True Honor (32 page)

Gabriel set down his phone beside her. Four men were watching the hotel. Renee had been busy today: a haircut, a stop to have her makeup done, multiple calls to the hotel caterer bringing a special dinner for the night. Renee expected Luther to arrive tonight. Vladimir was with Renee at the Pierre Hotel; Jerry was probably with Luther. “Do you think we’ll be able to get Jerry too?”

“Maybe. Luther is at the top of the list, then the explosives shipment, and then I’d call it a tie between getting Vladimir or Jerry,” Gabe replied. “I know Defense really wants him.”

Darcy straightened on the bench. “There’s Luther.” It was earlier than she had expected; they still had an hour till sunset. Visibility was good.

“Where?”

“The boat just clearing the buoys.” She felt a sinking sensation in her chest as she watched the man steering the boat into the marina.

Gabriel studied the man. “I agree.”

“What happened to Sergey?” She was afraid just to voice the question. Luther was here; Sergey was not . . . It wasn’t what she had come down to the marina expecting to find.

“I don’t know, Dar.” Gabe searched the other boats preparing to enter the marina. “Sergey is nowhere to be seen.”

Sergey was dead. She didn’t want to accept that, but the evidence before her was stark. Sergey had failed to stop Luther. So many friends had died in this war, now an enemy she had respected, maybe even cared about. “Can we quietly inquire with his embassy? a mutual friend?”

Gabe nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

Darcy focused back on Luther. The man was confidently standing at the controls of the large motorboat. “Jerry isn’t with Luther.”

“He was hired to take care of Sergey,” Gabe noted.

“So did Jerry do it, or did Sergey at least manage to kill him before he went down?” Darcy hoped Jerry was out of this. “Sergey said he brought friends with him this time. Maybe one of them will get in touch and tell us what happened.”

“If they’re still alive, I bet they’ll try to complete what Sergey started, go after Luther again.”

They watched the boat approach a free slip. Gabriel sighed. “We adjust to this, Darcy. We have no choice. Sergey’s dead, possibly Jerry too. What’s Luther going to do now?”

She struggled to shift her thinking to this reality. “Luther will join Renee; he’ll make arrangements to move the explosives. As long as we don’t attract attention, he’s going to relax now that he thinks Sergey has been dealt with. He’s going to get expansive, maybe take a few risks he wouldn’t normally take.”

“Luther’s on borrowed time. All he has to do is walk through the doors of that hotel, and we’ll have him bottled up. Just as soon as he’s at the hotel, the SEALs can grab the shipment.”

AUGUST 9

Friday, 5:20 p.m.

Razor Reef Island

Members of SEAL Team Nine slipped onto the island under cover of the search for the missing sailors. With a number of helicopters doing an aerial search and several search boats roaring through the area, they were able to have a helo drop them off on the slim strip of beach without drawing undue attention. The search for the sailors was to end today in the solemn words to the news media that there had been no survivors. The ruse had served their purposes well.

In two-man teams, the SEALs spread out to search the inlet for the stash of explosives.

Sam was grateful for the Nomex gloves. The terrain was as much up and down as level, and under the tropical foliage was black volcanic rock, still rough and ragged, not yet smoothed by time and weather. Sam deposited a piece of rock in his pocket to add to his collection, then struggled up the incline. This island was pocketed with caves, some no bigger than a tree and some as vast as caverns. Sometimes the lava had flowed around obstacles and hardened, while at others it had burned up what it swallowed. The number of holes a man could step in where there had once been trees was numerous.

“Cougar, this is not fun.”

Sam stopped his partner’s slide down the bank by grabbing his shirt. “I seem to remember in BUD/S training they promised us days of this exact kind of ‘fun.’ Try walking
with
this island’s terrain and not attacking it. The more you hurry, the slower you actually go.”

“You really think someone hid explosives on this side of the inlet?”

“Not hardly. They followed the sand and used the first concealed cave they came to.”

“But we’re looking here anyway, just in case.”

“We were due to draw the hard assignment eventually.” Sam looked around the area. “Besides, this view is worth it.”

“I prefer to see my flowers in a vase.”

Sam laughed.

Bear’s call interrupted their discussion. The explosive cache had been found.

By the time he and Wolf worked their way back to the inlet and around to the other side where the team was gathering, the initial inspection work was already completed.

Bear briefed the team. “The cave is halfway back that path on the south side of the bank. It’s deep and the opening is shrouded with netting and foliage. We checked it with a pole and mirror and saw all twenty boxes stacked along the far wall. What looks like a couple different types of trip wires are set up, with one actually tied to the netting. Move it aside without thinking and a grenade goes off in your face. Pretty effective security. There’s a satellite transmitter farther up the hillside where there’s good line of sight.”

The shadows were beginning to stretch across the island as sunset came. “Once Luther arrives at the hotel and is securely on the penthouse level, we’ll get a green light to take anyone coming here to pick up the explosives. We take them before they can get to the cave, here along the trail where they will be naturally squeezed into walking single file. I want six men here; I want another six men ready to take those remaining on the boat. Your task is to make sure the boat does not leave the inlet.

“Wolf, Cougar, find somewhere you can see any approaching boats. I want at least two minutes’ warning of any craft trying to come into the cove. While they may come at night, the critical hours are now while there’s still twilight to guide them or at dawn. If for some reason the men arrive before Luther is contained in Nassau, I want everyone to just keep out of sight. We’ll take pictures and call in air assets to track the boat, but we let them go. Questions?” Bear looked around at the men. “Let’s get to it.”

The men dispersed to find their new homes for the night. Sam looked at Wolf. “Back to that crest where we were a few minutes ago?”

Wolf winced. “Yes. It’s got the view. The mattress is just going to be a bit rough.”

Sam knew what he meant. “You can take the first shift if you want. When you’re tired, you don’t notice the rocks as much.”

“Two-hour watches?”

“Sounds good to me.” Sam led them back the way they had come. It was worth the effort to get the right spot for the lookout perch.

Twenty minutes later he and Wolf had settled in for the night. A huge pile of leaves created a cushion against the rocky surface. Sam began scanning the water with night-vision goggles to get a fix on what was out there.

Wolf answered Bear’s half-hour check-in call.

They searched for an hour, as the sun lowered to the horizon.

Sam queued his microphone. “Heads up, guys. We’ve got company.”

The small craft was heading straight into the cove. Coming in at sunset was risky. It would take them longer than expected to load the explosives, and the boat would have a tough time getting past the reef in the dark of night.

“I don’t have clearance yet that Nassau is ready. Everyone hold. Acknowledge that.”

SEALs acknowledged by number.

“Cougar, I need a count.”

“Stand by.”

Wolf was already working on it. “Two at navigation, one on the bow, one at the stern. The boat could carry eight. You think anyone is below deck while they’re trying to cross that razor reef?”

“Everyone is on deck watching for trouble and backseat driving for the skipper,” Sam guessed. “Call it four, plus a possible fifth.”

Wolf called the news into the team. Sam started searching the boat for signs of what type of weapons the men were carrying.

The boat made it across the reef with a lot of shouting between the men on deck. SEALs stationed around the cove began talking among themselves, assigning team members to specific individuals aboard the boat so that every man would be taken down in the opening assault.

Bear’s voice broke in. “We hold. Repeat, we hold. Luther hasn’t made it to the hotel, and they can’t risk moving against him at the marina. Let them come ashore and move the cases. Luther is moving, so stay sharp. Status could change any minute to a takedown.”

Wolf and Cougar kept the boat in view until it entered the back of the cove. They listened to the action in the cove reported by other SEALs while they continued to scan the horizon for any signs of a second boat. The first of several trips to the cave and back to the boat began.

All the SEALs waited for Bear’s word they had clearance to act.

It never came.

Forty minutes after it arrived, the boat made the dangerous journey back across the reef and out to open waters.

Bear broke the silence. “Surveillance aircraft has them. The weather is clear; the boat is being tracked. We’ll get another opportunity, gentlemen. Reassemble on the beach and let’s call in a ride home. We’ll see what the holdup is in Nassau.”

Twenty-Eight

* * *

AUGUST 11

Sunday, 6:49 p.m.

USS
H
AILEY
/ Caribbean Sea

Sam studied the weather maps for the upcoming seventy-two hours. They had to let the shipment go. All that coordination and the plan had come apart on the smallest of problems.

Bear joined him and handed him a coffee mug. “Where is the boat?”

Sam located the coordinates for his boss. “It’s making steady progress north into the Bahamas.”

“A direction that suits us. It was simply bad luck that Luther lingered at the harbor rather than reach the hotel in time for us to act Friday night. This is a delay, not an unrecoverable setback.”

“For us, but what about Nassau? They were set up to act, and a glitch stopped them from taking Luther. The next time they’ll be that much more eager to go even under a less than optimal setting. Someone usually gets hurt in situations like that.”

“Right now they have no choice but to wait. I hear Renee’s birthday guests have begun to arrive. It complicates the planning. The plan now is to move in after the guests go home, tentatively the nineteenth. That should put this boat of explosives about . . . here, nearing Florida,” Joe judged. “It’s workable from our end. If weather looks like it’s going to change, we move in sooner. It is not critical that the two actions be coordinated so tightly now that Luther thinks his part of the explosives transfer is done.”

“Bear, you won’t need all of us to stop that boat. It’s a small craft, and even with a full backup team, there will be a few in the platoon just watching from the sidelines. I’d like to join the operation in Nassau.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll talk to DIA for you,” Bear agreed. “And I volunteer Wolf to go along to watch your back.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I can understand your desire to be there.”

AUGUST 14

Wednesday, 10:12 a.m.

Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

Sam took his duffel bag off the helicopter and nodded his thanks to the pilot. Wolf stepped out beside him and slid on his sunglasses. “Where to first, Chief?”

“Find the assault team, get us a slot solving this mess, then the reason we’re here—Darcy.”

Wolf smiled. “You protect her back; I’ll protect yours.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

“Who knows we’re coming?”

Sam pointed to the car just pulling in the lot. “DIA. There’s our ride.”

“Do we need to wait until tonight to slip into the hotel?”

“I hope not. Be inconspicuous.”

Wolf laughed.

Their DIA escort popped the trunk and waved them to dump gear.

“Who’s leading the takedown team?” Sam asked.

“The Brits. I understand you’ve met Major Hamilton at least once before.”

“Brandon’s friend who plays jolly good piano?” Wolf asked.

Their DIA escort laughed. “That’s him.”

“A good man.” Sam remembered him from Morocco. “Where are they at with preparations?”

“Waiting for the word go. They took over a local warehouse and laid out a model of the penthouse floor to practice in. The planning is done; the rehearsals are running three times a day. I’m surprised how well the pieces have fallen in place.”

Their driver took them through town and to the warehouse. Upon their arrival the warehouse door rose, allowing them to pull inside to park out of sight.

Major Hamilton strode over to be the first to meet them. “Joe called and said he was sending his Bear Cubs. Jolly good to see you, Wolf, Cougar. We can always use two more shooters.” He and Sam shook hands. “I understand you’ve got a personal interest in this one, mate.”

“You might say that.” Sam slipped Darcy’s picture taken during the carrier visit out of his pocket and showed it to Hamilton.

“St. James, a fine lady. She briefs us every morning on happenings during the night and is one of the more pleasant voices in our ears conveying security camera images.”

“Luther tried to have her killed.”

“The man must be daft.” The major looked between the two of them. “We can use two men in the tail if you’re interested.”

It was a better offer than Sam had hoped for given the circumstances. “We accept.” Sam was glad to be in the action, even if it amounted to securing the stairwells. This was a frustrating war, with many missions gathering intelligence, a few assignments where they had been given the green light to act, and a lot of waiting. It was hard to maintain his patience. They had a few thousand opponents spread around the world. It wasn’t often they got one pinned down like this. Sam wanted Luther.

“Major.”

The man turned at the call. “Excuse me. I need to take this phone call straightaway.”