by CJ Lyons
The only light came from an overhead work light in the corridor behind Rose. Inside the compartment were several fifty-five-gallon drums. In front of them, Chase stood, hands cuffed behind his back, bent over in what had to be an agonizingly painful position, but the only way he could stand in the cramped confines. He glanced at her, cut his eyes to where KC and Jay sat on the deck, crowded into a small area clear of the black metal drums.
The guard shoved her inside. Rose stumbled over the lip of the hatch, landing sprawled on top of Jay and KC. Jay didn’t look too bad, just a swollen lip and a few bruises. His hands were zip-tied in front of him. He sat in the water, KC cradled on his lap. Like Chase, she was handcuffed, but her hands were in front of her. She wore only her underwear, and her lips were blue, teeth chattering. She barely opened her eyes as Rose careened into her.
Rose pressed the handcuff key into Jay’s hands. His eyes widened in surprise, but he closed his fist around the small, plastic key.
“KC, you’re freezing.” Rose slipped free of her jacket and swung it over KC’s shoulders. “Tell Chase to look at the hem and waistband of the jacket,” she whispered to Jay as she adjusted the jacket. “Tell him to make a hole and swim for it. Don’t, worry about anything else. I’ve got it covered.”
Jay nodded, appearing stunned. But KC opened her eyes. “Roger that,” she murmured, her words thick with cold.
“Jay, where’s Eve?” Rose let her voice rise as if she were hysterical. She pushed herself upright and turned to Chase. “What have they done with her, Chase?”
She threw her arms around him. “Don’t wait for me,” she whispered.
He played his role better than his brother. “I’m sorry, Rose. They took her. I don’t know where.”
“That’s enough,” the guard said, yanking her back over the threshold. He held her by one arm as he locked the others back inside the tiny compartment.
“No,” Rose said as he prodded her back to the ladder. She assessed his vulnerabilities. Not too tall, neck not too thick that she couldn’t get him in a chokehold and squeeze the life out of him. She’d rather do it to Teresa, but whatever it took. “I want to see my daughter. Teresa said I could see Eve. Now, take me to her.”
“Still thinking you’re in charge, Rose?” Teresa came down the ladder from topside. “And you said my father was delusional. Come with me, and you can see your daughter. You can watch her die.”
Chapter 32
Billy called Rose to update her. No answer. Where the hell was she? He turned to Alice. “I need to get on the water. That’s our best bet of finding Teresa and the rest of the toxin.”
“Have you looked at a map? Any idea how many square miles you’re talking about? That’s if they stayed in the bay and didn’t head out into the Atlantic.”
She was right. It didn’t make sense. But every instinct in his body was urging him to the water. He spied a FAST launch—the military’s version of drug smugglers’ cigarette boats—tied near the bow of the destroyer. “Those your guys?”
“No. SEALs sent in for extra security after you gave us the warning.”
“They’ll listen to you?”
“Yeah, I can make that happen.” She said a few words into her radio. Two more agents arrived to take over control of the crime scene, and she and Billy ran back down the metal steps and out to end of the pier. Whomever she’d spoken to on the radio must have had a word with the SEALs, because by the time Billy and Alice arrived, the two were on the dock waiting.
“Agent Cavanaugh?”
Alice flashed her credentials. “You got the word?”
Neither looked very happy about it. “We’re supposed to follow your orders and aid in the search for a chemical WMD.”
“Very good. This is Billy Price. He’s going with you. I’ll stay in contact via radio.”
Before they could protest or change their minds, Billy hopped on board the sleek boat. “Let’s go.”
They cast off. “Where to?” The SEAL omitted the “sir,” but that was fine with Billy.
Where was Rose? He tried her again; still no answer. Then he switched to the tracker app she’d installed. He pulled up the map and saw her route back to the park, then to a public pier on the Lafayette River, and then…across to the middle of the river and back again. There the track ended.
“West,” he ordered the SEAL. “To the river.” The boat sped up until it was leaping across the water so fast the resulting wind almost blew him off balance. He glanced down at his clothing. The SEALs were battle-ready, wearing ballistic vests, and carrying MP-5s. “Got any spares?”
While he donned a vest, he filled them in on the properties of the deadly toxin and how to use the antidote. One of the SEALs grabbed gas masks and antidote kits from their gear bag. “You’ll need both syringes, the atropine and Narcan.”
“So, you’ve experience with this shit?”
“More than anyone else. And it hasn’t been good.”
They exchanged a glance and nodded, their jaws set. “Guess that’s why you brought us along.”
<><><>
The hatch closed behind Rose, leaving Chase and the others in total darkness once more.
“What did she say to you, Jay?” Chase asked. He didn’t have to worry about keeping his voice down, not with the pump engines running as loud as they were and the solid steel hatch between them and any guards.
“KC,” Jay said. “Give me your hands.” There was a clicking sound. “Rose passed me a handcuff key.” Jay’s voice got closer then his hands fell onto Chase’s chest, groping in the dark until they found Chase’s cuffed wrists behind his back. A few moments later, he was free. Chase then helped Jay out of his zip ties. “And she told me to tell you to look in the hem and waistband of her jacket, the one she gave KC.”
Chase knew there was no way he could make it down to KC’s level, and she was too weak to stand. “You do it, Jay.”
“I’m okay,” KC’s voice came in the darkness. She sloshed toward him, hugging him but only half as hard as he hugged her. “It’s good to move. Even if I can’t feel my feet.” She was cold, much, much too cold. He pulled her close, tried to share his warmth while Jay worked on the jacket.
“It’s just a drawstring,” he said a minute later. “Here.”
Chase reached a hand in the dark, blindly connecting with Jay’s. He felt the plastic-sheathed cording. Definitely not drawstring. He fumbled his way to the end—damn stuff was no good unless… “Rose Prospero, you are a genius.”
“What is it?” Jay asked.
“Is there anymore? We could use another yard or so to do this right.”
“Yeah, here’s the waistband. But how is a bunch of string going to get us out of here?”
“Not string, Jay. Det cord. Complete with blasting caps. Enough to put a nice-sized hole in one of these walls. Only question is, do we blast out or in?” Rose had told him to leave, but how could he leave her and Eve behind? Much less the toxin.
Then he realized her plan. She wanted the toxin sunk. Deep and contained, where it couldn’t harm anyone. But surely she had a plan to save herself and Eve?
Knowing Rose, she was making it up as she went, which meant he couldn’t leave her behind—yet, he had to get KC and Jay to safety. KC wasn’t going to make it much longer, not in these temperatures. As it was, he wasn’t sure if she could swim to the surface if he blew a hole in the hull.
The deck lurched beneath him as the dredger changed directions. His cast knocked against one of the oil drums. And he realized there was an even bigger flaw in that plan. Could he make it to the surface with this damn cast on? And if he tore it off, could he swim with his ankle?
It was KC who made up his mind. She turned to him, her entire body shaking uncontrollably with the cold, and stuttered, “I love y—” Then she went limp in his arms.
He hauled her upright, panic giving him strength he didn’t realize he possessed. “Jay, hold KC. Keep her warm, get that jacket wrapped back around her. Keep her awa
ke, you hear me? Stay back, as far as possible.”
He waded through the icy water to the outer hull. Recon lived for the night, he told himself as he stretched the det cord into two circles, one shoulder-width, the other filling as much of the interior as possible. The blasting caps were simple pyro fuses. A bang in the right place would set them off since he didn’t have any matches or a lighter on him. Only problem was, that bang would also set off the explosives almost instantly.
He skimmed his hand through the water, sniffed it. Definitely some fuel contamination. If there were enough vapors in the air, he could turn the tiny compartment into a fireball.
He pried the lids off two steel drums that sounded empty when he tapped on them, then shifted the drums to make a barrier and handed Jay one of the lids to use as a shield. “Get behind me and the oil drums. There’s going to be a loud bang and a big old flame. Might even catch the water on fire.” No sense telling the kid the air might also be set on fire and sucked out, leaving a vacuum to suffocate them. That happened, there was nothing anyone could do.
“Wait until the flames are out. Water is going to start rushing in and filling this compartment. We’ll list to the opposite side—when we start to roll, that’s your cue to take KC and swim out through the hole.” He wished he had a light. He needed to make sure Jay was getting all this. “Orient yourself now. Stretch out your right arm, feel the hatch?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“The hole will be another arm’s length beyond that. I won’t be able to help you much.” All depended on how much concussive force Chase took—he’d have to get pretty close to ignite the fuse. “You ready? You have a good grip on KC?”
“Yes.” Jay’s voice held only the slightest quiver.
“I’m counting on you to get her out of here. You understand?”
“Don’t worry, Chase. I’ll get her out. What about you with your ankle?”
“Nothing to a Recon Marine.” He groped through the dark once more, found Jay and KC. He kissed KC; she barely stirred. Then he found Jay’s head, tousled his hair, and said, “Just so you know, I’m proud to have you as a brother. Let’s do this.”
Before Jay could answer, Chase stepped forward and swung the edge of the metal lid against the blasting caps. The first time, he didn’t hit the right spot. He felt for the fuses he had aligned, readjusted his swing and let loose.
He never heard the explosion that threw him back; it was as if his hearing was blasted by the fire that seared his vision. He hit the oil drums and fell to the deck. Water raced through the hole he’d created, swamping his efforts to get to his feet.
He felt Jay and KC beside him as they pushed past the oil drums he’d arranged as a shield, thought he heard Jay call his name, but then there was nothing but the roar of water tumbling all around him, pinning him down, as the deck lurched beneath him.
Chapter 33
Teresa opened the hatch with the window, unleashing the roar of an engine into the small corridor. She gestured for Rose to go inside. The room beyond the hatch ran the length of the dredger, a good fifty feet long and fifteen feet wide. At Rose’s feet was grated metal decking that ran over top of a two-foot-wide pipe recessed into the floor. Just inside the door hung a row of environmental suits along with several face masks connected to respirators. Emergency equipment.
There was a turbine pump at this end of the compartment near the hatch, the source of the noise. It stood from floor to ceiling, braced by metal struts. The pipe, about two feet in diameter, extended from the turbine along the length of the dredger. At intervals along the pipe, there were circular portholes designed for inspection or cleaning.
Ten feet down from Rose, one of the inspection portholes stood open, the high-pressured slurry flowing through the pipe below it faster than whitewater rapids. Eve sat propped up against the hatch. In her lap, she held four thermos-sized metal canisters, the kind used to transport dangerous laboratory specimens.
“I’ve rigged the canisters with a small charge,” Teresa said, holding up a radio control. “Not enough to kill her—we’ll let the toxin take care of that…and everyone else in a three-mile radius from where the pipe emerges onto land. Don’t worry, though. That’s miles away from here. You and I, we’ll be perfectly safe. Too bad I can’t say the same about your daughter.”
Rose met Eve’s gaze. Saw defiance there. Good girl. Don’t give up on me yet.
“What do you want?” Rose asked Teresa, stalling for time. As soon as Chase blew the forward compartment, she’d use the distraction to tackle Teresa and take the detonator. Easy peasy, no need for messy complications.
“You still don’t understand. I already have everything I want. I have my father’s plan. I know how to make his dreams a reality. In fact, it’s already begun. Right now, as we speak, your president and first lady are dying. On live TV. There will be chaos—multiplied once others start to die. By then, we’ll have moved on to the next target and the next. Until the people we’ve chosen are in power. And then this country can return to its rightful destiny, the one our Founding Fathers envisioned.”
Teresa played with the remote in her hand, twirling it casually, out of Rose’s reach. “So, no, Rose. There’s nothing I want from you. Except to see the look on your face when—”
The moment Rose had been waiting for finally came. An explosion sounded above the noise of the turbine, followed by the boat lurching to the port side. Teresa was thrown off balance, but Rose had been expecting the sudden movement and was prepared. She used Teresa’s momentum against her, grabbing the arm with the remote as Teresa flew past Rose, twisting it hard, the remote dropping to the floor, skidding out of sight beneath the powerful turbine.
“Eve, get out of here,” Rose called as she finished the move by throwing Teresa across the compartment. Teresa tripped over the exposed top half of the pipe in the deck and went sprawling into the metal hull opposite.
Rose ran to Eve, who was carefully setting the canisters onto the deck. She took the last two canisters, put them on the floor, and grabbed Eve’s hand. “Hurry.”
The boat shuddered, metal stressed beyond its tolerance, shrieking in pain. The bow of the boat began to sink. They made it to the hatch. Rose slammed the latches and hauled the heavy metal door open. “Go, Eve.”
“Not without you.” Eve grabbed Rose’s arm as Rose pushed her out of the compartment.
“Stop!” Teresa’s shout carried above the noise of the boat being wrenched apart. She stood over the open section of pipe, holding a glass flask from one of the containers. “Go out that door, Rose Prospero, and I’ll kill them all.”
Rose didn’t have time to think. If Teresa dropped that flask of toxin into the water surging through the pipe, it would end up expelled out the other end, miles away, aerosolized, killing everyone in its path. She couldn’t risk it.
Not even to be with Eve.
“I’m not leaving without you,” Eve repeated, tears clouding her words. Rose pulled her close into a hug.
“I love you.”
Then she pushed Eve away and slammed the hatch shut between them. Shutting Eve outside where she could escape. Where she could live.
Eve pounded on the glass. Rose ignored her and turned to Teresa. “Just you and me, now. Why don’t you give me that flask?”
<><><>
The FAST boat was as good as its name, reaching the Lafayette in a few minutes. There was no sign of the Coast Guard boat. Just a small motorboat at the dock and a dredging boat in the middle of the channel.
Billy borrowed the SEALs’ binoculars to scrutinize both vessels. There was one man visible in the launch, but he couldn’t see below deck. The dredger was pivoting, operating as it should, nothing suspicious about that, except for the three men in the cabin toting machine guns. Bingo.
“That’s our target,” Billy told the SEALs.
Before they could respond, there was an explosion, followed by the sudden appearance of a small whirlpool alongside the bow of the dredger. The
ungainly vessel shuddered and tilted to one side as water churned into a hole in its hull.
The men on deck yelled and ran out to look. One of them spotted the SEALs and raised his weapon. Last thing he ever did. As the SEALs opened fire, the others took cover and returned fire.
Two forms appeared in the middle of the whitewater. “Help!” Jay called.
Billy shed his weapon and ballistic vest then dove overboard. Jay held KC, but it was clear she was in dire straits. Billy took her and swam back to the boat—the SEALs bringing it closer, positioning it to shield the three in the water from the gunfire.
“I have to get Chase,” Jay shouted and swam back toward the dredger. Billy handed KC up to one of the SEALs and kicked hard to follow Jay. The boy vanished as he dove beneath the surface. Billy hauled in a deep breath and followed blindly.
<><><>
Rose edged past the emergency gear hanging on the wall, aiming toward the turbine. If she disabled the powerful fan propelling the slurry, she could render the toxin harmless to anyone except her and Teresa. She spotted the breaker that controlled the power to the turbine and made her move.
The boat wrenched and twisted once more. Rose stumbled, thrown off balance. The bow dropped even further, and she skidded past the turbine, crashing into the forward hull. She looked back to see that Teresa had also been toppled by the abrupt movement—thankfully away from the pipe and against the outer hull.
Teresa stared at Rose in horror. Then down at the broken flask in her hands. Then she screamed.
The toxin was loose.
Rose held her breath and reached for the nearest emergency mask. She donned it. The respirator would provide her with a few minutes of air, but she still had to worry about absorbing the toxin through her skin. She yanked one of the survival suits off the wall. They were intended to keep sailors warm if they fell into cold seas, but their thick layers should provide her with some protection—more than her bare arms or cargo pants.