Tortugas Rising (18 page)

They dropped Steve onto the hotel bed. He bounced. Katherine rushed to him, and put her hand on his face. Repeating his name softly, she kissed him gently on the forehead.

One of the guards left. The other took a seat in the room’s overstuffed chair and he watched the scene without compassion. But he did watch. He kept a constant eye on the couple.

“Are you just going to the sit there?” Katherine yelled at the guard. She was panicked. Steve had been through a lot – there was no telling how many times he had been struck in the head in the last 24 hours.

“Yes. Unless you try something. Then I’m going to sit here, but I’ll also shoot you.”

She turned her attention back to Steve. The bleeding had mostly stopped; the crust of a scab was beginning to form. He breathed deeply. Soundly. She watched his chest rise and fall. When she looked back to his face, his eyes were open.

Katherine was relieved; she couldn’t speak.

“Hi,” he smiled.

She laughed out of relief.

“Where are we?” He sat up next to her, unsteady.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty dizzy.” He placed his arm behind him to hold himself up.

The guard rose and crossed to the bed.

“Mr. Baxter would like his answer.”

“Answer to what?”

“An answer to his question?”

Steve looked at Katherine. “What’s he…?”

Katherine looked horrified. “Don’t you remember?”

“What is everyone talking about?” Steve asked.

“Answer now!” The guard shouted and brought up the butt of his rifle to strike Steve.

Katherine screamed.

Steve’s hand flew from beneath the pillow and struck the guard in the throat. The sudden gush of blood ran down Steve’s hand. The guard fell on top of Steve, soaking the sheets red in seconds. Steve struggled to push the guard off him, and squirmed his way to the edge of the bed. He was covered in more blood than Katherine had ever seen, and yet the bed continued to soak it up.

“My god, how?”

Steve held up his hand. A shard of glass was gripped tightly in his palm.

“That phone was the one thing I let Paul talk me into buying. I really liked it. And they broke it.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “You were faking.”

“I was faking. But I also had my eyes closed. Where did they bring us?”

“Down one floor. We’re on six.”

Steve turned the guard over. He still clutched his throat, but he was all out of blood. The gash on his jugular caused Katherine to wince.

Steve disarmed the guard, checked the chamber, and moved toward the door.

# # #

They would come after him. He knew it. And in truth Paul wanted them to pursue. He would lead them right to Baxter and Savage. Savage would shoot at them; they would shoot back. The good guys always win. Done.

But he didn’t want them to catch him too quickly, so Paul wound about the islands and tried to approach Master Key from another angle.

The Zodiac was fast. The massive outboard propelled the light craft to speeds that even he wasn’t comfortable with. He eased up on the throttle, and went as fast as he felt he could see.

He focused on the water. There was nothing to see elsewhere. All the lights were out. He was pointed towards a faint glow in the distance that had to be Master Key. He and Steve had now toured the islands extensively, and he knew that nothing was lit up like the big island in the middle. It seemed closer than he thought it should be, but then again, the boat was fast.

He rounded the corner. The glow put the lights at least three islands away, giving him some time before he had to slow down. When he rounded the shore, he was blinded by the light directly in front of him.

It wasn’t Master Key. It was the unfinished island Steve had told him about. Powerful work lights stood on tripods, washing the island in light. These and the lights from a dredging ship created the glow he had mistaken for Master Key.

He pulled back on the throttle in hopes of getting away unseen. He knew he had been spotted when men on the island began shooting at him.

The sudden force from gunning the throttle was unexpected and almost pulled him from the wheel. He shot past the men on the island and turned away into the open sea.

He thought he was clear when the arc of the spout of the dredge changed. Tons of dirt poured into the water behind him. The slurry pumped from the hopper as a weapon, trying to sink his tiny craft. He turned towards the ship, hoping that the nozzle would find it difficult to track him so close to the hull. This allowed the wall of mud to get closer to him; the turbulence turned up the sea and forced his boat to its side. He turned into the wake and managed to steady the craft.

He powered past the bow of the ship and turned down its length. The nozzle could not find him here. Gunfire rained down from the ship. He couldn’t tell if any struck the boat.

The Zodiac was incredibly fast. The dredge ship’s hull appeared seamless as he soared by, as much in the water as above it. The waves weren’t great, but the speed of the small craft launched him up their walls with a rhythmic regularity.

He approached the stern quickly and was met by another burst of gunfire. A smaller boat from the island held three men and was coming right at him.

He passed the boat in an instant. Their combined speeds brought them together so quickly that the men in the boat couldn’t put their barrels on Paul. Paul drew the .45 and fired a blind shot to keep their heads down.

One of Savage’s men flew from the boat and struck his head on the hull of the ship. Paul didn’t even acknowledge his good fortune. He looked to the open sea ahead of him and realized that it was no escape.

He circled the stern of the dredge and shot back up its starboard side. There was no fire from above. Paul could only guess that the superstructure of the ship prevented the gunmen on board from crossing the deck quickly.

He enjoyed the break for only a moment. A shot whistled by his head. More followed. The boat was behind him again. Muzzle flashes punctuated its location in the night.

Paul drifted right, away from the ship. He pushed forward on the throttle despite the fact that it was already running wide open. The men behind continued to run next to the dredge. They knew what he knew. The open sea was no place to run.

Paul pointed the nose of the craft out to sea and then cut back to his left. The bow of the dredge was already behind him. He cut the wheel till it stopped and dropped to his left to fight against the pull. The boat behind had gained; if he flipped his own boat now, it wasn’t a matter of getting caught, it would be a matter of taking a boat to the head.

The pump crew saw the Zodiac and turned the spigot to intercept him. Paul shot between the fire hose of earth and rock and the bow of the ship. The Zodiac skipped dangerously close to the torrent and threatened to spill Paul from the boat. The v-shaped hull held the water; he released the wheel. The boat straightened in the water as he fought to stand back into the pilot’s position.

He turned in time to see his pursuers emerge from behind the hull. Their speed carried them into a downpour of rock and silt. The boat did not come out the side of the man-made maelstrom.

The fountain was coming back towards him. The gunfire was still coming but it was growing small in the distance.

Paul smiled and relaxed. He’d spotted another glow in the distance. It had to be Master Key.

# # #

The guard outside the door heard the latch, the gunshot, and nothing else. Steve disarmed him and handed the gun to Katherine.

“You know how to…”

Katherine raked the slide and disengaged the safety.

“Okay then.”

They moved down the hallway, letting the carpet mask their footsteps. It was plush and their escape made little noise. They reached the elevator and pressed the call button.

Their hurried pace was countered by the slowness of the car. Steve waited silently at first; his hurried breathing soon gave way to laughter. He looked at the gun in his hand, the beautiful girl next to him, and the gun in her hand. He laughed harder.

She smiled. “What?”

Steve laughed from nervousness, from the shock of just shooting a man and slitting the throat of another with the shard of a broken iPhone. He laughed at the absurdity of it all.

“What?”

“I told Paul this place sounded boring.”

Katherine began to laugh as well.

“If you had put this in your brochure, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have come.”

It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t meant to be funny. But, it sent them both over the edge into hysterical laughter. Steve’s eyes began to water. Katherine lost control of her breathing and began to laugh and gasp for breath at the same time. Steve doubled over and wheezed.

The elevator signaled its arrival and the doors slid open. Steve fired two rounds, and the guard inside dropped to the floor. The mad laughter ceased. They stepped into the car and pressed the button for the ground floor.

Paul eased up on the throttle. He thought he’d heard voices but the roar of the engine made it hard to be sure. The engine’s RPMs slowed; he was certain he heard something.

He cut the engine.

“Nelson!” The maritime radio crackled from the Spartan console of the pilot’s stand. Jefferson sounded mad. He may have been yelling for a while.

“Answer me you little prick.”

Paul examined the CB style transceiver and thought better of answering. He reconsidered, it wasn’t as if the agent could stop him now.

“What?” He shot into the microphone.

“Bring back my boat!”

“No. If you won’t save my friend, I’m going to do it myself.”

“You are jeopardizing my mission.”

“Right, your antique bomb. Good luck with that.”

“Nelson this is an open channel!”

Paul said nothing.

“Nelson, you will be placed under arrest for obstruction of justice.”

“Fine. Come and get me.” Paul slammed the transceiver back onto its hook. It missed the catch and fell to the deck. Paul gunned the throttle back to full and enjoyed the sound the engine made as it drowned out Jefferson’s voice.

He shifted his feet and soon found the cable from the radio getting tangled around his ankles. He struggled to pull the receiver back up and place it on the cradle, but he couldn’t reach it while steering. He cut the engine again. Jefferson was still talking.

“ … consider the destruction, the loss of life if the bomb goes off in the U.S. Consider the families. Consider…”

Paul pressed the button, “the little children. The cats and dogs that your imaginary bomb wouldn’t kill.”

“It’s real, Paul.”

“Even if it was real. Baxter isn’t taking anything off of this island. He’s only bringing crap here. Check the ships.”

“We are checking the ships.”

“And you haven’t found anything. Right. Every ship comes here full and leaves here empty. Even the dredges.”

There was silence on the other end of the radio. This time Paul did not enjoy it.

“You aren’t checking the dredges are you?”

The answer was slow. “No.”

“There’s one there right now… at the unfinished island. It’s dumping its dirt into the water. It’s not covering the island.”

“Bring me back my boat.”

Paul considered this. He had to turn back. They would need the Zodiac. He hung his head at the thought of his friend.

“This boat won’t help. The island is swarming with security. The men on the dredge are armed. You’re going to need the Coast Guard or the Navy. I’m sure you’ve got their number.”

He set the transceiver back in its cradle and brought the boat back to full speed. He wouldn’t be long. He was confident that he could rescue Steve and his girl and bring the boat back to Jefferson.

“Get to Master Key. Storm the island. Rescue Steve. Rescue the girl. And hope that Homeland Security can stop a nuclear attack on the United States. Simple. As long as I don’t run out of gas.”

# # #

Savage scratched at the dressing on his shoulder. It was a rush job, but he wanted to be the one to pull the trigger when Bennett turned down Baxter’s offer.

The radio on his belt burst with static, his communications officer’s voice followed.

“Chief?”

He had to reach across his belt with his left arm to get the radio. It was awkward but he was beginning to feel the full pain of the gunshot.

“This is Savage.”

“I intercepted a signal. The eco-ship crew is Homeland Security. They’re looking for Tybee… I think they know where it is.”

Savage cursed. He thought he’d considered everything this entire time. Homeland Security? How had they missed it? Sinking the ship wouldn’t be enough.

“Send everyone. I want them all dead and buried on 38. Stuff them in the bunker and cover the bitch up. If they make contact with anyone, it’s over and no one gets paid. Understand? Send everyone!”

“The loading crew?”

Savage kicked the ground. “No. Get the Tybee on the ship and get back to the Intracoastal. If we’re lucky we can still deliver it.”

“The Feds will be missed.”

“They’ll be forgotten when a bomb goes off in the White House’s front yard.”

He ran to the docks and joined two of his men as the radio barked his orders to the rest of his regiment. Minutes later, thirty guards piled into the security boats and left the floating dock undulating on their massive wake.

# # #

“I can’t get through. Even the emergency signal is just giving off static.”

Jefferson looked inward to the island chain.

“They know. They’re jamming the signal.”

“Master Key has a communications center.”

“That’s where the interference is coming from. Did you try the satellite phone?” Jefferson motioned for his radio man to put the set down.

“No luck. It was destroyed when the Rainbow sank.”

Jefferson thought a moment. “Peterson?”

“Sir,” a young agent answered from the back of the boat.

“I’m going to drop you and the girl on an island. You will lay low until help arrives.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Carlson. Send three men to Master Key and take the radio room. Have them call in the Coast Guard, Navy, DEA, anyone who has a ship in the area, and instruct them to intercept the dredge. Then have the men find Bennett and Baxter.”

The orders were given. Brittany and the young guard were dropped on the closest island. Peterson was given a radio and instructions to periodically try the emergency channel.

Jefferson watched the two disappear in the distance. He felt the weight of the gun in his arms and gripped it tight. He wasn’t sure any of his men would make it through the night.

# # #

Savage’s armada arrived at the site of the sunken Rainbow Connection. Floodlights from the security ships bathed the area in light. There was no sign of the crew.

Savage directed the light on his ship across the deck and saw it devoid of lifeboats and the launch.

“Find them. Kill them.”

His second-in-command pulled the radio mic from his shoulder and directed the brigade. The boats split up and began their search to the find the crew of the Rainbow Connection.

Within moments only Savage’s boat sat above the wreck of the Homeland Security ship.

“Take me to the dredge.”

# # #

The Zodiac plowed onto the beach. Paul had cut the engine only moments before reaching land and ran the boat up onto the white sand beach. He leapt from the boat and ran to the cover of a nearby cabana.

The island was quiet. He listened for the whir of the electric carts and heard nothing. There were no footsteps, no crackling radios.

He was certain that after the attack on the Rainbow Connection, the guards would be on high alert, but he could detect no signs of heightened security.

He ran from cover to cover, and peered around each corner before moving to the next. The wet hemp shirt rubbed his chest raw and he was sure that at least one of his nipples was bleeding.

He reached the casino in a matter of minutes and approached its entrance while staying concealed in the bushes that lined the walkway.

He crouched for several minutes, looking for any signs of activity. He saw none. He considered finding a back way in. The balcony they had used to escape was not an option.

It would take time to move around back, and the bottom of the ladder was still sealed. It had been too long already. There was no telling if Steve was still alive. Stalling would only make his death more of a certainty.

Paul eyed the front door, and steeled himself for a frontal assault. He growled inside, breathed deeply and charged from the bushes at full speed toward the front gates of his enemy’s stronghold.

He tripped on the paved walkway and fell forward to the ground. The gun flew from his hand and slid across the hardened surface; he caught himself with his palms and a knee, skinning each in the process.

He inhaled sharply and fought the pain. “Ouch.”

It took a moment to locate the black .45 on the black footpath. The checkered grip dug into his skinned palm.

He took several more deep breaths and slowly limped toward the front door.

He peered through the smoked glass. There was movement on the other side. A muzzled flash pierced the tinting and Paul stepped back and raised the gun.

He screamed as he returned fire.

Shots fired from both sides of the door quickly filled the tempered glass with holes and fractures that spread like spider webs across the surface. Paul emptied the clip as the fire ceased from the other side.

He held the gun firm, the slide locked back. He had to have hit the gunman. How could he have missed?

A moment was filled with the sound of cracking glass. Fractures grew and spread. The stillness ended when the glass door could no longer hold itself together. The pane shattered and crashed to the ground.

Paul had missed. The gunman stood on the other side of the door. He stood like Paul’s reflection; an empty gun in his hand, still pointed at the door.

Steve lowered his weapon first.

“What did I tell you about pointing a gun at me?”

Paul lowered the gun. It was only through some miracle that the two friends had not killed each other.

Katherine stepped through the casino entrance, straightened her dress, and examined the damage. “You two are the strangest friends I have ever met.”

Paul didn’t smile when he saw Steve. He smirked.

“I stole a boat. It’s just down the beach.”

“Does the radio work on this one?”

“Too well. Oh, and Baxter, he’s into bombs.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean chances are pretty good that on that island, where you two were making out, there is a fifty year old hydrogen bomb.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“My best guess is that Baxter is planning to smuggle a reconditioned hydrogen bomb into the United States on a dredge. Blow up a good chunk of some city. Then use the resulting chaos to secede from the union and form his own nation. Does that spell it out for you?”

“I guess that sums it up nicely – that’s a lot to take in.”

“How do you know all this?” Katherine asked.

“Oh, right. The hippies are Homeland Security.”

The couple stared at him in silence as they tried to adjust to the new situation.

Katherine spoke first. “Great. All we need to do is get to their ship and we should finally be safe.”

“Well… Savage sunk the ship.”

“I didn’t think we’d been gone that long.” Steve looked back at the casino and up to Baxter’s top floor. “It sounds like we’re just as screwed as we were before all this.”

“Don’t fret, Steve. We’ve got a little rubber boat and a full tank of gas. We should be able to get at least halfway back to Key West before we’ll need to paddle.”

Steve resigned himself to the situation. “Where’s the boat?”

Paul led the trio back to where he’d beached the Zodiac. He wondered if it was still there since, in his haste he had not moored, anchored, or even asked the craft to sit.

# # #

They wound their way through Master Key. The island was quiet. Steve noted that he hadn’t seen another guest since the party. He began to wonder if they had left the island when the shooting started.

The hostages were another story – they were most likely still under watch. Steve speculated that they were insurance if the bomb plot did not succeed. There was no threat to Baxter; he could still hide behind a terrorist alibi. Provided he killed everyone who knew the truth.

The Zodiac was still on the beach, a solid ten feet above the waves. Paul must have been running the throttle wide open when he hit the shore.

What none of them expected to see was another Zodiac pulling up alongside.

Three of Jefferson’s men leapt from the second craft and ran at the friends. Paul raised his gun. “You can’t have the boat back.”

The agents approaching Paul knocked the gun aside and rushed past.

“Hey,” Steve said.

The three agents moved into the interior of the island.

“Let’s go. Mine is the one on the right.” Paul started toward the rubber boat.