On the Prowl

by Matt Lincoln

  He ran toward the starboard side of the ship and jumped into one of the crane arms from which the lifeboats were suspended. He scrambled across the metal structure and jumped down into the lifeboat. I didn’t hesitate to follow him, climbing across the long metal arm the same way he did before following him into the boat. He took the opportunity to fire another shot at me, which I managed to avoid by jumping to the right side of the lifeboat. The sudden movement caused the boat to swing, and in his haste to regain his balance, the suspect dropped his gun. I took advantage of the moment and leaped forward, tackling the suspect to the ground. I moved quickly and expertly, and in just a matter of seconds, I had the suspect face down with his hands cuffed behind his back.

  I picked up the gun from where he’d dropped it, and I quickly unloaded it. I placed the bullets in my pockets and tossed the gun to the other side of the boat, as far away from the suspect as possible. Ideally, I would have placed the entire gun in an evidence bag as is, but in all the commotion, I’d left my work bag in the dining room and didn’t have any on me. Since the suspect and I were currently on a small boat hanging off the side of a ferry, this was about as good as I could do.

  The suspect lurched suddenly as if to get up, and I pressed down firmly against his arms with my knee. It was an awkward position, but there wasn’t a lot of room to work in this tiny lifeboat.

  “Nope, I don’t think so,” I said, shifting my weight so that I could maintain pressure while I reached into my pocket for my phone. I called Augustine and was about to give him my location and ask for backup when I heard a low, heavy rattling noise coming from above me. The sound sent unpleasant tingles down my spine, and from the way the suspect went completely still beneath me, I could tell it had the same effect on him.

  I roved my eyes up slowly as the sound became louder and barely managed to stifle a scream. Crouched above the lifeboat on the metal arm was a large, muscular panther with bright yellow eyes that seemed to glow against its shiny black fur. I stared it down, worried that if I looked away now that I had made eye contact, it would interpret it as a sign of weakness and attack. The deep rattling growl continued to grow in volume until, finally, it opened its mouth wide in a thunderous roar and bared its sharp teeth at me.

  35

  Miranda

  I’d heard of out-of-body experiences, but before this moment, I had never really understood what the phrase meant. It felt like my brain disconnected, so even though I was seeing and hearing and feeling everything that was happening, I didn’t really realize it was happening to me. It was like watching something on television happening to someone else. It didn’t seem real, so I didn’t really process it or feel fear.

  That’s what it felt like to stare down that panther as it roared at me from the metal arm above the lifeboat. For a moment, I just felt blank. I didn’t feel any fear, I couldn’t hear anything aside from the sound of the panther’s roar, and I lost all sense of how much time had passed. From somewhere far away, I could faintly hear a small voice, and suddenly everything came crashing back. The sound of the ocean and the panicked hum of the crowd came back, along with the voice, louder now and coming from my hand.

  I was about to look down but stopped myself from looking away from the panther. It was Augustine’s voice. Of course, I’d called him for backup right after subduing the suspect and right before the panther appeared. I lifted the phone to my ear slowly, careful not to make any sudden moments that might alarm the cat.

  “Augustine, listen to me,” I said as clearly and loudly as I dared.

  “Miranda, where are you?” He said, sounding panicked. “I heard the gunshot, but I can’t see you-”

  “Stop talking,” I interrupted. “Listen to me carefully. I have the suspect. We are in one of the lifeboats.”

  “I’ll head over there now,” Augustine said, and I could hear the sound of footsteps over the line.

  “No!” I yelled, then froze as the panther reacted to the sound, standing up from its crouch and cocking its head. “Augustine, do not come near the lifeboats. There is a giant panther here with us, and it does not look as chill as the other cat we saw in the lower deck.” I heard the footsteps stop as Augustine gasped on the other end of the line.

  “Shoot it,” he said, although his voice trembled around the words. “I know it’s not the ideal option, but if your life is in danger-”

  “I can’t do that,” I interrupted him again, keeping my eyes fixed on the large cat. “I don’t think I could reach my gun without spooking it. And even if I did, if I miss and piss it off, there’s a literal boatload of civilians on the other side of the deck. I can’t let it go in that direction.”

  “What are you planning to do?” Augustine asked.

  “I’m going to lure it onto the lifeboat,” I said, and I could feel the suspect start struggling beneath me with renewed vigor.

  “Don’t be stupid,” I heard Augustine hiss.

  “I’m not,” I said, straining as I struggled to keep the man restrained. “I’m just going to distract the cat long enough for you to figure out somewhere to put all the passengers while you wait for evac. I can keep it occupied for that long. So, I need you to take charge and take care of the passengers, okay?”

  Augustine made a sound like he was about to argue, but then he just sighed.

  “Alright, I’m on it,” he said. “Be careful.” Then the call ended, and the silence that followed made me feel like I was sinking.

  “Will you stop thrashing around like that?” I said to the suspect.

  “To hell with you,” he said angrily. “You’re going to let that animal eat me. I’m not going to just lay here and let you kill me!”

  “Shut up,” I said, pressing his wrists down against his back in a way I knew would be painful. “I am not going to let it eat you. We’ll both get out of this if you just do what I say.”

  I was lying. Honestly, I was making every step of this up as I went along, but I really did need him to stop struggling while I was trying to come up with a plan. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to keep the panther away from the crowd. I could tell from the large muscles clearly visible beneath its fur that it was likely fast enough and strong enough to kill a person easily, and I couldn’t let that happen to even a single passenger.

  A strong gust of wind rocked the lifeboat, causing the metal chains that were suspending it to creak. I was suddenly struck with an idea. The lifeboat was suspended several feet from the ship by thick metal chains hanging from a long metal arm. If I could get the panther to jump down off the arm and into the lifeboat, it probably wouldn’t be able to get back onto the main deck of the ferry again. It would essentially be trapped in the lifeboat. Of course, this meant I’d have to lure the cat onto the same lifeboat the suspect and I were currently in.

  “I have a plan,” I said quietly, still staring at the panther who had resumed its earlier crouching pose. “On the count of three, I need you to jump up onto your feet as fast as you can.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re insane,” the suspect said, struggling to push me off of him.

  “No. Just shut up and listen to me,” I said, gritting my teeth in frustration at the man’s refusal to cooperate. “Unless you want to be brutally mauled to death by the wild animal that you brought on board this boat, you need to do what I say.” That seemed to get his attention, as he immediately went still.

  “On three, you need to jump up to your feet as quickly as possible, okay?” I said.

  “Okay, fine, then what?” He asked.

  “Don’t worry about that part,” I said as the panther began to flex the muscles in its hind legs.

  “Oh damn, we gotta move now,” I said, gripping the suspect by the arms. We would only have one chance to get this right, and judging by the way the panther was readying to pounce, it was now or never.

  “What do you mean, don’t worry? What’s happening?” He asked frantically.

  “One, two, three,” I said, pulling the suspect
up roughly on the third count. In the same moment that I did, the panther pounced forward, extending its clawed paws as it released a hissing screech. It landed just a few inches away from us, causing the entire lifeboat to shake and rock under the force of its landing. I was already moving before it had even landed, though, using the momentum from the suspect’s upward jump and the swaying of the boat to propel both of us over the edge of the lifeboat. I watched as the panther pounced toward us again, stopping just short of falling over the side of the boat itself. The panther grew smaller as we sailed through the air, and a moment later, everything was plunged into darkness as the suspect and I both hit the water.

  36

  Junior

  “Maybe you should look into becoming a certified diver,” I said to Agent Castillo. “I heard that the New York MBLIS branch handles a lot of cases involving nautical crime and that some of their agents dive regularly. You could be the diver for our branch.” I dodged as Castillo turned around in her seat and swatted at my head.

  We were sitting together in a police car as we made our way over to where Charlie was conducting interrogations on the people he’d arrested in the garage in Athens. Soon after I’d contacted Wallace to let him know that Angelique and I had apprehended the suspect and were dealing with two loose animals on board the ferry, helicopters and rescue ships had been dispatched to help get the passengers off as quickly as possible. While waiting for help, I’d learned that Castillo had her own encounter with a large cat and had apparently taken a dive off of the side of her ferry into open water. I had insisted that I be transported to her location as soon as possible, and Wallace had pulled some strings to arrange for me to take one of the helicopters to Lavrio.

  By the time I got there, most of the action was over, and all the passengers had been transported to another ship. Meanwhile, animal control boarded the ferry and attempted to round up all the animals. It was a complete mess, but one that involved no casualties, thanks to the efforts of Agent Castillo. The situation was anything but funny, but the way Castillo told it made it all sound like a joke.

  Castillo sighed. “You know, Junior, earlier today I was going on and on about what a thoughtful, sensitive young man you were, and now I see I was totally freaking wrong. You are a mean little jerk who makes fun of people when they’re in distress.” She continued in her efforts to hit me until she was seized by a coughing fit.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, gently patting her on the back until the fit subsided.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she assured me. “Just inhaled a lot of water when I first went in. Kind of a pathetic mistake for an ex-Marine to make, but I was being chased by a panther at the time! I think I get a little leeway considering the circumstances.”

  “What are you talking about? You did amazing,” I said. “You kept all the passengers safe from the cats, and you managed to subdue a suspect in the middle of the ocean for an hour until help arrived. Charlie jumped off a ferry with a suspect and popped half his stitches and almost killed himself trying to get back to shore.” Castillo laughed loudly at that.

  “Wish I could have been there for that one,” she said.

  “Well, you can ask him all about it as soon as we get there,” I said as I checked the time on my phone. “We should be there soon. It’s lucky that the Lavrio is only an hour’s drive from the Port of Pireaus.”

  “Even luckier that we don’t actually have to drive there ourselves,” Castillo said as she looked over at the man in the driver’s seat. “Thanks again for driving us there.”

  “It’s no problem,” Augustine said with a smile. He’d been sitting with Castillo in the back of the ambulance when I arrived in Lavrio, and Castillo had introduced him to me. “It’s the least I could do after you did all the heavy work in arresting the suspect and holding the panther at bay. I am also curious to see the outcome of the case if I am completely honest.”

  “Hopefully, Charlie hasn’t interrogated the boss yet,” Castillo said with a smirk. “I’d like to watch him crumble as he realizes we’ve beat him. Then maybe after that, you could show me some of those places you were recommending earlier.”

  “I would like that,” Augustine said as he smiled warmly at Miranda. I suddenly felt like a third wheel sitting there in the back seat behind them, and I cleared my throat awkwardly. Castillo jumped a little as if she only now remembered that I was still in the car with them. She blushed, but then she just turned and winked at me with another smirk. I wished that I had that kind of confidence.

  We pulled into the police station about ten minutes after that, and the playful atmosphere we’d had going on the drive over dissipated as we stepped out of the car. Between the three of us, we’d surely collected enough evidence to put the group away even without a confession, but there were still a lot of loose ends to tie up. Namely, the fact that we still didn’t know for sure how the animals were getting to Greece, to begin with. We’d established that all the animals we’d found in the United States could be traced back to this group, but none of them were native to Greece. They had to be coming from somewhere.

  “Can you take me to the interrogation room that Agent Hills is currently using?” I heard a woman ask as we entered the police station. “I have some news regarding the other suspects we arrested earlier today.”

  “Oh, we actually need to see him, too,” I chimed in. The woman turned to look at me as I spoke. “I’m Agent Chapman, Agent Hills’s partner. I was covering the Ferry in Symi.” I held my hand out to her.

  “It’s good to meet you,” the woman said as she shook my hand firmly. “I’m Iris. I was on Agent Hills’s team during the garage raid earlier today. I just finished interrogating one of the other suspects we arrested. I was about to go tell him what I found out before he went in to speak with Loukas.”

  “Yes! We didn’t miss it,” Castillo exclaimed gleefully. “I’m Agent Castillo, by the way. Nice to meet you. Great work on the mission today. I heard you guys almost got eaten by a leopard.”

  “Fortunately, it didn’t quite get to that point,” Iris said. “In any case, let’s see Agent Hills. The more he knows going into the final interrogation, the more likely we are to get a full confession.”

  The three of us made our way further into the police station and down a long hallway. At the end of it, I could see Hills sitting on a bench. He was poring over information on a tablet and didn’t notice our arrival until Castillo announced it loudly.

  “Hey, Charlie!” She said as she fell onto the bench beside him. Hills flinched as she did.

  “Oh, hey,” he said, looking up at us. “I didn’t see you guys get here. It’s been a long day.”

  “That it has,” Iris agreed. “I have good news, though. I managed to get a lot of information out of the boy who released all the animals and shot at you back at the garage. His name is Tobias Galanis. Apparently, being booked, processed, and thrown in a cell made him lose all that bravado he was displaying back on the dock. He sang like a canary as soon as his interrogation began. I have the names and addresses of several other Galanis family members involved in the operation. Officers have been dispatched to deal with them as we speak.”

  “That is good news,” Charlie said. “I managed to get some on my end two. Do you remember those two guys that Ciaus managed to overpower on his own? Well, one of them was the same guy who punched Junior in the face, Ezio Galanis. The other one was actually Ezekiel Michaels, Xander’s brother. After he heard that Xander had been arrested, he went straight to Loúkas to warn him that the feds were on their trail. He was actually in the middle of doing that right as we arrived, so we didn’t get there a moment too soon.”

  “Talk about calling it close,” Castillo said.

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Hills agreed as he moved to stand up. “Alright, I think I’ve got just about everything I need to start the interview with Loúkas now.”

  “Okay,” I said. “We’ll watch from out here.”

  There was a large window at the end of a h
all that looked into a room on the other side. From out here, I could see a middle-aged man with black hair sitting in a chair inside the room. He looked almost regal with how stoically he was sitting, but I knew that Hills would be able to break him down. I was ready to get this last interrogation over with so we could finally conclude the case.

  37

  Charlie

  I was standing outside the same room I’d used during my interrogation with Illias Galanis a few days before. Loúkas Galanis was sitting inside. From this side of the two-way mirror, I could see how hard he was trying to appear unconcerned. So far, he’d remained completely silent, holding his head high and refusing to answer no matter what we tried. I knew I’d be able to break him, though. I just had to find that one thing that would crack at his resolute exterior and strike. I pulled myself back into the cold, calculating headspace I’d been in when I interrogated Illias and stepped into the room.

  Lucas glanced at me only for a moment before averting his gaze in lieu of staring straight ahead again. He looked like a soldier sitting in a position of attention, and I wondered if that might be a viable angle to approach him with. Did he envision himself as some sort of proud warrior, holding strong against the people trying to break him down? I analyzed him carefully as I sat down, taking note of every detail I could. He didn’t seem nervous or scared. He wasn’t fidgety, but he was unusually still. Unnaturally so, and this was just as much a sign of discomfort as restlessness was. He was wearing a designer watch, though judging by the discolored tint around the rim where his skin met the metal, it was most likely fake. He was also wearing several gold necklaces, but his clothing was cheap. He clearly cared about appearances and wanted to look more wealthy than he actually was, so he was motivated by money and social status.