“Roger—I saw it,” Oliver yelled. “Hold fast till he comes out again. The senator is in there somewhere.”
“Change in plans, Tommy,” the Cat radioed from Falcon 3. “You guys better hit from the bow ASAP, or this dude is toast.”
“Roger, good copy, I’m ten seconds from target,” Tommy said. “Nat—you good, brother?”
I gave him a thumbs-up and without Wolf having to say a word, I knew he was prepared to execute this contingency. I just hoped they hadn’t killed Harrison already.
The target was at least 150 feet long. It had three decks and what looked like a speedboat stored on the second deck. The first target with the Russian had been nothing to laugh at, but this beast was huge. I just hoped I could get onto the deck without bouncing my noggin off the floor again.
The good news: The boat lights were on, illuminating our targets.
The bad news: The boat lights were on, making us sitting ducks.
I gave my gun a quick check to make sure I had a round chambered and looked up just in time to see the skid of Falcon 4 nearly touching the bow. Nothing but deck below me, so I jumped.
So far, so good. Wolf was on a knee, weapon armed and ready, scanning for threats. Lopez was off in orbit in no time, with not a shot fired his way.
“We gotta find Harrison. Any other action is a threat. You take point, Wolf. Get us inside pronto.”
He nodded and moved to the port side. I could see movement in the pilothouse, but the lights from inside were too bright. Those assholes from the first yacht must have called to warn them. Shit.
“Come on, Wolf. We gotta go.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
We were crouched just below the pilothouse when I looked up and saw someone scanning the side of the boat, obviously looking for us. One hand held a pistol and the other was shielding his eyes, trying to block the light.
“Got one right above us, pistol,” I whispered to Wolf.
Without a sound, Wolf spun slightly from his crouch and shot the guy right in the face. We immediately raced toward the stern, seeking a breach point before things got messy.
Now under cover, we found a stairway leading to the second deck. As Wolf darted up the stairs, I scanned the rear for signs of Falcon 3. I couldn’t see anything past the light on the deck.
“Meg, Oliver, JP, are you in? Over.”
No response. Nothing. Fuck. For all I knew, they could be in the drink. We had to keep going. I rushed to catch up to Wolf and join him in looking for any signs of Harrison.
Wolf was in a careful hurry, heading back toward the bow of the ship. From behind, I saw him point toward the pilothouse door with his non-firing hand. As I moved toward him, I pulled a flash-bang from my kit and prepared to toss it. I held it off to Wolf’s right so he could see, pulled the triggering cord, and tossed it hard into the room.
We turned and halfway covered our eyes and ears as theeruption of brilliant white light and deafening explosion announced our arrival. Wolf rushed in with me right in his hip pocket. The guy with his face shot off was slumped on the floor. Two idiots were dazed where they stood, covering their ears. They both had holsters, but their weapons had dropped to the floor, either when their buddy got iced or when the bang hit them.
I drop-kicked the first mate. Wolf took the guy on the left, maybe the captain. I guess the Russians forgot to tell them about the flex-cuffing part, because nine seconds later they too were flex-cuffed and lying on the floor.
While Wolf searched for phones and documents, I tried the radio again. No luck. Then I heard a voice yelling, “Friendlies down below!”
As I made my way down the steps to what must have been the main deck, I saw Oliver, Meg, and JP stepping over a dead body, clearing the rooms left and right as they moved.
It was great to see them safe, of course, but my first words were, “What the fuck is up with your comms?”
“Hey man, the comms went to shit as soon as we got inside,” Oliver replied. “I couldn’t hear anything except for the flash-bang. Who knows?”
“Harrison?”
“Haven’t found him, Nat. Meg stitched this dude as we breached, but so far nothing. The floor below this one is crew quarters. Or the engine room back there, maybe.”
I told them to clear the crew berth; JP and I would take the engine room.
This whole exchange lasted about five seconds. Then we literally passed each other in the hallway as they moved forwardand we moved aft. JP was already pulling security on the engine-room entry door when I heard shots fired down below. The boys and Meg were in contact.
