Burn: A Novel (45 page)

Everyone nodded, except Jenner. She hadn’t been in on their briefings until this point. She hadn’t even heard the names Asker and Zadian before this moment.

“Jenner!” She spun around at the sound of that voice, coming face-to-face with a teary Nyna.

“Nyna, why aren’t you on a lifeboat!”

“I can’t find Linda,” Nyna said. She wasn’t dressed in evening clothes, like most of the others, but was in one of her workout outfits. Tears streaked her face. “I was supposed to meet her in Buttons and Penny’s suite, but they’re sealing off the stairways, not letting anyone go down.”

Jenner took the woman’s hand and looked her in the eye with confidence, though she felt no confidence at all. “Linda’s probably already evacuated.”

Nyna shook her head. “I don’t think so. She has no sense of direction at all.”

Jenner looked at Cael. She didn’t like it, she didn’t like it at all, but he had something to do that she couldn’t help him with. She had to accept that, if she stayed, she was going to be in his way, she was going to distract him when he didn’t need distraction. She wanted to be useful, to make a difference in this crisis, and she couldn’t do that by hanging on to Cael’s coattails.

What she could do was get Nyna off the boat before more bombs started going off. Less than twenty minutes! Maybe she could find Linda, and make sure Penny and Buttons got onto a lifeboat.

Their eyes met. Cael realized what she was thinking, he knew she was about to take charge of Nyna and leave him to do what he had to do. She didn’t have to explain, but she went up on her toes, kissed him, and then whispered, “Muster Station Three, fifteen minutes. Get yourself hurt and I’ll kick your ass.”

*  *  *

I
T WASN’T LIKE
she had any place to hide a gun.

With Sanchez directly behind her, Tiffany followed Cael’s directions and took the stairs up to the sports deck. Unlike the stairs coming up from the staterooms and the theater level below, these were deserted. There had been plenty of time for anyone who’d been up here when the alarm sounded to get to their Muster Station.

Larkin was likely either on the Lido deck or the sports deck. He wouldn’t have taken the risk of taking the stairways down when so many people were surging up and the crew was doing their best to make sure everyone moved upward.

She wasn’t afraid of doing what had to be done, but honestly, this was not what she’d signed on for. “It’s a cruise,” she said in a soft, high voice, mimicking Cael even though he’d never spoken in such a squeaky voice. “It’ll be fun.”

Tiffany stepped into the open, eyes peeled for movement where there should be none. Sanchez was directly behind her; they instinctively separated. She headed for the fitness center; he walked toward the putting greens.

Since there was so much open space on this deck, and no one was jockeying for position, it should be easier to search than the Lido deck. Not that there weren’t plenty of places for a man to hide. She was determined to get her hands on Larkin, but she wouldn’t mind grabbing Asker and Zadian, too. According to Cael, they were in on the planning, had probably been in on planting the bombs.

How many more, and when were they set to blow?

Though the deck was not well lit, she was alert, on edge, and when she saw a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, she spun around. Her gun hand popped up, and the other came with it, a steadying hand. Two figures were in shadow, so she didn’t fire. Could be lost passengers, confused folks who were so panicked they’d decided to hide up here instead of evacuating. Unlikely, but before she pulled the trigger she had to be sure.

A man, not Larkin, yelled, “She has a gun!” And fired.

Tiffany returned fire as she quickly moved to cover behind the
decorative pressed concrete of the elevator bank. The two men moved into the dim light as she scooted out of their line of sight. Asker and Zadian, looking very much like the pictures Faith had pulled up online, after Sanchez had given them the names of those he thought were involved with Mills.

The gunfire brought Sanchez running, his own weapon drawn. He drew fire, and Tiffany took the opportunity to take aim at the dark-haired man who was shooting at Sanchez. Her shot took Asker down. Sanchez got Zadian.

With both men down, Tiffany left her cover and joined Sanchez. Asker was dead, a bullet between his eyes, but Zadian had a bit of life left in him. Sanchez collected their weapons while Tiffany stood over Zadian and glared. “Where is he?”

“Who?”

As if he didn’t know. “Larkin.”

The man turned his head and spit. “Larkin lied to us. He never intended for us to get away before he set off the bombs. Why would he …” He stopped, breathing heavily. If there were a hospital nearby, he might survive the shot to the gut. Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t.

Tiffany asked. “Were you looking for Larkin up here?” She had them pegged as men who’d push old ladies out of the way in order to get off a sinking ship, unless something very important delayed them.

“Yes.” Zadian laid a hand over his wound, but didn’t look at it. “He’s not here. Maybe he escaped, leaving us …”

“Larkin didn’t go anywhere.” Too many people were looking for him. Cael and the captain had taken care of that. Besides, according to the e-mails, Larkin intended to die here tonight, and take as many people as possible with him. He wasn’t thinking of escape.

“Where are the bombs?”

Zadian panted, then shook his head. “I planted one in the control room below, and another in the storeroom. I don’t know where the above-deck bombs were placed.”

“Who placed them?”

“Mills and Johnson.”

Two dead guys. Great. Larkin was their only chance to get to the bombs before it was too late.

“Larkin must be on the Lido,” Tiffany said as he turned back toward the stairway. “We need to get one of those weapons to Ryan and …”

“Kill me,” Zadian said, drawing her attention. “Please, kill me.”

She glanced back at him, then snorted. Like she’d do any favors for a fucker like that.

C
AEL GOT MORE
and more pissed as he searched the bars and cafes on the Lido deck.

The evacuation procedure had reached a calmer level, but the crew members who were loading the boats and lowering them didn’t realize there were more explosions coming. Since they were working at maximum capacity, it wouldn’t do any good to tell them. In fact, they’d panic and the procedure would probably suffer.

He heard the distant ring of gunfire. Larkin, or the security guards who were on the loose? His gut told him Larkin was close.

Damn it, he and his team weren’t here for wet work, they were a surveillance crew.
Surveillance!
All of this felt too damn familiar to him, but his team hadn’t signed on for this. Neither had he, but what the hell; you took what came at you. In a few minutes, according to the plan he’d set with the others before they’d split up, they were going to get off the ship themselves. By that time it would likely be too late to find and defuse the bombs. Let Larkin blow himself up.

There were too many places on this ship to hide a bomb, too many possibilities. Since these were likely civilian bombs, IEDs that could be any size or makeup, he didn’t even know what to look for.

Only Larkin would know, and they were about to pass the time where that knowledge would do them any good.

He kicked in a kitchen door, raised his weapon, and there was the bastard, sitting on the floor in the doorway of a pantry of some sort. There was little light in the kitchen, but it was enough to cast a shadow across Larkin’s face.

Cael raised his weapon, aimed at Larkin. “Stand up.”

“No,” Larkin said in a calm voice.

He was too confident, Cael thought. He must know there wasn’t much time left. “Where are the bombs?” Cael asked. “How many? When are they going to detonate?”

Larkin looked at his watch, moving it into the light to read the hands. “I’m not telling you,” he said, sounding like a petulant child. In the weird light, his eyes were strangely shiny. “There are too many of them; even if you found them, you don’t have enough time to disarm them. I’d say you have a little less than five minutes. Give or take.”

Cael swiftly calculated. Last time he’d seen Jenner, she’d been standing by the lifeboat station with a frightened crew member, helping others onto the boats. She should be off the ship by now—he hoped. God, he hoped.

“You’re the one who screwed this up for me, aren’t you?” Larkin asked, as he put the pieces together. “Who the hell are you?” Without waiting for an answer, he lifted one hand, revealing a small weapon.

The old instincts kicked in and Cael fired—and at this distance he couldn’t miss. The bullet tore through Larkin’s arm and the pistol went spinning away. He fired again, aiming for the knee. He didn’t want the bastard deciding at the last minute to make it to one of the lifeboats. Larkin screamed and fell forward, writhing in pain.

And time was up. Screw Larkin. He had to get Jenner and the rest of his team into the lifeboats. Now.

J
ENNER WAS FRANTIC;
she’d gotten Nyna on one of the lifeboats, but there had been no sign of Linda Vale, or of Penny or
Buttons. The women might’ve gotten off the ship before Jenner had arrived at the station, as many of the passengers had, but she and Cael had gotten to the Lido deck so quickly, that seemed unlikely. Surely she would’ve seen them, even in the crowd.

There was so much to worry about, so many very real concerns, that she felt some control when she concentrated on one problem at a time.

Diana, a very young crew member who’d valiantly stayed at her station even though she obviously, desperately, wanted to escape, was beginning to show the wear and tear of the last horrible … how long had it been? Half an hour? An hour? She had lost complete sense of time. The lifeboats were filled, then swung away from the ship and lowered into the water, where they automatically detached and the process began again. The process was quick, and went smoothly as long as everyone cooperated. There were only a few people left onboard, and Diana was befuddled.

Large lifeboats filled with people floated on the water, moving away from the
Silver Mist
, waiting for rescue that should arrive no later than morning. It was going to be a long, scary night.

“There should be more passengers, and lots more crew,” Diana said as she looked around, asking the unspoken question of the older man who was assisting her. There were other stations, other crew members—and Captain Lamberti, at the aft lifeboat station—asking the same questions. Where was everyone else?

Jenner suspected that the earlier blasts had taken more lives than anyone yet knew. “It’s hard to keep track of people in an emergency,” she said calmly, while inside her chest her heart was pounding and she felt like screaming in an agony of fear. Where was Cael? They didn’t have much time before the arranged meet. She couldn’t leave without him.

“Get in the boat,” she said to Diana. There were no other passengers waiting in line at this station.

“But …”

“I’m right behind you,” Jenner promised, not adding
as soon as Cael arrives
. She definitely didn’t want to tell Diana the truth, that
there were other bombs on this ship and there wasn’t much time left.

She heard the sound of footsteps and turned. Tiffany came sprinting into view, still wearing those high heels, still carrying a gun. Sanchez was directly behind her, his powerful stride matched to hers. Ryan approached from another direction. Where the hell was Cael?

“Get in,” Tiffany said brusquely as she reached the lifeboat.

“Not until Cael—”

“Sanchez,” Tiffany said sharply. “Help Ms. Redwine into the lifeboat.”

Jenner held up a hand. “That isn’t necessary.” Nausea gripped her as she climbed into the boat, and she felt so weak that at the last minute she almost fell.
Where was he
? Tiffany and the others climbed in right behind her, and Diana was ready to launch the boat, which was filed primarily with crew members who’d been the last to evacuate via this station.

“Wait,” Jenner said desperately as Diana started to lower the lifeboat. “There’s one more coming.”

Cael was coming, wasn’t he? Larkin hadn’t gotten to him, hadn’t shot him, hadn’t come up behind him and hit him on the head and …

Tiffany took her hand and squeezed. “He’ll be here,” she whispered.

“I know.” But she
didn’t
know. She couldn’t be sure. Would she
feel
it if something bad happened to him? Shouldn’t she? Her breath hitched. She couldn’t lose him now. Damn him, she’d found him just a little over a week ago and they’d wasted so much time in fighting each other …

Then she heard it, the sound of pounding footsteps approaching at a run, and took a deep breath. But when a crew uniform and a blond head came into view, she almost cried.

“Thank God!” Tiffany stood, and when Matt reached the side of the boat she offered a hand to help him.

“No, don’t touch me,” he panted. One arm was in a sling he’d
fashioned from what looked like piece of a singed tablecloth. He was banged up pretty badly, bleeding and bruised, and his clothes were torn.

“Bridget?” Ryan asked, and Matt shook his head.

“She didn’t make it.” His voice was too loud; he shouted even though he was standing close to Ryan. “I looked as long as I could …”

“We have to go,” Diana said, and it was the truth. They were out of time.

“I said I wouldn’t leave without him,” Jenner said, and gripped the side of the lifeboat as she began crawling out.

Tiffany grabbed her and hauled her back in. “Keep your ass here,” she said sharply. “We don’t have time for this kind of shit.”

The blast from the sports deck made everyone duck. Diana screamed, and a fireball shot into the air. From the aft end of the deck, there was another explosion that took out the lifeboat station there, as well as the people who were manning it. The heat of the fire reached them in a stinking wave and the lifeboat they were sitting in shook violently. Diana began to lower it.

“No,” Jenner said, sobbing. “Wait!” Diana looked at her, hesitated for a few precious seconds, then began lowering the boat again. Jenner jumped up, but Ryan grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. He held that hand tight. She didn’t know if that strong hand was meant to keep her in place or offer comfort.