Carson gripped the stair and placed her feet higher so she crouched. She’d have to go all in.
A cold, hard thing jabbed her in the back and a man’s voice speaking words she couldn’t understand made the hair on her arms stand up.
Shit.
“Okay. Okay, I’m not doing anything. See?” She held up her hands.
He grabbed her by the arm and jerked her backwards. She grasped the railing to keep herself from falling.
“Okay,” she snapped as her knee throbbed.
She turned and her gaze clashed with her captor. He was one of them. The ones from the boat. He hadn’t spoken to her, but she recognized him by the scar on his cheek.
Carson glanced over her shoulder at the clear, blue sky. She’d waited too long to run.
Too late.
Just like so many other things in her life.
The man grasped her by the arm and hauled her down the last few stairs. She hissed as her knee protested, sending sharp jabs of pain down into her bones. He kept a tight grip on her as he guided her back toward where she’d come from.
“Will one of you at least help Frankie? Please? She’s just a kid.” Carson stared at the cold face of the man.
He didn’t respond.
“Can you understand me? Do you know what you’re doing? My sister, she’s just an innocent kid.”
Still no reaction. Not a flinch or even the slightest tremor of feeling.
There was nothing more she could do. She’d made the wrong choice every time it was presented to her. She hadn’t even told Ryan how she felt about him, and now it was too late.
They went down stairs and across more empty cargo space until they reached a door. The same one she’d glimpsed from above but hadn’t been able to get to.
Sunlight poured in, giving the area a sad glow.
A man turned to face them.
Carson shuddered and her feet stopped working.
Kawa.
“JUST LIKE WE TALKED about, okay?” Ryan kept one step ahead of Joe as they climbed the stairs to the hatch leading to the below deck areas.
The whole purpose of this exchange was to get eyes inside the boat. Once Ryan knew what they were dealing with he’d make one of two calls. Either he’d stay on the ship or retreat to gather the guys and go in. With any luck he’d find out where Carson was and what state she and her family were in.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Joe asked.
“It will. We’re good at what we do.”
“Stop there.” A guy in a dark suit that had seen better days stood above them. He had a gun tucked under his suit jacket judging by the unnatural way he held his hand. “Weapons?”
“You get your toys, I get mine.” Ryan lifted his suit jacket to expose the holsters under his arms. “Fair is fair. I’m just here to ensure the transaction goes smoothly.”
There was only the smallest chance the man had glimpsed Ryan’s face in the parking garage. It was a gamble he had to take because they sure as hell would remember Alec.
The man jerked his head toward the door above.
Ryan took another step and the man side-stepped with him, keeping some distance between them.
This was good. No recognition, a healthy suspicion, nothing out of the ordinary for dealing with paranoid terrorists. As they reached the top of the stairs Ryan couldn’t help but hope that this would go smoothly. He could get Carson back.
The hatch loomed ahead of them.
Just another couple of steps.
Sirens wailed, not in the distance, but below them from four SUVs barreling down the dock.
The man they’d followed up the stairs grabbed the inside hatch. Ryan threw himself against the heavy, metal door.
“Get in,” he barked at the senator.
The man inside pushed at the door. Ryan braced his hands and foot on the ledge and locked his arms.
“How?” Joe stood back, gaping at him and the people below.
“No, please!” a woman cried out.
Carson.
Ryan braced his foot and shoved back.
They had to get inside the ship before Kawa and his men sealed themselves below deck. That would create a hostage situation no one was coming out of alive. He didn’t have the ability to go after Carson and ensure the senator’s safety. He could only take care of one.
The door gave way and Ryan toppled sideways onto the deck. He glimpsed the back of a retreating man. Ryan got to his feet and yanked Joe inside then sealed the hatch.
“What are you doing? That’s the FBI.” The senator’s pale face seemed to gleam in the low light.
“Giving you an alibi. You and I were kidnapped. Got it?”
“But—”
“No buts. You got in contact with me because the company I work for has a contract with the DoD and you wanted to check into a man who said he could get your sister back. Got it? It might be the story that saves your career.” Ryan peered down the halls.
“No one will buy that.”
“Then practice it.”
Ryan couldn’t make out anything. There was noise from outside and overhead.
The FBI were not going to come on a Chinese ship, so what were they really doing?
Ryan reached up and powered his comm back on.
The first thing he needed to do was secure the senator. Once that was done, he could go after Carson.
“Alec? Tell me you can hear me?” He pulled out his gun.
“Ryan—that was not you shutting the hatch, was it?” Paxton’s ragged voice was unexpected.
“I will neither confirm or deny that.” Ryan ducked around the corner, weapon ready, and looked over the room to the left of the entrance.
“Shit, man.”
“Where are you?”
“In FBI custody.”
“Is Alec arrested yet?”
“About to be.”
Ryan was on his own. He muted his comm and waved at the senator.
“Joe. In here. Secure this door. Do you know how to use a gun?”
“No.”
“That’s unfortunate. Inside.”
Joe tripped over the lip of the hatch, but otherwise made it into the room without hurting himself.
“Secure this. I’m going to get Carson.” Ryan strode down the hall, leaving the senator to fend for himself.
If Kawa’s group hadn’t gone for Joe before, they wouldn’t now. Their priority would be to get somewhere they would deem as safe. They had Carson as a hostage right now, and she could be enough. Her family would be more leverage.
These were not good odds. Deep down he knew that someone was going to get hurt, he just had to hope it wasn’t her or him.
“I’m coming for you,” he whispered.
“WE SHOULD GIVE OURSELVES up.”
“No, we can’t.”
“They’ll throw us in a hole and we’ll never get out.”
“We can’t stay here.”
Kawa listened to the not so quiet conversation going on behind him.
He’d known he did not have his men’s faith, that they were here because they’d been assigned and no their fates were tied together. There still had to be a way out of this.
“Stop. Be quiet.” He turned to face them.
The woman stared up at him.
“There has to be a way off this boat,” he said. The next logical step was right there. He couldn’t think of it though. “Think. How do you get off a boat this size?”
“The doors?”
“Lifeboat.”
“Yes!” That was the word he’d been looking for. “We need to get to the lifeboat.”
Problem was, he had no idea where that was or how to get there and the FBI were right behind them. But if they could find it and get off the ship, they might survive another day.
RYAN CREPT DOWN THE hall, peering into rooms.
This was going to take forever.
By himself he had to clear every room and backtrack to check his tail before going forward or risk gett
ing himself killed.
“Ryan? Ryan, they want you to come off the boat,” Alec said. The sound was full of static and unclear.
The guys had traded off asking him to disembark for the last twenty minutes, probably at the bequest of Agent Walker with increasing interference. Well, he could go fuck himself because Ryan wasn’t leaving the boat until he’d found Carson and her family.
“Hey, Ryan? They’re talking with the captain and he’s saying they’re not supposed to be there. They might give the FBI permission to board, buddy.” They’d gone back to Paxton, who was finding a creative way of giving Ryan a heads up.
He didn’t have long before the feds might storm the ship. With Walker in charge he didn’t trust the FBI to prioritize Carson’s life in their attempt to get their guy.
Low voices drifted toward him, carrying farther with all the metal surfaces.
That wasn’t Mandarin. He didn’t know what that was.
He followed the noise to an intersection of halls. Two men stood just around the corner, their heads together talking. Not the Chinese crew. He still couldn’t understand what they were saying but the tense vibe was easy enough to understand.
They didn’t like what was going on any more than he did.
One slapped the other on the shoulder and together they turned, headed away from Ryan.
Where were they going? Could they take him to Carson? Did he dare try to subdue two at once?
The two turned left into a stairwell. Ryan darted after them, straining to listen to their footsteps overhead as they rose to the next floor then the next. Then the next.
Where were they going?
Why weren’t they finding a defensible room? Were they looking for something? Did they have a plan for getting off the boat?
Fuck.
Ryan’s stomach sank.
He reached up and tapped his comm.
“Where’s the lifeboat?” he asked.
The only thing that answered him was static.
There had to be too much metal between him and the others for the signal to connect.
Ryan took the stairs two and three at a time, doing his best to keep quiet.
The lifeboat would be somewhere above deck toward the rear of the ship, likely over their head right now. If Kawa got on it and launched the thing into the water he could still escape. The boat wouldn’t move fast, but if they could get to land and slip away it could provide them with the lead they needed.
Up and up Ryan climbed following the sounds of other feet. He didn’t know for sure if Carson was with Kawa, but he’d heard her voice so he had to believe she was alive.
Ryan reached the top of the stairs letting out onto the deck. Blue sky stretched out overhead, only a few white, puffy clouds floating past. The brisk breeze blowing in from the ocean carried with it the cry of gulls and boat motors. Above him the orange, enclosed lifeboat dangled in the air.
That had to be Kawa’s plan. Get away in the boat and either meet up with another contact or make a run for it. The FBI were watching, but could they anticipate this?
Ryan had to act now. He could not allow more men in that boat. If he could separate them, divide them somehow, it could help the feds capture the whole group and save Carson.
He continued to charge up the stairs, watching the stairs doubling back on themself until he saw a pair of ankles climbing at a slower pace.
Now or never.
He leaned over the railing and aimed at the stairs across and above him. The man clothed in black didn’t even see him coming.
Ryan squeezed the trigger.
The first man cried out and hit the ground.
The second was following close enough Ryan just had to adjust a tiny bit.
He fired a second shot and the other man lurched out of view.
There were two men who wouldn’t be getting on the lifeboat.
Chapter 21
Carson braced her hands on the door leading into the tangerine colored submarine looking boat.
“No. No, leave me,” she begged.
Kawa turned toward her. If she weren’t more afraid of what would happen on the boat that look would have scared her.
“Get in here,” he snarled and grabbed her.
“No,” she wailed.
He yanked on her arm. She pitched forward going to her knees hard on the floor of the boat. The pain shooting up to her hip was worse now. Tears prickled her eyes.
She curled her legs under her. Could she run? If she was too hard to control would they leave her? Or would they kill her?
The remaining man climbed into the boat, leaving Kawa standing over her.
They were going to make her get in that thing.
A bang rang out, the sound of it echoing through her memory.
For a moment everyone paused.
Another blast of gunfire, closer this time, rang out.
A man yelled. Another called out, maybe for help.
The man at the front of the boat shouted something at Kawa who drew a gun.
Carson did not want to be here.
She pushed to her feet and pressed her back against the wall. Kawa stared past her at the open door while the man at the wheel yelled.
Ryan. He was out there, coming for her and she was in here.
She had to get off this boat.
This might be her last chance.
“KAWA,” RYAN BELLOWED.
No one answered.
He crouched behind the controls for the lifeboat.
“If you want off this ship, I’ll launch you but you have to give me the girl.” He figured once the lifeboat was in the water the Coast Guard would swarm it. His priority was Carson and her family. “You aren’t getting off this boat without my help.”
That was a lie. The craft could be launched from inside, but it was a bit more complicated than flipping a single switch. He was banking on ignorance helping him. If he had to go into the boat Carson could get injured.
“What is she to you?” A man Ryan assumed was Kawa called out.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
“I can’t give up my leverage.”
“Will you need it if you get out of here?” Ryan didn’t like this. It felt like buying time he couldn’t afford. “The FBI are on their way here. Do you still want to be tied to the ship when they arrive?”
He’d killed or injured two of Kawa’s men. That left four hostiles on the boat with Carson. He didn’t like those odds.
Sorry, Carson.
Ryan pulled the flash grenade out of his pocket and yanked the pin with his teeth. He lobbed the grenade into the boat and side stepped so he was out of the way. Someone yelled, but they weren’t fast enough. The grenade went off, filling the cabin with a bang and billowing smoke.
A figure lurched out of the cloud, falling to the deck with a cry of pain.
Carson.
Ryan slapped the release button on the control panel then dove for her.
The lines securing the boat groaned to life.
He grabbed Carson by the wrist as another figure stepped off the boat, an arm thrown over his face.
The boat dropped away from the deck and Kawa pitched forward, tripping over Carson and Ryan.
“Stay down,” he said to her.
Kawa whirled on them, gun in hand.
Ryan crouched on his knee, his gun aimed at Kawa. They were trapped on the lifeboat deck with Kawa between them and the only viable exits. A fall into the water from this height could kill a person if they made it past the gigantic propeller blades.
The crash of the boat hitting the water below didn’t even draw his attention.
“You, I know you,” Kawa snarled.
“Good, we have the introductions out of the way.”
He took a step toward Ryan.
One more...
“I should kill you both,” Kawa said.
“You shoot I shoot. Is that going to get you out of here?” Could Ryan move fast enough? How good was Kawa’s aim? Was Ryan willing to
put it all on the line? Or should he hold out for the others?
Kawa stared at Ryan. He didn’t have the eyes of a killer, just a desperate man. But he was the man who’d kidnapped Carson and terrorized everyone she cared about.
Kawa rocked forward.
Ryan lunged, shooting his arm up under Kawa’s firing hand. Ryan hit flesh the same moment the gun discharged, the sound of the bullet ringing in Ryan’s ears. He threw himself forward, driving his shoulder into Kawa’s stomach and knocking them back to the deck. Kawa rolled, taking Ryan with him and hauled back, delivering a solid punch that had Ryan seeing double.
Something swung and struck Kawa knocking him to the side.
Ryan punched upward, catching the other man in the jaw. He pushed up as Kawa also staggered back.
Carson stood against the railing with the cable that had once attached to the lifeboat in hand, dangling from the end was a heavy hook.
Kawa snarled something and raised his weapon, but Ryan was faster. He squeezed off a shot, and he didn’t miss. Kawa glanced down at himself then at Carson as though confused.
“Put the gun down,” Ryan ordered.
“Never,” Kawa said between gasps.
He dove at Carson, grasping her around the waist, and pitched backward off the landing. The last thing Ryan saw of Carson was her wide, shocked eyes before she disappeared.
“No!” Ryan wailed. He lunged for the edge as Kawa’s body hit the water.
Below the deck, Carson hung from the hook, one arm dangling unnaturally at her side. She cried out in pain, her eyes rolling back in her head.
“Hold on, Carson. I’ve got you. Just hold on.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
He raced to the controls and mashed the button drawing the cable back into its casing.
Inch by inch the cable was wound back up into the casing.
“I’m slipping,” Carson called out.
Ryan dropped his gun and dove, sliding across the metal. He hooked his arm in the railing and strained. The cable swayed toward him and he grabbed it, bringing it closer until he could hold it with his other hand.
“I’ve got you. Hold on to my wrist.” He grasped her arm as her little fingers strained to keep hold of the hook. “You’re doing great. I’ve got you.”
Dangerous Secrets Page 25