue with the original plan.”

  “We should be so lucky,” Grant said. “You know they’ll leave some forces behind in case we show up. We destroyed two landmarks and participated in a gun battle in broad daylight. It won’t matter that we were on the side of the good guys.”

  “Which means we need to go to plan B.”

  Brielle leaned forward. “Which is?

  “It’s an hour’s drive to Inverness airport,” Tyler said. “We head there and pick up the bait from the courier. We also arrange for a sunset boat tour.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re going to have to chum the water for me using the saltfish.”

  “You mean, for us,” Grant objected. “There’s no way I’m not coming with you.”

  “Grant, you’re…” Tyler stopped himself from saying the unintended pun “dead tired” and chose something less cringe-inducing. “You’re exhausted as it is. Are you up for it?”

  Grant straightened in his seat, unsuccessfully hiding a wince. “You may be the pilot, but I know more about the GhostMa
nta than you. If we’re going to use it, you need me there.”

  Tyler couldn’t argue with that, and normally he wouldn’t even question Grant coming along for the ride. But Grant’s face was sagging and drying out, the wrinkles more obvious. He was decaying right before their eyes. However, he was also a fighter. Sitting on the sidelines wasn’t his nature, and he’d have to be unconscious for Tyler to leave him behind.

  “All right,” Tyler said. “But if you aren’t feeling up to it, let me know. We’ll only get one shot at this tonight.”

  “If I keel over, just dump my ass overboard.”

  Tyler smiled. “Well, of course. That goes without saying.”

  “What about us?” Alexa asked. “We’re doling out the bait?”

  “Yes,” Tyler replied. “There’s a town called Drumnadrochit about two-thirds of the way up the loch. It’s right across from Urquhart Castle, which is where both you and Edmonstone spotted the creature. That location seems like our best shot for finding it again. The town has a few boats that give tours.” He had researched the options on Brielle’s phone.

  “We’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse?”

  “Right, but we’ll use cash instead of a horse’s head.”

  “That doesn’t explain how you’ll get onto your ship,” Brielle said.

  “That’s where you come in. We’ll have to stop and get you some warm wool clothing.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to be a bit chilly.”

  Brielle met his gaze in the mirror with a confused and suspicious stare. Tyler had an hour’s drive each way to and from the airport to convince her to give an encore performance of her experience at Lake Shannon.

  * * *

  By eight thirty in the evening, they were approaching Fort Augustus again, this time from the north, and Brielle was not pleased with the plan. However, she strained to think of anything better and failed, so she agreed to go along with it. A towel and a change of clothes were waiting for her in the boot. The car now sported a license plate pinched from a similar model in an Inverness car park.

  It was less than two hours to sundown, so they had to act quickly. She was driving since she was the least conspicuous of the group. Tyler and Alexa had identified themselves to the police at Edinburgh Castle. A search of the Internet showed that their photos were being broadcast as persons of interest in the Edinburgh events that left three unidentified men and six policemen dead that morning, one of the worst mass killings in Scotland’s history. And Grant stood out because of his size and skin color. As Brielle drove into Fort Augustus, they ducked low, all of their heads covered in woolen ski hats. The police presence was diminished, but she spotted the tactical team’s van on a side street. She cruised past the dock where the Sedna was tied up and saw an unmarked car watching the vessel.

  She turned around and headed back to the car park next to the closed information center. They left the rental car there and split up into two groups. Tyler and Grant headed south along the river that paralleled the canal, while she and Alexa wandered into town as if they were looking for a place to eat. Alexa wore her hair tucked under her hat with a pair of oversized tortoiseshell glasses to mask her face.

  When they got to the swing bridge, Brielle pointed at the boats along the dock and they ambled down the road past the stakeout police car as if they were a couple of tourists. Alexa made sure to keep her back toward them.

  Brielle handed Alexa her phone and mimed taking a picture. She made a big deal of pointing out what she wanted in the background, keeping an eye on the trees that abutted the path next to the dock. Only because she was looking right where she had to, she saw Tyler and Grant creep up to the edge of the woods, ready to make a dash for the Sedna.

  When they were in position, she nodded at them and began posing in outrageous positions, putting on quite a show, sticking her bum out and cocking her hips in such a way that the two officers couldn’t resist watching her.

  As she posed, she inched her way backward until she felt the edge of the dock under her heel. She winked at Alexa, and they both laughed as if she’d said some something hilarious.

  Brielle took another step back, her toe on the edge. She pinwheeled her arms as if she were trying to catch her balance and then launched herself backward.

  She hit the water. Brielle had prepared herself for its icy embrace, but the cold knocked the wind from her just the same. The replay of her escape into Lake Shannon was improved by the layers of wool wrapped around her, though the sudden immersion was more shocking.

  She surfaced and screamed as if she were drowning, the cold doing all the work of getting her into character. On the dock Alexa acted like a panicked schoolgirl and shrieked for help.

  The doors of the police car flew open and the officers came running toward the dock, their original duties momentarily forgotten. Brielle was glad she could count on good old-fashioned British gallantry, but she felt a tad guilty for taking advantage of it.

  As she thrashed in simulated terror, she glanced farther down the dock and saw Tyler and Grant hustle across the open space and climb onto the Sedna. When they were safely aboard, Brielle acted like she had gotten her wits about her and paddled toward the outstretched hands above her.

  She reached out and was pulled from the water, coughing and trembling as they sat her down. Alexa crouched next to her and whispered in her ear. “Did it work?”

  Brielle nodded and coughed again.

  “She’s okay,” Alexa said to the gathered crowd. With the glasses, her red hair covered by the hat, and the cops’ focus on the near-drowned woman, no one gave her a second glance.

  “Oh, my God,” Brielle croaked, latching onto the attending policemen. “Thank you so much!”

  The two men beamed at her, and one said, “We’re just glad you’re all right, ma’am.”

  After an attempt to convince Brielle to seek medical attention, they accepted her decision to decline and went back to their stakeout, unaware that they’d helped the two women they were looking for. She and Alexa hurried back to the car.

  Under a blanket, Brielle changed out of her wet clothes and into a dry set, depositing the dirty and smelly togs in the car park’s dust bin. She was still shivering as Alexa drove them away, headed back to Drumnadrochit for their sunset cruise.

  FORTY-ONE

  Jerry Yount, the captain of the Sedna, listened to Tyler and Grant tell their story, the creases in his ruddy face deepening with every new revelation. He’d been a ship’s master for more than twenty years and sailing on boats for twice that long, so Tyler was sure the old sea dog had thought he’d heard it all. Yount was being disabused of that notion quickly.

  “You’re telling me that you two think the Loch Ness monster is real?” Yount said when they were finished telling him why they’d had to sneak on board. Grant leaned against the wall of the captain’s cabin and sipped a cup of tea, his hands quivering.

  “Not only real,” Tyler said. “We need to find it. Tonight.”

  “I thought we were out here doing a sounding survey. At least your odd request for outfitting the GhostMantas makes sense now.”

  “Sorry about the deception. I was hoping you’d come across something in your search.”

  “The closest we got was a few logs floating on the surface.”

  “When can we leave?” Grant asked.

  Yount shook his head. “Can’t. The police ordered me to stay docked here until tomorrow. They’ve even got the loch’s only rescue boat stationed in Fort Augustus temporarily to keep an eye on me in case I cast off without permission.”

  “They’re hoping we’ll show up here,” Tyler said. “They probably also have the Gordian offices in London or Glasgow staked out. They probably think you have a better chance of smuggling us out of the country.”

  “Just say the word.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but we’re not criminals. However, it could take days for them to sort out what happened, and we don’t have tha
t kind of time.”

  “Then what do you need?”

  “Grant and I need to borrow one of the GhostMantas.”

  Yount shrugged. “It’s your company. You can do what you want with it. There’s only one here, but it’s charged up and ready to go.”

  “Where is the other one?”

  “That’s a good question. It should have been back an hour ago. We haven’t been able to contact the operators. I’m starting to get concerned.”

  Tyler frowned at Grant. Coincidences hadn’t been good to them lately.

  “Where was it searching?” Tyler asked.

  Yount showed them on a map of the loch. The grid section where it was last heard from was near Urquhart Castle.

  “Let’s hope it’s just a busted radio,” Tyler said. “We’ll keep an eye out for them.”

  “It’s a big lake. What about calling in a helicopter for the search?”

  “If we call in a rescue chopper,” Grant said, his voice a husky rasp, “it’ll mean giving up on the search for Nessie. We’ll have boats all around us.” His ability to speak had been deteriorating rapidly throughout the day, causing Tyler to reconsider whether he should bring Grant along on the mission. He felt damned either way.

  “My men might be in trouble,” Yount said.

  Tyler wrestled with the decision, weighing the need to search for Yount’s men with the consequences of not finding the Altwaffe antidote. If Zim was responsible for the disappearance, they could be dead already. A damaged radio wasn’t serious, but if it were a major equipment malfunction, the odds of finding the men in time to save them was a million-to-one. Tyler had to play the odds.

  “It won’t be long until dark,” he said, “and by the time the police believe you aren’t trying a ruse to distract them, the sun will have gone down. Give us until an hour after dusk. If you haven’t heard from your men by then, bring in the police to scour the loch.”

  After going a few more rounds, Yount grudgingly agreed with Tyler’s logic.

  “All right, then,” Yount said. “Come on.”