A car behind them honked its horn. The light had turned green. Cole accelerated through the intersection and turned into the parking lot for the market.
“Yeah, it does sound a little crazy.”
He pulled to a stop and turned his face toward her again. He looked like a frightened little boy.
Her throat felt tight. “But it’s the kind of crazy that made me fall in love with you.” She swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was that she hadn’t believed him, hadn’t trusted him—but she couldn’t find the words just yet. She wondered when she would.
He reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it tight. “Subconsciously, I think I’ve been trying to push you away. But then I don’t know what I’d do without you, Magee.”
“Let’s hope neither one of us ever has to find out.”
“After what’s happened in the last few days, I’d understand it if you decided to stay on your boat here in Turkey while Theo and I go off to find the Upholder.”
“What—and miss out on all the fun? No way!”
“These modern Knights of Malta are an incredibly powerful group. They’re no joke—still fighting the Crusades against the infidels. My old man, he had no idea what he was asking. It’s like playing Whack-a-Mole trying to stop these guys. It doesn’t matter if they call themselves Skull and Bones or the Enterprise or the Knights of Malta. They all want the same thing.”
“Yeah,” Riley said. “You.”
Adakoy Shipyard
Adakoy, Turkey
April 14, 2014
Riley stood to one side of the boat, watching the hull as it appeared to fly through the air. Their new boat was hanging in the canvas slings as the driver maneuvered the travel lift to the launch slip. Cole and Theo were talking and walking on the other side of the flying boat, Theo’s hand on Cole’s arm as Cole described everything in detail for his friend.
Riley kept herself separated from the guys on purpose. She scanned the faces of the people who had come to watch, looked around at all the places someone could be watching from. The blond man or Diggory—was one or both out there? She’d have to tell Cole soon, but she didn’t want to ruin this moment for him.
Besides, she needed a few moments alone to let it all sink in. She and Cole hadn’t really talked about their future much, silly as that sounded. Marriage, yes, but they hadn’t really got into the logistics of it. He hadn’t sought her opinions on the build of the new boat. Only in the last few weeks had she started adding furnishings like linens and outfitting the new galley with cooking utensils and tableware. This boat was now supposed to be her permanent home. How would she feel about saying good-bye to her beloved Bonefish that had carried her more than halfway around the world?
Everyone from the builder to the yard crew had laughed and thought he was kidding when Theo asked to be launched on such short notice, but one thing Riley had learned was that Cole could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. She and Cole had returned from their trip into town with their clearance papers complete and several truckloads of fuel, supplies, and provisions on the way. They found Theo still arguing with the yard about their launch. But as Riley directed the placement of the supplies on board, Cole got them to agree to put her in the water at the end of their workday.
When the travel lift rolled out onto the finger jetties and began lowering Shadow Chaser II into the water, Riley walked around behind the big boat to join the guys.
“We forgot the bottle of champagne,” Cole said.
Theo nodded. “With everything we’ve had to get done today, if that’s all we forgot, it will be amazing.”
Cole said, “Isn’t it bad luck if you don’t break a bottle of champagne over the bow on launch day?”
Riley pushed her way between the two men and linked her arms in theirs. “What a waste of wine. We’ll make our own luck, Cole.”
At that moment, the bottom of the boat touched the water. They had painted the bottom weeks ago, anticipating that they would be in the water by now, but Riley had begun to think the bottom of that boat would never touch water.
“This is it, boys,” she said.
The boat’s builder, the yard manager, the foreman, and all the crew who had worked on the boat had stayed after work. They applauded when Cole was the first to climb aboard the now-floating yacht. Riley followed, and the two of them helped Theo climb onto the stern dive platform from the ladder. Cole had explained to all the yard personnel how they planned to take their new boat for sea trials around various anchorages in Marmaris Bay. They would be back in a week if all went well. While Theo checked out all the systems, the second fuel truck continued filling the big nine-thousand-gallon fuel tanks. At 9:00 p.m., they fired up the engines and let them run for an hour at the dock.
By that time, the crowds had all gone home. With little fanfare, Riley handled the dock lines, and after the last line was untied, she jumped aboard. EV Shadow Chaser II motored out into the night.
Riley headed for the wheelhouse once the fenders and dock lines were stowed. When she passed through the main salon and galley, she marveled at how things had changed. She had spent the entire evening stowing the mountains of provisions and household items she had bought in Marmaris that afternoon. The big yacht had a massive amount of storage space and now, instead of stacks of boxes, the salon looked clear and uncluttered.
As she climbed up the steps from the salon to the wheelhouse, she heard Theo’s voice. “For the first hundred hours, we need to take things slow. We can’t run up the revs until we break these engines in.”
“It’s a little over nine hundred miles to Djerba Island. How long do think that’s going to take us?”
“For the first few days, I only want to run at seven to eight knots. We’ll be doing well under two-hundred-mile days. After the first hundred hours, if everything looks good, we can push her up to ten to twelve knots.”
“Do you really think she’ll do that?” Riley asked.
Theo sat in one of the big easy chairs at the navigation console, and he swiveled around at the sound of her voice. “Shadow Chaser II was designed to cruise at twelve knots, but I think she’ll reach fifteen or better. Of course, at that speed she’ll be burning more than twice as much fuel.”
Cole leaned his elbows on the back of the other chair. “So I’d say five to six days, to be on the safe side.”
“Has anybody had a chance to look at the charts?” Riley asked.
“Yoda, on Bridge Display Two, show the chart for Djerba Island in Tunisia.”
“Yes, Theo.”
The chart appeared on the display.
“It’s going to take me quite a while to get used to that,” Riley said.
“I took a look at the chart for a couple of minutes this afternoon,” Cole said. “As you can see, I put a waypoint on Djerba there off the southeastern corner of Tunisia, close to the border with Libya. It’s at the southern end of the Gulf of Gabes. If we’re going to figure out what happened to the Upholder, we have to think back to what was going on in the North African war at the time. The British occupied Egypt, and that meant they controlled the Suez Canal. The Axis powers wanted the canal. Libya was an Italian colony, and with France having fallen and her colonies of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco under Vichy rule, the British in Malta and Egypt were very isolated. The Germans sent Rommel into Libya to attack the British along the coast. The Germans got their supplies from Vichy Tunisia and via convoys coming down from Italy to the port of Tripoli, here.” Cole had zoomed out the chart view so they could see the North African coastline from Tunis at the north end of Tunisia to the border between Egypt and Libya.
Riley walked around Cole and sat in the chair he was leaning on. “I remember reading about the North African war at the museum in Malta. The Tenth Submarine Flotilla stationed there was primarily tasked with sinking the ships that were supplying Rommel.”
“Right,” Cole said. “I dug around on the Internet this afternoon, and I found out a bit more about the Upho
lder’s final patrol. They completed their commando mission up here at Sousse”—he pointed to a spot on the Tunisian coast—“on the evening of April tenth. Captain Wanklyn’s orders were to resume his patrol off the east end of Djerba Island here. If our friend Gavino is right, and Captain Wanklyn never got his orders to join the convoy, then he may have been sunk en route from Lampedusa or off the east end of Djerba.”
“I suggest we start with the island,” Theo said. “That was what Tug’s bet was.”
“I agree. We’ll start from the southeast coast down here, where a boat would go to find cover from the prevailing westerly wind, and we’ll work a grid out from there.”
“It’s a big ocean,” Riley said.
“True, but maybe I’ll get lucky.”
“Hmm,” she said with a smile. “It’s our first night in our cabin on our new boat. You just might get lucky tonight.”
Theo snorted.
Cole pressed his lips together in a tight smile. “I’ll take the first watch. You two get some sleep.”
Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
Rome, Italy
April 16, 2014
As soon as the landing gear hit the tarmac, Virgil pulled out his phone, turned it on, and sent a text: Landed. Aegean Air. Curbside in 20.
What a miserable trip. He’d decided it was faster to fly out of Rhodes than the Dalaman Airport that served Marmaris. Flights through Athens beat going all the way to Istanbul, but still it had been seven hours with a whole family of Islamists behind him, including a crying baby and a little kid who’d kicked the back of his seat all the way. Virgil had wanted to reach back and snap the little monster’s neck. It would be one less he’d have to kill later. The wife wore the veil, but the designer high-heeled shoes and the heavily made-up eyes peering out of that black cloth were both saying Fuck me. She’d brushed her ass against his arm when she’d gone forward to use the head.
Now they had to wait for a Jetway. What else could possibly go wrong? Back in Marmaris, he’d seen the Turkish police arrive on the scene after the explosion. When he learned he hadn’t killed the man who’d seen him, he was determined to get back and finish him. By calling the marina and pretending to be a boat owner shopping for dockage, however, he’d got the chatty secretary to reveal the man was blind. The witness wasn’t a problem. He’d waited twenty-four hours, then gone back to the boatyard to try again to place a GPS tracker on the boat. The boat was gone. The people at the yard said they were just going for a cruise around Marmaris Bay. He’d hired a boat, searched every cove. He’d lost them.
When the flight attendant finally opened the plane’s door, Virgil stood and made sure he’d be first in line out of there. He’d had to check his bag because of his weapon and some of the specialized gear he always carried in his kit. Of course, he never flew with explosives—he’d always found he could buy them on-site. Turkey had been no different. But some things, like the detonators he liked, were more difficult to find. He now held a passport issued by the Order, and his bag displayed the diplomatic seal, but they still wouldn’t let him carry the weapon into the cabin. Like that would prevent him from killing if he wanted to.
The officials in Rome showed the most respect for the passport, so in no time he was through Immigration and Customs, where they handed him his bag.
His driver was late. Virgil kept checking his watch as the minutes ticked by. When the man finally pulled up in some Russian-made sedan, Virgil wanted to pull out his gun and put a bullet in the back of his head.
Virgil threw his backpack into the backseat and slid in beside it.
“Sorry I’m late.” From the slight smirk on the man’s face he didn’t appear to be telling the truth.
“What is wrong with you, man?” Virgil said. “I’m trying to help you out. This is a good gig, working for the Order. But you’re doing everything you possibly can to fuck it up.”
“I didn’t intend to hit anybody in Malta. I just fired to distract her so I could get away. She’s faster than I am now.”
“It’s always excuses with you. I get it. You’re pissed about what happened to you. But it’s done. Deal with it. Pulling some piss-ant power play, making me wait at the airport, is just stupid. Look at you. You look like a bum. I don’t want to take you into the villa and introduce you to my guys with you looking like a piece of shit I found on the street.”
Diggory Priest didn’t reply. He didn’t even make eye contact via the rearview mirror.
“Look, take me to the address I texted you this morning.” Virgil took out his wallet and removed several hundred euros. He tossed the bills onto the front seat. “There’s an advance on what the Order owes you. Go out and get yourself cleaned up. Get some decent clothes. Come back to the villa at eight and join the other guys for dinner. I’ll brief you then about what’s happening this weekend. About what will be expected of you.”
The man made no move to pick up the money.
Virgil shook his head. He took his phone out of his pocket and checked his messages. He’d just started typing a reply to Hawk’s message when Priest decided it was time to talk.
“So what happened with Thatcher and the Riley woman?”
Virgil kept on typing. “That’s old news as far as you’re concerned. It no longer comes under your purview.”
“What happens to her will always be of concern to me.”
“Get over it.”
“Did your guys have any luck with the cipher text?”
“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. Maybe I can make it more clear. Priest, your orders are—”
“No, Virg, you don’t seem to understand. What happened over in Iraq? I’ve got pictures. You might think 2003 was a long time ago, but trust me, the words Abu Ghraib still carry weight. And people think they’ve seen the worst, but you and I know they haven’t. You did some sick shit, Virg. I could open that whole story up again with one email to the right source. With photos attached. I can’t make them revoke your immunity, but if this gets out, you’ll be like me—nobody will touch you.”
“You really don’t want to pull this, Priest. You were CIA back then and people listened to you. Today, you’re a fucked-up nobody.”
The car started up the Aventine Hill. The villa was at the top. This ride would soon be over. Not soon enough.
“I’m just stating the facts, Virg. You’d still be in jail if I hadn’t stepped in. You will owe me forever.”
“Nothing’s forever.”
“Really? You know, I made friends with some of the guys in the yard where Thatcher and Riley built their boat. Guy sent me an email yesterday. Told me about the explosion. And they launched the same day?”
The car pulled up in front of the gate to the villa. Virgil opened his door and slid out, pulling his backpack behind him. The front passenger’s-side window slid down. Virgil leaned down and rested his forearm on the open window.
“You don’t want to try this shit on me.”
Diggory Priest smiled that damn half smile of his. “No, Virg. You don’t want your daughter seeing those pictures.”
Aboard the HMS Upholder
Mediterranean Sea En Route to Lampedusa
April 10, 1942
The pickup had gone off with the precision that Tug had come to expect from Wanks, even though the weather was deteriorating. The wind was up, and the chop on the surface of the sea made paddling much more difficult. He and Charlie were a bit late, but as soon as they’d paddled their way out to their scheduled rendezvous point, the sub surfaced alongside them. Within thirty minutes, they were aboard, and all their gear, boats and all, had disappeared down the forward hatch. The sub dove and headed out to get some sea room in case the enemy came looking for them in the wake of the blast.
Tug and Charlie joined Wanks in the control room.
“You get our Arab friends safely ashore?”
“At least one of them made it alive. Not sure about the other. We sighted one, probably Ben, carrying the other cha
p. Both radios made it.”
“Every agent we can get on this coast with a radio means more information for our boys. More details about enemy shipping.”
“The other mission was a success, too.”
“We saw the flash, boys. Well done.”
“What you wouldn’t have been able to see from out here was that there was a train on the bridge when she blew. Quite a sight. The tracks busted loose from the ravine wall and started bending down. The engineer tried to outrun it but he couldn’t.” Tug went on to describe how the train had been pulled off the track.
“Would like to have seen that myself.”
“Parker decided he wanted a closer look, too.”
Charlie bumped his shoe against Tug’s foot and shot him a look.
“That’s just Tug’s way of saying that he ran from that train wreck so fast he almost left me behind.”
Tug wasn’t sure why Charlie wanted to shut down talk of his find, but he could take a hint. “I’m not one to dawdle when several tons of train cars and a locomotive are raining down from the sky.”
Wanks laughed. “I guess we’re the first sub in the flotilla to sink a train.”
Tug stepped into the wardroom when the cook called his name.
“Saved you boys some cake, if you’re interested before you head for your bunks.”
“Got any hot coffee to go with it?”
“Always.”
Charlie said, “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared toward his bunk.
Cook passed two plates with enormous slices of chocolate cake through the window from the galley. They were followed by two mugs of coffee.
“Thanks, mate,” Tug said.
The cook folded a towel, then stepped out into the companionway to look at the control room. “Guess we’ll be surfacing soon to charge the batteries, eh?”
Knight's Cross (The Shipwreck Adventures Book 3) Page 17