Kadeem made yet another appearance, whispered something in Hassan’s ear and then scuttled off.
Delia appeared to serve dessert.
Oh, Delia. You poor girl, just trying to earn a living. I’m so sorry this is your last night.
Hassan made an Arabic announcement to his guests. “My friends, it seems your timetable will need to be abbreviated. We’ve received information that leads us to believe our supplier may have shared information with people he shouldn’t have.”
Sarah’s stomach turned and a surge of adrenaline ran through her veins.
Act calm. Remember to pretend I don’t speak Arabic. For all I know he is making a toast. Vince was made! But how? Who? Hassan is staring. Smile.
The man to Hassan’s right wasn’t pleased at all. “What? We had your personal assurance the supplier could be trusted. Osama will not look favorably on this.”
Hassan tried to calm the man. “My friend, I assure you the situation has been contained. My associate Kadeem is handling matters as we speak. I merely suggest you abbreviate your timetable in case something may have been leaked before we detected the issue.”
I’ve got to find a way to get the hell out of here and find Vince.
“If it pleases the Sheikh, his guest seems unhappy. Should I speak to the chef about an ill prepared course?”
“What is your whore talking about?” demanded the man to Hassan’s right.
Sarah pretended she didn’t understand what the man said in Arabic and kept the concerned look on her face in wait for Hassan’s answer to her question. All the while, her stomach wrenched itself into knots.
Jesus, I’ve got to get out of this room. Kadeem has Vince. Oh, Chris, I hope you can hear this shit.
Hassan eyed the man indignantly and lowered his voice to an angry growl. “May I remind you that you are a guest at the table of Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Mohammed al-Rashid and as such you will not disrespect him by speaking in such a manner about his hostess who does not speak Arabic and is merely concerned for your comfort?”
The man bowed his head in deference to Hassan and mumbled in English. “A thousand pardons, Sheikh Hassan.”
Hassan gazed lovingly at Sarah. “There is no need, my beauty. Our guest was merely anxious to talk business before its proper time. If you will excuse us, our talk of business will only bore you. Perhaps you would care to retire for the evening?”
“Yes, of course. I am a bit tired. Please excuse me, gentlemen.”
Sarah rose to leave and noticed the other men at the table seemed to look at her with almost admiration.
Yes, I know. You’re all so amazed Hassan has found such a beautiful and yet subservient American mistress. Guess what, suckers? The roof is about to blow off your world tonight!
As a final rub to the rude guest, Sarah looked directly at him as she smiled graciously. “Goodnight gentlemen. It has been my great pleasure to dine with you.”
All but one, the rude one, stood as Sarah left the table. They bid her a polite goodnight in English.
Sarah exited the dining room, closed the door behind her and stopped just outside it to catch her breath and figure out what to do next.
A second later, a loud thump reverberated through the deck, as though someone had fallen and then Hassan’s voice boomed with indignation. “How dare you disrespect your host in such a manner?”
For the first time during this mission, Sarah was truly afraid. Her heartbeat thumped through her entire body, and every muscle was tense with adrenaline. She hurried across the hall to Hassan’s stateroom.
I need more than a pocket knife for this.
When she arrived, she knew something was very wrong. Her luggage had been moved. She’d been there for weeks and the help had never moved anything of hers. Her stomach turned as she whispered urgently to Chris.
“Chris! Chris! Can you hear me? Where’s Vince? Where is he? Come in, Chris. Do you read me?”
No answer. Sarah’s adrenaline level rose even higher, making her blood scream through her veins. Something was definitely wrong. Her contact with Chris was like a lifeline, even when she didn’t want it. Now she couldn’t contact him at all?
Finally, Chris’ voice crackled through. “Sarah, what’s your status?”
“All secure. Vince was made. Have you got a lock on his location?”
“Last contact was when he arrived at the boat. We’ve got nothing, girl. He knows what he’s doing. He’ll be fine.” Chris’s voice turned urgent. “You’ve got to get off that boat now, Sarah.”
Sarah kicked off her shoes as she rushed to her suitcase. She dumped it and opened the false bottom to get her knives. She had to act quickly, and although she moved at top speed, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
My knives are gone!
“Knives gone. My knives are gone,” she hissed, hoping Chris would hear.
No sound now but the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. She felt for the knife in her pocket. They didn’t call it the Gerber Guardian Back Up for nothing.
Sarah pressed her ear against the door and listened. No sound.
She opened the door and stepped out onto the main deck with one goal in mind.
Find Vince.
Sarah slipped through the dark along the outer deck. The moonless night helped with her cover so she could look in through the windows without being seen.
Hassan and his guests were still in the dining salon. She crawled under the windows toward the aft deck.
Time worked against her. She hurried around to the port side of the boat and ran full out in her bare feet and gown to the fore deck.
Sarah moved quietly through the shadows and thanked God the deck lights were off.
As she rounded the corner, she spotted Kadeem near the anchor with a gun in his hand.
He isn’t aiming yet.
She could only assume Vince was there, too. Sarah scanned the deck to make sure Kadeem was alone with Vince.
Vince was bound and kneeling in front of Kadeem.
An execution? Not on my watch, you bastard. Not him.
She managed to sneak to within about four feet of Kadeem.
Kadeem was so focused on Vince he didn’t notice Sarah approaching from his side.
She burst from the shadows and kicked the gun from his hand.
As Kadeem turned to face her, she punched him square in the jaw. He fell sprawling across the deck.
Sarah pounced on him and wrapped her fingers around his neck. The last two things they needed right now were noise and company.
This is my chance.
Sarah moved her face to within inches of Kadeem’s and whispered in Arabic, “How do you feel now, you frigging cockroach? How does it feel to know you’re getting your ass kicked by the cheap American whore you’ve been talking shit about all this time?”
Kadeem’s eyes opened wide as he realized she spoke Arabic. He gasped for breath, but it couldn’t come. He reached for the gun that had slid across the deck when Sarah kicked him.
He managed to grab the barrel of the gun and tried to hit Sarah but she dodged his swing just in time.
“I’ve got no time for your shit!” she whispered as she pulled her Gerber and slit his throat in one swift movement.
Her cut to Kadeem’s jugular landed perfectly. When she saw the first rush of blood shoot from his neck, she turned his head to cap the flow.
Sarah scrambled to her feet and turned to face Vince who still knelt with his hands bound behind his back and tape covering his mouth.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she took in his condition. His face was bloody and swollen.
Kadeem had clearly planned to pistol whip him a bit more before executing him.
Sarah dropped to her knees and cut the tape around his wrists and ankles. “Thank God you’re all right. We’ve got to get out of here, now.”
Vince jumped up and into action. He ripped the tape from his mouth as he grabbed Kadeem’s weapon and checked the cartridge. He moved to the corn
er and checked for anybody else that might come up on the scene.
The boat’s engines began to rumble. The large, powerful boat suddenly lurched forward. Jumping from the fore deck would mean the equivalent to a keel haul. They’d be pushed under the body of the boat and come up just in time for the propellers to chop them into chum for the sharks.
Chris’s voice came through loud and clear. “Sarah, status!”
“Secure plus one,” Sarah whispered.
“What a relief. You guys have two minutes. Get off that boat now.”
“Follow close,” Vince told Sarah as he ran along the port side of the boat toward the aft deck.
Sarah followed, but Vince had a long stride and the full skirt she wore slowed her pace. She was about ten feet behind him when he rounded the corner to the aft deck.
Pain shot through her jaw as she stumbled and fell. As she slid backwards against the rail, Hassan stepped out of the shadows.
Sarah scrambled to stand but kept getting tangled in the full length of the dress she wore.
A familiar bap-bap-bap came from the area where Vince had disappeared. Fear sizzled down her spine. Sarah knew the sound of an AK-47.
She scanned the deck when she realized her knife had been knocked from her hand.
Shit! Focus. No weapons. High drag clothing. Hassan holding a gun.
Stand and fight or get shot in the back?
Sarah stood and looked into Hassan’s eyes. The dark and dangerous eyes of a predator.
Hassan pointed the business end of his Glock pistol at her nose.
She waved wide to knock the pistol from his hand, but Hassan moved faster.
He grabbed her wrist with his free hand and spun her around so her back was toward him.
Sarah stumbled and fell.
A sharp pain shot from the top of her head down to her tailbone. She fought the wave of dizziness and nausea and focused on survival. She cried out as Hassan forced her to her feet by her hair.
The bastard hit me on the head with a frigging Glock!
Hassan wrapped his free arm around Sarah’s neck and held her close enough to whisper in her ear. “Going somewhere, my beauty?”
Sarah struggled to get away. She elbowed and kicked at him but he held tight. She was too close for her hits to be effective.
His grip tightened.
Cold steel pressed against her temple in addition to the pressure of Hassan’s muscular forearm against her neck.
“We found some very interesting items in your suitcase, my beauty.”
Vince rounded the corner slowly with an AK-47 aimed at Hassan.
“Thirty seconds!” Chris yelled in Sarah’s ear.
“One more move, Mr. Hennessee, and you’ll have more than blood on your hands.”
Sarah’s world began to spin in slow motion again.
Chris’s voice broke. “Twenty-five seconds!”
She stared down the barrel of the AK-47.
“Take the shot, Vince.”
I trust you.
“Let the girl go!” Vince ordered Hassan.
“Put the gun down, Mr. Hennessee.”
Hassan has no idea we’re all about to die.
“Twenty seconds! You have got to get out of there!”
“Get out from behind the girl, you coward,” Vince bellowed.
We’ve got to finish this son of a bitch and I’m the only one who can. He’s holding me so tight.
Hassan’s hard body pressed against her. There were so many times she enjoyed being this close to the man, but now all she felt was disgust. She could feel his right thigh at her hip as he held her with his right arm and the handgun with his left. She mouthed the word “knife” to Vince and hoped he’d understand as she moved her right hand away from the arm around her throat.
“Seventeen seconds! Oh Jesus.” Chris moaned.
“All right.” Vince raised his hands and moved to place his gun on the deck.
“You see, my dear.” Hassan sounded so confident. “In the end, I do command you and everyone else around me.”
Vince bent and placed the rifle on the deck.
Sarah watched his every move.
Vince pulled a knife from his shoe and threw it to Sarah.
She managed the catch with her right hand, flipped the grip of the knife, drove the blade deep into Hassan’s thigh and twisted it as she pulled it out.
Hassan screamed like he’d been struck by lightning and released his grip on Sarah.
Vince lunged for Hassan’s gun.
Sarah’s training took over and she spun around to her right for another cut as Hassan fell.
Vince dove a second too late. Sarah watched in slow motion as Hassan squeezed off a shot and hit Vince in the chest.
“You bastard!”
Sarah gripped the knife in her bloody hand and spun around to finish the job she’d started. She dropped to her left knee, pinning Hassan’s hip, and with both hands, drove the knife straight into his heart.
In the moment his heart burst, Sarah stared into his eyes. “No man commands me.”
In the same moment Hassan died, the old Sarah died, too.
“Six seconds! For fuck’s sake, get out of there.” Chris screamed.
Sarah lunged, grabbed the unconscious Vince by his empty shoulder holster and jumped over the short rail and off the deck with him.
She held tight as they fell into the water.
When they surfaced, Sarah held his head up with her right arm and shielded his face with her left.
She’d barely begun to tread water when the explosion went off.
The blast was deafening. Flames and black smoke filled the air. Debris flew everywhere. Sarah prayed they wouldn’t get hit with any large pieces and held her breath. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the boat had been moving fast enough to put a safe distance between her and Vince and the shock wave.
Debris continued to rain down on them as Sarah felt inside Vince’s shirt.
“Oh, Jesus, Vince. You can’t check out on me. Not now. Not here. God, please be wearing a vest. Please?”
Some of the tension left her shoulders as she felt the Second Chance vest under Vince’s shirt. And a cool flattened bullet molded against it.
Vince came to. “What the hell? Am I hit?”
Sarah let go of Vince. “Yeah, you were hit and you scared the shit out of me, you son of a bitch! Guess who threw your unconscious body off the boat? That’s twice I saved your ass, Marine. You need to learn to take care of yourself. You really owe me now.”
Vince turned around in the water to face Sarah and shed his shoes, shirt and vest.
“Damn, girl. I’m no lightweight. You can lift more than most guys I know. I’m impressed.”
“Yeah, yeah... Save it.” Sarah struggled against the drag her gown caused. Her arms and legs grew tired in her battle to stay afloat.
Vince reached out for her. “What’s the matter? Were you hit?” He wrapped one of his strong arms protectively around her waist.
Relieved after the ordeal, Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve got to get this damned dress off.”
Vince’s eyes opened wide. “Hey, babe, I’m all for showing some serious gratitude, but now is hardly the time.”
“The drag, you ass! I can’t swim in this dress!”
But thanks for letting me know you’re up for a romp.
“Oh, I knew that.” Vince turned her around and unzipped her gown. “I was just trying to add a little levity to the moment.”
“Oh, don’t lie. You know you want me.” Sarah shed her gown and let out a sigh of relief to be able to swim easily in her satin bra and panties. She didn’t mention it to Vince, but she did check to be sure the chain around her waist and the choker at her neck were both still there.
Excellent! All gems intact.
“Hey, only a fool wouldn’t take advantage of a situation like this.”
Sarah stared at Vince. “Even knowing what I
do for a living?”
“You sleep with them, I kill them. I think I’ve got you beat on being bad. Does that bother you?”
Sarah treaded closer to Vince, feeling safe and secure within arm’s reach of him even though they floated in the middle of the ocean. “Correction, I killed them. And no, what you do doesn’t bother me as long as you’re killing the right people.” She smiled.
Then she felt something that made her temper flare. “Aw, shit!”
Vince quickly wrapped his arms around Sarah protectively. “What is it?”
“I broke a nail.”
They both broke out laughing. The laughter was a good release for all the tension Sarah had felt.
Sarah’s earpiece crackled and she heard Chris’ familiar voice. “Well, I’m glad you two are having fun! I think I just shit myself, you psycho mother fuckers! Where’s Hassan?”
“Bled out at four seconds to blast,” Sarah stated soberly.
I killed two men close up. No guns, no sniper rifles, just a knife. I saw the look in their eyes when they died. A look I’ll never forget.
Vince pulled Sarah close and gave her a comforting squeeze around the waist. “Hey,” he whispered. “We all have blood on our hands. We’ve all been where you are. You won’t forget the look in their eyes, so don’t try. Just remember it was you or him, and the best man lived.”
Sarah’s lower lip trembled and tears stung the backs of her eyes. She gave Vince a half smile. “So, I’m one of the guys now?”
“Babe, you’ve got balls. You’ve always been one of the guysjust built a whole lot better.”
Vince’s lips were so close Sarah could kiss him and nobody would fault her, especially after all they’d been through. Their eyes met and she wondered if he thought the same thing. His breath feathered against her cheek as his arms tightened around her. Just as Vince lowered his mouth to hers, she heard the sound of a boat approaching.
Damn. I don’t know if I should thank them or tell them to make another pass.
Jason stood at the front of the boat scanning the debris with a twenty-gauge shotgun.
Brian was in the back, at the controls.
Will grabbed Sarah’s arm and hauled her into the boat while Vince climbed in.
Once Sarah was in the boat, four pairs of eyes seared her exposed flesh.
The Path to Freedom (Task Force 125) Page 23