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“Come on, Eric, you’re smarter than that. They had to hit everyone at the same time or someone would have radioed for help. You can’t control when someone takes a sip of water or eats, for that matter, which negates your earlier idea about food poisoning.”
Stone looked chagrinned. “Sorry. You’re right. Too much Red Bull and not enough sleep.”
“What if the attack on the Golden Dawn was an aberration and not part of their pattern of escalation?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a thought. They had achieved nearly one hundred percent on that ship two months ago.”
“The Destiny.”
“Right. The Destiny. There wasn’t any reason to hit another ship. They knew they had their system.”
“So the people on the Dawn were wiped out to keep them quiet?”
Juan stood up as Donatella finished tying off the lines. “I don’t know,” Juan repeated. “Listen, we’ve got a charter jet waiting to take us to Manila. I’ll call Langston and pass this along. If he won’t go after Severance, at least he can get a warning out to the cruise lines about a potential terrorist threat.”
Overholt would pass on Cabrillo’s information, he was certain, but he doubted much would be done. In the years since 9/11, nonspecific threats came in all the time, and, like the boy who cried wolf, they were mostly ignored.
“Donatella?”
“Oui, Capitaine.”
“Would you mind returning my young friend here back to my ship. Charge it to the account I set up with your boss.”
“Of course, sir. It would be my pleasure.”
“His, too, I’m sure.” Juan turned back to Eric. “Keep on it and call me with anything new.”
“You got it, boss man.”
Linc and Cabrillo stepped off the boat and onto the dock, lugging their bags. “What was that she gave you?” Juan asked.
Linc pulled a business card from the pocket of his lightweight leather jacket. “What, this? Her home and cell number.”
“With everything going on, you can think about sex?”
“Chairman, I’ve learned that life is all about reproduction and evolution, and pretty soon she’s going to be missing Linc.”
“Reproduction and evolution, huh?” Juan just shook his head. “You’re as bad as Murph and Stoney.”
“Big difference, Juan, is I get dates, while those homeboys only fantasize about ’em.”
CHAPTER 21
MAX HANLEY AWOKE IN A SEA OF AGONY.
Pain radiated from his thigh and from his head. It came in alternating currents that crashed against the top of his skull like a hurricane storm surge. His first instinct was to rub his temples and determine why his leg was throbbing, but even in his barely conscious state he knew he had to remain motionless until more of his faculties returned. He wasn’t sure why, only that it was important. Time passed. It might have been five minutes, it could have been ten. He had no way to judge other than the rhythmic pounding in his head and the ache in his leg that grew and subsided in time with his heartbeat.
As he became more aware, he realized he was lying on a bed. There were no sheets or pillows, and the mattress was rough under his shoulders. Pretending he was still asleep, he shifted slightly. At least they had left him the dignity of his boxer shorts, although he could feel the cold caress of steel around his ankles and wrists.
It came back to him in a rush. Zelimir Kovac, Eddie’s escape, and the sickly sweet smell of the rag being clamped over his nose and mouth. The headache was a result of being drugged. And then the other horror hit him like a slap to the face, and he involuntarily gasped.
He was back in a van, driving away from their hotel. Kovac had given him only enough narcotic to make him compliant, like a drunk who needs to be led away from a party. In the van Max was laid out in the back. He was dimly aware of other figures. Kyle? Adam Jenner? He couldn’t tell.
Kovac had run a wand over his body, like an airport metal detector, and when it chimed over Max’s leg Kovac sliced open his pants with a boot knife. It took him only a second to find the scar, and he unceremoniously rammed the blade into Max’s flesh. Even under mild anesthesia, the pain had been a molten wire driven into his body. He screamed into the gag tied around his mouth, and tried to thrash away from the agony, but someone had pressed his shoulders to the van’s floor.
Kovac twisted the knife, opening the wound so when he withdrew the blade he could stick his fingers into Max’s flesh. Blood gushed from the cut. Max strained against the pain, fighting it as though he stood a chance. Kovac continued to probe the wound, uncaring that he wasn’t wearing gloves and that blood had soaked his shirtsleeve.
