by Diane Capri
“Reported back to who?” Jess asked.
Elden cocked her head. “Aren’t you two of ours?”
“What do you mean?” Jess asked, feeling bewildered. She looked at Hadlow.
He shrugged.
Jess waited, but he said nothing, so she pushed on. “What changed your mind about Lopez?”
“I found a bio sample. An extremely dangerous one.” Elden swallowed. “I recognized the sample because it was one I’d worked with at Kelso Products. The sample had disappeared from the Kelso labs. We were all panicked. We conducted a company-wide search.”
Jess remembered that Kelso’s CEO seemed to be hiding something at that press conference. “Kelso kept that a secret at the time, didn’t they?”
Elden nodded. “Kelso was struggling to stay afloat. This was an unstable biological sample. It could have harmed a lot of people if it was used right away. But by the time we had finished searching everywhere for it, it should have been inactive and harmless.”
“But that’s not how it turned out, is it?” Hadlow practically snarled.
“Lopez stole it. He kept it alive.” Elden shook her head miserably. “He had people working on it here. Then he recruited me to continue the work, which suited our guys just fine.”
“What does this stuff do?” Hadlow said.
“It was intended for mosquito control. Kelso and Lopez, separately, were trying to develop something cheap with widespread effectiveness. Most pesticides kill quickly, and then they’re useless. No staying power. But we found a fungus that slowly penetrates the body of the mosquito. It kills slowly, so the insects can spread the pesticide, resulting in much more complete coverage.”
“That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea,” Jess said.
“It’s a brilliant idea. It has significant potential to solve one of the greatest health issues in the world.”
“I hear a but coming,” Hadlow joked.
Elden nodded. “We couldn’t restrict it to mosquitoes. It attacked a lot of different species. Which is a huge downside. We were making improvements, but there’s a long way to go. And when I got here this time, Lopez wanted to go straight to a live trial on humans without the proper interim testing. I tried to stop him.”
Hadlow grimaced. “Which is why he tossed you into these cages.”
“Exactly,” Elden replied.
Jess nodded. “He told me the same. And he wanted me to cover his work and give him good world-wide press.”
“I just wanted to help,” Elden shook her head. “That’s why I agreed to work with the authorities when they wanted me to come here.”
“What authorities? What the hell are you talking about?” Jess frowned and shook her head.
Hadlow peered at Elden briefly and then his face cleared. He smiled. “You’re not one of ours. You’re American. So you’re working with the FBI or the CIA or one of the other three-letters on all of this, aren’t you?”
“And that’s why you had a security access card to Kelso. So you could go back into the files while you were working with Lopez. To look like you were on Grupo Lopez’s side in all this. Keep your covert operation going,” Jess said.
“Of course. And maybe do some good, too, since Lopez was funding the research.” Elden grimaced. “You know how many people die every year from malaria?”
Hadlow started for the door. “Yeah, we know. Save your questions, Jess. Let’s go. If we don’t get out of here, we could be three of the million who die this year.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Hadlow stopped at the main door out of the building and turned to Elden. “How many guards does this place have?”
“Five guards normally. But more mercenaries arrived by aircraft from Zambia last night, and Lopez seemed really thrilled about it,” she replied.
One of the Antonovs revved its engines.
Hadlow shook his head. “They’re prepping those aircraft to spray the insecticide.”
Elden looked pained. “He doesn’t care how many could die. He just wants to get there first.”
“Anything we can use as a weapon in here?” Hadlow said.
Elden shook her head. “Tranquilizer syringes, but the sedative takes minutes to work.”
Hadlow hefted his gun. “Oh, joy.”
“A back door?” Jess said.
Elden shook her head then stopped. “Wait.” She grabbed a set of keys from a hook on the wall, raced down the corridor, and unlocked a cell.
Jess and Hadlow arrived at her side as the door swung open.
A monkey’s wide eyes stared at them. The monkey edged along the wall, closer to the open door. Elden stepped into the cage, shooing it into the far corner.
On the back wall was a three-foot-high hatch.
Jess and Hadlow stepped into the cell.
“Close the door,” Elden said. “If the monkeys get out they’ll be shot.”
Hadlow closed the door and secured the latch.
Elden unlocked the hatch. “There was a cage outside, but it was removed.”
Hadlow eased the hatch open a fraction. The sound of aircraft engines grew louder.
“No one in the immediate area,” he said, closing the hatch. “This is a small island. They’ll find us pretty quickly. Once we’re out, head for the trees and keep going. You need to put as much distance between you and this place as you can.”
“What are you going to do?” Jess said with a sinking feeling.
“Go the other way. They might find all of us, but we can make it harder. And if we can stop them getting this stuff airborne for a while, the navy will get here.”
“You really think they’re going to arrive in time? They’re a long way out.”
“It’s the only chance we have. Regardless,” Hadlow held up his hand, “this is why I’m here. You can do the most good if you stay alive to tell the world what happened here, Jess. That’s ultimately why we allowed you to come along. Do your job. I’ll do mine. The navy will do theirs. And maybe we’ll all live to tell about it.”
Jess opened her mouth. Hadlow turned back to the hatch and flipped the safety off the gun. “Ready?”
“But—”
“Good,” he said as he opened the hatch and darted through.
Jess went next, and Elden brought up the rear and locked the hatch.
Hadlow waved them toward the trees as he walked casually for the corner of the building.
Her stomach churned at the idea of separating from him, but he was right. They headed for a gap and disappeared into the foliage.
Jess knelt and watched as he stood checking around the corner. By his side of the building was a long stretch of open ground that led to the hulking Antonovs. Hadlow looked tiny next to them.
Several mercenaries were loading equipment up the rear ramp onto the aircraft. On the other end of the building, a jeep was parked at an angle.
Hadlow was right about the strategy. Delaying the aircraft was the smart thing to do. But the only weapons he had to accomplish the job were a gun and a knife. The odds were heavily stacked against him.
There had to be something Jess could do besides watch and report later. If Rafa Lopez’s mercenaries succeeded, there might not even be a later.
Armed men jogged between the aircraft. The last plane closed its ramp. They were prepping to leave.
She rocked on her haunches. Her adrenaline was getting to her. Elden must have sensed what she meant to do.
“He told us to go.” Elden reached out to grab Jess’s arm. “It’s the smart play.”
“We have to stop them.” Jess shook her head, and Elden released her arm. “You’ve been working with the FBI or something. Are you an agent?”
“Not exactly.” Elden shook her head. “You might call me a resource. When they need someone with my specialty, I’ve been,” she paused, searching for the right word, “asked to help.”
“By which you mean coerced in some way, right? Probably has something to do with the bombing of that whaling boat in the Far Eas
t, doesn’t it?”
Elden didn’t reply.
“That’s why you still have an apartment in Chatham, too. Why you didn’t tell your parents or anyone else. And why you’ve got that security access card to Kelso. You were stringing Lopez along. It’s all part of your cover, isn’t it?”
Elden still said nothing.
“Well, you’ve had some training, I assume?” Jess said.
“Yes, but—”
“Now’s the time to use it or lose it.” Jess rocked one more time. “Stay here if you want. Up to you.”
She abandoned stealth and ran for the jeep parked behind the building and mostly hidden from the men loading the aircraft.
She dove into the driver’s seat. The keys dangled from the ignition.
Elden followed and jumped into the rear.
Jess twisted around, only mildly surprised to see her.
“I said I wanted to stop Lopez, remember?” Elden said.
Jess started the jeep and reversed around the building. She kept the revs low as she drove up to Hadlow.
He pulled his gun and started looking in all directions.
“Get in,” Jess said.
“Dammit, Jess! Can’t you follow orders just once?” Hadlow said.
“We can block the runway,” she replied.
He jumped into the passenger seat. “With this? Not a chance.”
Elden pointed to the second aircraft. “Straight up the ramp.”
“Good thinking,” Hadlow said and waved his gun at the second aircraft. “Straight up the ramp. Fast.”
“Everybody hold on!” Jess took a deep breath, put the jeep in gear, turned around the edge of the building, and raced for the second aircraft.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
Jess raced for the aircraft. Two men near the aircraft stared at the jeep. One of them shouted and raised his gun. Hadlow fired. The men scattered.
The ramp looked too steep to hit at full speed. Jess slowed a fraction. The jeep’s suspension crashed into the ramp, bottoming out. Jess was thrown hard against the steering wheel. She hung on, guiding the vehicle into the belly of the plane as she stomped on the brakes with both feet.
A man stood in the center of the fuselage, hidden by the dark interior. The Jeep was almost stationary when she hit him. He toppled over the hood.
Hadlow jumped out before the Jeep stopped. He hit a switch, and the rear ramp started to close. He ran down the length of the aircraft. “Wedge anything you can find behind the side doors!”
Jess leaped out, grabbing several wooden blocks and securing the aircraft’s two doors.
The man Jess had hit lay on the floor, clutching his leg. Elden found a metal bar and held it menacingly over him.
The pilot emerged from the cockpit. Hadlow hit him with a punch so hard that Jess heard it over the rapidly growing engine noise.
The aircraft was moving.
Bullet holes appeared in the fuselage behind her. She ran forward to the cockpit.
Hadlow was in the pilot’s seat. He had the throttle levers at max and steered the aircraft with the pedals. “Get down,” he yelled.
He steered left, but there was no way he could miss the aircraft in front.
The wings clipped.
The Antonov shook on impact.
The propeller chewed through the first aircraft’s wing. A storm of debris flew everywhere.
Hadlow crouched low as chunks of metal hammered into their aircraft. Jess crouched between the engineer and navigator stations.
Hadlow kept the throttles at max, driving sideways into the first aircraft. It tilted. Its opposite propellers hit the ground, churning up dust and earth.
Moments later the far wing exploded. Flames shot from the engines.
Hadlow adjusted their path, separating from the first aircraft, and veering around the growing fire.
A jeep sped into view on the left-hand side.
Hadlow weaved the aircraft, bringing the propellers close enough to the jeep to scare the driver off.
The plane gained speed. Hadlow pushed the throttle to max. The engines were straining. One of the outboard engines caught fire.
Hadlow flipped several switches.
Jess gawked. “What are you doing? This thing won’t fly now!”
He jerked his thumb toward the engines. Liquid sprayed from under the wings. “Fuel dump.”
A moment later, the fuel mixed with the engine fire.
Flames raced across the width of the runway. The aircraft roared on, laying a carpet of fire behind it.
“Tell Elden to be ready to make a run for it,” he shouted.
The airspeed indicator showed seventy knots. Jess stared, wide-eyed.
He laughed. “I’m going to stop first.”
Jess managed to breathe again. “Of course you will.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Jess had just enough time to warn Elden before Hadlow used reverse-thrust to slow the aircraft. Elden grabbed a handhold and said something, but the engines roared too loudly to hear further conversation.
The brakes squealed a long time as the giant machine finally came to a stop.
Hadlow appeared from the cockpit and checked one of the side doors. “Too much fire.” He opened the door on the opposite side and carried the man with the damaged leg from the Antonov.
The carpet of fire had spread across the runway and into the trees. They kept moving up the runway’s slope out of the path of the flames.
By the time the fire engulfed the aircraft, they’d reached a safe enough distance. They left the injured mercenary by a tree and continued on to the island’s peak.
Jess looked back at the black smoke billowing into the sky.
Her heart stopped when a large helicopter approached from the ocean, missiles hanging from stubby wings on either side and dropped down to the buildings, out of sight.
Hadlow smiled. “Westland One-oh-one. The Marines got here early.”
So, not one of Rafa Lopez’s mercenaries. She released her breath. “I thought the navy was still hours away.”
He shrugged. “I guess when I stopped updating them they sent their helicopter ahead.”
“One helicopter?”
“Only one helicopter.” Hadlow grinned. “Two dozen rockets, half a dozen machine guns and thirty heavily armed Royal Marines, none of who will be in a happy mood after being cooped up for an hour or two. Trust me, that’s plenty.”
She hoped he was right. “Should we go back?”
“We did our bit.” He gestured to the fire and shook his head. “Give them a while to get everything sorted. They’ll come when they’re ready.”
The trio sat on the ground to watch and wait.
The Westland took off and flew along the line of the burning runway. In a matter of seconds, half a dozen Marines fast roped to the ground, and the helicopter was on the move again.
Over the next few minutes, sporadic gunfire erupted. Jess kept watching the way they had come. Five minutes later she saw the Royal Marines approaching.
Hadlow stood. “Put your hands up until they know who we are.”
Jess and Elden followed his lead.
Several Marines in camouflage and face paint arrived, machine guns ready. “Down,” yelled the man on point.
They lay down.
Hadlow called out.
The Marine on point moved closer to Hadlow. “We’ve been looking for you. What happened?”
“Got caught. Took my phone. We had to bug out.” He nodded down the hill. “Things under control?”
The Marine lowered his weapon. “Better believe it. You start the fire?”
Hadlow nodded. “Got out of hand.”
The Marine grunted. “It happens.”
He held out his hand and yanked Jess and Elden to their feet. “Come on, we’ve got to walk back.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
Monday, August 22
11 p.m. WAT
HMS Buckland, off Gloriana, Africa
Jess
leaned on the metal railing that ringed the deck of the HMS Buckland. The ship barely rocked as it rode the waves to keep its station, a quarter mile from the coast of Gloriana.
The salt breeze was refreshing against her face. The last eighteen hours had been a whirlwind. And she’d had plenty of time alone to think things through.
The Marines had quickly rounded up the mercenaries and gained control of Lopez’s facility. After a couple of small firefights, most of the resistance had crumbled when they realized there was no way they could escape.
HMS Buckland had arrived at Gloriana two hours after the helicopter. It brought a small flotilla of support ships and more helicopters as well. Very quickly, a steady flow of personnel and equipment had deployed onto the island.
Elden quickly advised on the dangers the site posed. The Royal Navy was well-equipped to handle biological contaminants. Sailors in nuclear, biological, and chemical gear secured forty drums of the agent Lopez had planned to release.
The fire Hadlow had started was brought under control. The Antonovs were identified as Zambian. After several hours the Zambian government finally admitted the aircraft were stolen.
Jess took hundreds of photographs of the Antonovs equipped with insecticide spraying modifications, the laboratory facilities, and Rafa Lopez’s yacht.
Lopez had attempted a getaway on his yacht, claiming immunity when he reached international waters. The Royal Navy officers were not swayed.
Jess snapped pictures of the giant Westland 101 helicopter hovering a mere twenty feet from the bow of the yacht, its missile load at the ready.
Minutes later, the yacht’s passengers and crew were face down on the deck being cuffed by a boarding party.
By the time the sun set over the horizon, Rafa Lopez’s grand plan was reduced to little more than the ramblings of his overactive imagination.
Hadlow had been busy, but as the light faded, he’d shepherded Jess into a helicopter and onboard the Buckland. Although the ship’s crew couldn’t possibly know him, he was treated with great deference.