Razor Rocks

by Toby Neal

  Waxman cursed softly. “You’re never boring to work with, I’ll give you that, Texeira. I’ll get the wheels turning to deal with this. Don’t tell anyone but Captain Omura. We need to keep this as confidential as possible.”

  “Got it, sir.” Lei ended the call with a sigh of relief. She then called Omura and briefed her on what she’d done. “The Pirate King is dead, and Keo Avila is wounded, but secure. I’ve been out of touch with the team, though. How’s it going?”

  “There’s a standoff in the cave below the cliff,” Omura said. “Radio in your position to your team, and see where they need you.”

  “Got it.” Lei hung up. She radioed in to Torufu and Bunuelos, but there was no reply to any of her hails.

  She went back to the koa tree and called up to McKendrick. “I can’t get a signal. Do you have a sitrep?”

  “The pirates have a signal jammer going down in the cave, but my headset comm is working outside the cave,” McKendrick said. “Your team is down on the rocks below the house. The pirates inside the cave are refusing to surrender. They’re waiting for word from the Pirate King.”

  “Well, they’re not going to get it,” Lei said, glancing over at the man’s sprawled body. “He’s dead. I shot him.”

  “That’s what I told them.”

  “How about I take a picture of his body? And maybe a video of Keo Avila, his second-in-command, telling them to stand down? We can show it to them.” Lei was already up and walking. She flicked on her torch and scanned the Pirate King’s body. “He’s wearing some kind of pendant.” A gold medallion with a hole pierced in it, threaded on a leather thong, rested on Kabo’s chest. Lei tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear as she took off the simple hook-and-eye clasp and palmed the necklace. “I can bring his medallion down as proof, too.”

  “Worth a try. It’s been a long day,” McKendrick said.

  Lei studied the pendant in the light of her flashlight as she walked toward Keo’s prone body.

  What had appeared to be a medallion was actually a gold coin with markings worn faint by time. The hole in it appeared to have been hand-drilled. “Pirate treasure,” Lei muttered. “Maybe a source of inspiration for him.”

  Keo Avila was panting shallowly, alarmingly pale when she reached him. “I’m cold.” His teeth chattered. Lei glanced at the crude dressing—it hadn’t stopped the bleeding. This was more than shock, and she needed him alive!

  “Dammit!” Lei called to McKendrick. “Avila’s a valuable witness. He’s injured and I’m afraid he won’t last until the standoff is over. We need an ambulance. Can you get word out through your comm?”

  McKendrick barked out codes and passed on the message that FBI SWAT had authorized an ambulance to be allowed in, if Lei and McKendrick covered them.

  “Copy that.” Lei was gratified to hear the wail of an approaching ambulance making its way down the rough dirt road in their direction.

  “Mr. Avila.” She squatted to pat the young man’s cheek. His eyes fluttered open. “I need you to tell your people that Kabo is dead. They think they have to keep fighting.”

  Avila’s eyes rolled—it was hard to tell how much he understood.

  She clumsily thumbed to her video feature on her phone. She turned it on, slapping Keo’s cheek lightly. “Please, Mr. Avila. An ambulance is coming. You can do this. Tell your people what you saw. Tell your people about Kabo.”

  “Kabo is dead. It’s over,” Keo whispered. His eyes rolled back. He passed out again.

  Lei checked his pulse—slow and sluggish. Hopefully he’d make it long enough for the medical team to stabilize him.

  She conferred quickly with the sharpshooter and took up a defensive stance, covering the road. She stepped back from Avila as the ambulance rumbled into view and backed up toward them.

  The EMT team jumped out of the back of the vehicle and quickly hooked Avila up with an IV and loaded him on a gurney. As soon as the vehicle drove off, Lei headed straight for the cliff. She had to take that proof of death down to the sea cave and end the standoff.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Lei sucked in her breath involuntarily as she reached the cliff’s edge. The way down to the sea cave was invisible from the exposed precipice on which she stood.

  The faintest edge of dawn was coloring the horizon with mauve, just enough that she could see the ocean’s churning surface seemingly hundreds of feet below. She slung the pirate gold around her own neck for safekeeping and grabbed hold of the ladder, a utilitarian metal one that reminded Lei of the one Stevens had at home for climbing onto the roof—only it had been bolted onto the rock face.

  She wasn’t usually squeamish of heights, but when Lei gripped the ladder and shook it, the whole thing wobbled, and the black water below seemed a mile away. Her head swam. “Shit.”

  Had the rest of the team come down this rickety thing? She glanced around and spotted the thin dark lines of ropes dangling off the cliff. But she didn’t have any climbing gear, not even gloves . . . the ladders must work if the pirates used them.

  First she’d try to get the photos and video to her team. Lei checked her phone and selected SEND to Marcella, Torufu and Bunuelos, just to spread them around in case anyone else’s phone was working better.

  SEND FAILURE came back seconds later. “Dang it.”

  Lei faced the ladder. Sucked in a breath. Let it out slowly through her nose. “I can do this. I can be scared as hell and still do this.” She turned around, gripped the edges of the ladder, and stepped backwards out into space.

  The ladder wobbled and hummed in the wind as she climbed down, taking her time, keeping her gaze only on her feet and hands. Her hair whipped her face as it fought to escape her ponytail. The metal was slippery and rough on her hands, smelling of rust and salt and stone. The pirate gold swung back and forth on the outside of her vest. Each tiny thump as the medallion bumped her chest seemed to reverberate through her.

  Lei ran out of steps. One foot reached out into space, and her supporting foot slipped. “Oh shit.” She spared a glance downward.

  The next ladder was just double the length of one rung away. She reached further, found her footing.

  This ladder was rustier, and damp from blowing sea spray. The one near the bottom was going to be even trickier, but if she fell off, at least wasn’t so far. . .

  “You got this, Lei!” Torufu was shouting up from below, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Slow and steady wins the race!”

  At last, other human contact! Encouraged, Lei speeded up and finally reached the bottom. She jumped the last few feet to land on the black lava at the base of the cliff. “Well, that’ll get my heart rate up.”

  “Just wait until we have to go back up,” Torufu said. He grabbed her in a quick side hug. “Knew you could do it. Now that you’re down, I’ll tell you that we all rappelled.” He pointed to the rope and sling apparatus still in place, just on the other side of the ladder.

  “I saw that.” Lei shook her head. “No thanks.”

  SWAT Captain Hiro approached. “I heard you have a photo and video on your phone, but nobody’s received it.”

  “Take my phone.” Lei handed it over to the FBI negotiator, a wiry little man with intelligent eyes who trailed Hiro like a shadow.

  She followed Hiro, the negotiator and Torufu into the mouth of the cave, a huge rock-lined opening large enough for a full-size boat to enter. Waves splashed against the walls, obscuring other sounds as Lei picked her way along a worn boardwalk into the cave. Once inside the lip, powerful lights pointed in their direction blinded her, and she could hear the rumble of a generator run by the pirates in the distance.

  The pristine white shape of the Golden Fleece rode at anchor, along with a speedboat and a couple of large inflatables with huge outboards on them. She nodded a greeting to Bunuelos, who’d come alongside her, and joined where their team had taken up a position on one side of a large stone embankment. “Where is the Coast Guard?”

  “We don’t know,�
�� Captain Hiro said. “They were supposed to cover the opening, maybe even make a run on the pirates from their craft, but our signals don’t seem to be getting through.”

  That, or Decker was deliberately ignoring their calls for help. Lei bit her tongue on speaking the words aloud.

  The negotiator had one of the pirates on a walkie-talkie, and Lei listened in. “We’ve got some important news for you. You’ve been insisting you won’t back down until you hear from your leader—and you won’t, because he’s dead.”

  The radio crackled with a reply. “Prove it.”

  “We have proof for you. Nobody’s phones are working in here, so someone has to come get this phone. We have a picture of Kabo, dead, and a video of Avila telling you to surrender.”

  A short pause. “Send someone halfway with a white flag. Unarmed, carrying the phone. We’ll send someone halfway too, to verify the proof.” Another short pause. Then, “We want the person who killed Kabo.”

  Captain Hiro frowned. “I don’t like it.”

  The negotiator addressed Lei. “They want you.”

  “I’ll go,” she said. “And I’ll show them this, too.” She tapped the medallion dangling on her chest. “It’s Kabo’s necklace.”

  “All right, then.” Hiro nodded. “We’ll keep you covered every step of the way.”

  “You guys have shooters in position and they’re sending someone too.” Lei tucked her hand into her pocket and gripped the bone hook. “I’m sure it will be fine. We need to end this thing.”

  The Captain nodded tersely. “We do.”

  The negotiator spoke into the walkie. “We agree with your terms. Our representative will come with the phone for you to view, carrying a white marker.”

  Lei’s heart rate speeded up. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She rubbed her sweating hands on her pants.

  Torufu squeezed her shoulder affectionately. “Remember when we deactivated bombs together? This is like that.”

  “I don’t remember being very good at it,” Lei muttered, but felt strengthened by his grip anyway. “Nobody tell Stevens I volunteered, okay?”

  “You got it,” Hiro said. “I’m ordering you to go.”

  Bunuelos had been searching for something white, poking around in their gear bags. Not finding anything, he stripped off his body armor and uniform shirt, and then tugged off his white undershirt tee, handing it to Lei. “Sorry if it’s a little ripe.”

  Lei hugged the shirt, touched. It was still warm from his body. “You’re a good friend, Gerry.”

  “You don’t see me volunteering, so I gotta do something.” Bunuelos picked up his vest and zipped it back on. “Put the shirt on over your vest. We want as much of you covered as possible.”

  Lei tugged the white shirt on over her bulky vest with Torufu’s help. She put on the SWAT helmet he handed her with its built-in comm.

  The stone embankment had a short ladder on their side. The Captain had been communicating with two sharpshooters, already in position, and he returned, carrying a small white reflective flag on a flexible rod. “You don’t need that T-shirt, but it can’t hurt to have you overly identified. The negotiator will announce that you’re coming over to the pirates’ side. Head up the ladder and wave the flag before you get to the top, where they can see it. When the negotiator tells you they’ve acknowledged you, climb over. You should meet their representative halfway down the walkway. You can’t see if from here, but it’s much like this one.”

  “Okay.” Lei handed the Captain her weapons except for her belt knife. She lifted the pirate’s medallion out of her neckline and made sure it was visible outside her vest and tee. She touched the medallion on its thong—touching it felt meaningful, as if it brought luck. Hopefully good luck.

  Lei climbed the steps as she had been directed, waved the flag, and at a shout to proceed from the other side, she made her way over the embankment, pausing for one last look at her friends’ upturned, anxious faces.

  Climbing down the stone embankment on the pirates’ side, she was still blinded by the floodlights they’d turned in her direction, but the wooden boardwalk laid down along the inside of the cave was the same as the other side. Lei advanced along the boardwalk, waving the white flag on its flexible pole, feeling as exposed as if a bull’s-eye were painted right on her chest.

  A backlit silhouette approached. Lei couldn’t make out much about the figure except that it was male and bulky.

  She stopped at what seemed like the halfway point and lowered the flag, waiting until the pirates’ rep stood in front of her. He wasn’t dressed as she’d expected, in one of the “Hawaiian” costumes; he wore an all-black coverall, and his face was hidden by the mirrored visor on his helmet.

  “Where’s the proof of death?” The man’s voice was muffled inside the helmet.

  “Here.” Lei tapped the medallion around her neck. “This is Kabo’s gold necklace. And here. A photo of his body.” Lei slid the phone out of her pocket, woke up the screen, and held the phone up.

  He took the phone and stared down at it.

  “There’s a video, too. Keo Avila is on it, telling you to surrender,” Lei said. “Just scroll to the next photo.”

  “Is he dead, too?” The man was wearing gloves, and the phone wouldn’t respond to his swipe.

  “Keo? No. He’s wounded, but he’ll be fine.” Lei moved as if to take the phone back. “Let me do it.”

  “I don’t need to see the video, then,” the man said. “I know what I need to know.” He turned to leave.

  Lei darted forward and knocked the man’s visor up, revealing his face. She took a step back, her eyes widening in genuine surprise. “Commander Decker! How did you get in here?”

  “You shouldn’t have seen my face.” The man’s normally robust complexion was pale and greasy. His eyes were bloodshot. “There’s another entrance. An underwater cave that leads to the back of this one. The Coast Guard has already taken the pirates. They were just kids—runaways.” He paused, his mouth working. “I’m going to have to kill you, now.”

  “Don’t bother. It’s too late. Keo Avila told me you’re the mole.” Lei felt a cleansing rage heat her from within, making her gaze fearless and hot. “I know who you are. So do the FBI and MPD.”

  A long beat went by as Decker absorbed this. His dark eyes reflected a cold hopelessness. “Then I hope your sharpshooters don’t miss.” He pulled a weapon, aiming at her. “Or you’ll be coming with me.”

  No time for regrets or what-ifs or bargaining. The resolve in Decker’s expression told her all she needed to know—death was at hand, for one or both of them.

  “Take him!” Lei screamed, and dove headfirst off the boardwalk into the black water splashing on the rocks.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Lei’s headlong leap barely cleared the white foam marking the rocky edge of the water. The impact of the dive smacked her helmet and struck her body as if the ocean were solid—and then, cold water embraced her, soaking through layers of clothing and the heavy vest, filling the helmet and gurgling in her ears. Lei kicked and swam forward under water, trying to put distance between herself and the shootout she heard above as a distorted thunder.

  Deep under water, Lei unlatched the helmet, tugged it off, let it go. She couldn’t get the vest off with the white tee on over it. She was weighed down, but not like when she’d worn that backpack filled with equipment. Even with her boots and the vest on, she could still swim.

  Lei broke the surface when her lungs were screaming, and looked around.

  The huge lights were out, and the cave was plunged into darkness except for moving flashlights along the boardwalk area. Voices bounced off the cave walls, but the gunshots had ceased after that first fusillade.

  They probably got Decker.

  But had the Coast Guard commander been telling the truth about the pirates already being subdued? No way to tell. To be on the safe side, she should get back to the police-controlled side of the embankment before she tried
to get out.

  Lei’s booted feet and vested body were so heavy that it took all her strength just to dog-paddle and keep her face above the water. Fortunately, she seemed to be caught in a current that was heading in the right direction. The rip carried her parallel to the rocks, out toward the mouth of the cave.

  Lights played over the dark, heaving surface around her. Maybe they’d see her . . . “Help!” she called, but her voice was lost in the cavern. Direction and sound were hard to discern in the cave.

  More echoing shouts.

  Lei treaded water, riding the current over to the side of the embankment where she’d started. She paddled in close to the rocks, and used a wave’s force to push herself up onto them. Clinging to a slippery stone surface, scrabbling with her boots for purchase, she managed to yell “Help!” but her voice was drowned by the surf.

  Lei slid back down the rock, losing her grip, and felt the sting of a sharp protrusion on her hand—the rock’s side was covered with a bank of opihi, a limpet with a sharp, pointed shell that was a popular local delicacy.

  The next wave pushed her up again. This time she dug her boots’ toes into the rough ridge of opihi, pushing herself all the way to the top of the rock.

  “Help!” she yelled louder. “Help!” She hung on with all her might, resisting the pull of the receding surf.

  Moving lights.

  More yelling.

  “Help! I’m here! Help me!”

  A flashlight pinned Lei in its beam. Minutes later, Torufu hauled her up the rocks and onto the boardwalk by the back of her vest.

  “You look like a drowned rat,” her partner grumbled, but she felt his big hands trembling as they ran down her arms and legs, checking for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

  “No. Just wet. Did you get Decker?”

  “We got him. Slimy sellout bastard.”

  “Oh, thank God.” Lei’s legs gave out. She sat abruptly on a handy rock. “Did you get the pirates, too?”

  “There was no one on our side of the cave but Decker. The Coast Guard had already taken the remaining pirates, when they entered through an underwater tunnel and ambushed them. Apparently, Decker told his team to hold the prisoners while he updated us on the situation, so they had no clue what he was doing. Decker was holding us off with nothing but those big lights, an automatic weapon, and his lies. If he was still alive, I’d want to kill him all over again.” Torufu was fierce in the harsh flashlight beam.