Someone screamed, and Grant stiffened. This was going to be a long fucking day. He peeked out to find the gunmen herding everyone toward the exit. People were scrambling. Some of them were barely able to walk.
Did these fuckers not realize how many people on this ship were wheelchair bound or had walkers? Granted, they didn’t give a single fuck. They were ruthless. They’d proven that when they killed everyone on the dock along the lock in cold blood.
“Do we keep hiding? Join the others as if we’re regular passengers? Or try to make our way behind the scenes?” Grant asked the other two. He cared about their opinions. It didn’t matter what they chose, they would eventually do what needed to be done. Mostly he wanted to see how Callie felt about their predicament.
“Behind the scenes,” she responded without hesitation.
At that moment, the sound of the captain coming through the speakers made Grant take notice.
“Hello, everyone. This is Captain Philips speaking from the bridge. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the ship has been boarded by the Chinese military.” It was impressive how calm the captain sounded. “Please try to remain calm and make your way to the theater at the front of the ship. It can be reached on decks six and seven. I repeat, you must make your way to the theater immediately. Please try to help those passengers who need assistance or ask a steward to assist you. All passengers and staff must go to the theater.”
Grant cringed.
Callie took a deep breath. “It’s the pictures. They’re making the Chinese look bad.”
Holden gave a dry chuckle and muttered, “As if they didn’t look bad without the video evidence.”
“No one can take pictures from the theater,” Callie pointed out. “I’m sure they will collect phones on the way in.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Grant grumbled, though he suspected the Chinese didn’t care how late it was. They were on a mission: damage control.
Holden met his gaze. “We need to split up, sweep the floor.” He pulled his phone out of its hiding place and started texting. Grant knew he would be shooting off messages to Keene and Tavis to see where they were and make sure the four of them were on the same page.
This was no longer a casual vacation. This was a mission. Not one they would be getting paid for, but a mission nonetheless. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. No way would Grant or any of his friends ignore this problem and flock to the theater with the rest of the passengers. They would rise to the challenge and figure out a way out of this mess.
“Can you grab that house phone for me again,” Callie asked, nodding toward the cord.
Luckily, the noise level on the deck was dwindling, a sure sign the Chinese were pressing the people toward the front of the ship and leaving the deck vacated—as far as they knew.
Grant reached up and snagged the phone, handing it to Callie. It would be best to let her continue to be the contact with the justice. “Tell them to stay in their room and hide.”
Callie nodded. “Mr. Lyons, this is Caroline again… Good. I’m glad you confirmed with my boss… Yes, I heard the loudspeakers too. I think it would be best if you ignore them for now. Stay away from the windows. Go to an interior room and hide as best you can. Unless someone comes into the suite and forces you to leave the room, stay in your cabin.”
She listened for a few moments. “Great. I’m working on finding a way to get you off this ship. Hang tight. I’ll be in touch.” She handed the receiver back to Grant.
“How did he sound?” Grant asked.
“Calm enough under the circumstances. Luckily, his wife is known for her calm demeanor too. Hopefully it holds up.”
Holden tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Keene and Tavis are sweeping the lower floors. You and I will take the upper floors.”
“Aren’t you worried someone will take that phone from you?” Callie asked.
Grant gave her a quick kiss. “The next Chinese militant we encounter will be dead in five seconds. We need their weapons. He’s not going to have time to ask us to hand over our phones.” He pulled Callie’s cell out from his jeans and handed it to her. “Tuck yours between your boobs, baby.”
She shot him a look. “Not sure if you noticed, but there isn’t a lot of between to my tits, Grant.” She rolled her eyes and tucked her phone right where he’d just pulled it from—the front of her pants. She pulled her shirt over the fly.
“That’ll work,” Grant conceded. “If anyone besides me dares to set their hand on that part of your body, he won’t live another five seconds either.”
She rolled her eyes. “Caveman.”
He chuckled. “Let’s go.” Grabbing her hand, he tugged her toward the pool. “We’ll walk out like nothing has happened and take the stairs down one floor.”
“This is way out of my pay grade,” she muttered. “I’m a translator, not a soldier.”
“I’m going to get you to the justice’s suite and leave you with her and her husband. As soon as I can, I’ll come back for you.”
“You make it sound so simple,” she murmured as they started walking.
Luckily, no one was on the deck. Not a soul. They’d all been pushed toward the front of the ship and down the stairs. It wasn’t until the three of them reached the stairwell that they once again heard the sounds of people screaming and crying. Desperation and confusion. Fear was tangible.
Grant made eye contact with Holden and signaled for him to sweep the port side while Grant headed starboard. He hated having Callie with him. It wasn’t safe. Leaving her somewhere random wasn’t an option either. He needed to get her to the justice’s suite as soon as possible.
The row of rooms was relatively quiet, and for a moment, Grant thought he should skip this floor and head down to the next one, but then he heard someone shouting in broken English just as a door flew open ten or so rooms in front of him.
Grant yanked Callie into an alcove and flattened the two of them against the door, out of sight.
Another voice, this one distinctly shouting in Mandarin.
Grant glanced at Callie, who was listening carefully.
Through the shouting could be heard the frightened voices of American passengers.
Callie rose up and cupped Grant’s ear, whispering, “It’s an older couple. The husband needs a wheelchair, the wife can’t push him herself. The militants are discussing whether or not to shoot them.”
“Jesus.” Grant flattened a hand to Callie’s chest. “Do not move.” He stepped out into the hall and pasted on his scared-passenger look as he wandered toward the scuffle.
“Hey,” the guy who spoke fairly good English yelled. “What the fuck are you doing here? Are you deaf? Get to the theater.”
Grant pointed at the old woman who was halfway in the hall. “Those are my neighbors. I came to help them get to the theater.”
The two Chinese guys looked at each other and then back at Grant. “Fine. Fucking hurry.” He turned around to face the cabin at his back, flashed a key fob, and opened it.
Ah. So somehow these guys had gotten their hands on a master key fob. That wasn’t a good sign. Eventually they would reach the justice’s suite, if they hadn’t already.
Grant wished he didn’t have to kill this man in front of the older woman, but it couldn’t be helped. While his partner was searching the next room on the hallway, Grant came up behind the asshole across from the older couple. He had the element of surprise, which would have been an embarrassment to this Chinese soldier if he were going to live to remember it.
Never turn your back on the enemy.
The problem was, this fucker didn’t know Grant was the enemy. He’d made an assumption, and it was going to cost him his life.
Grant took one long stride forward, wrapped his arm around the asshole’s neck, and squeezed in the perfect choke hold.
The guy struggled, shock written on his face, but he never had a chance. Grant was much stronger than him and in better shape. If all of the Chinese who’d boarded this ship were as ineffective as this guy, retaking the ship would be a breeze.
It took less than ten seconds for the soldier to pass out, and Grant lowered him to the floor before searching the soldier’s pockets and coming up with several weapons, including a knife, a rifle, and a handgun with a silencer.
He was just about to slit the fucker’s throat when he heard the older woman behind him gasp in panic. At the same moment, Grant noticed the guy had a thick wad of zip ties in his pocket, so he yanked one out and wrapped it around the fucker’s wrists, pinning them together at the small of his back. He did the same to the guy’s ankles before jumping to his feet and spinning around, afraid he would soon have company.
Lucky bastard would live to see another day after all because Grant didn’t have the heart to murder his sorry ass in front of the old woman.
His partner was shouting in Mandarin, his voice growing closer, and Grant spun around and stepped into the hallway. This guy wouldn’t get off so easily. There were no other options. Grant lifted the handgun and silently shot him right between the eyes.
The older woman screamed.
Grant glanced both ways and then stepped toward the woman. “Callie. You can come out now.”
Callie lurched from the alcove and rushed toward Grant.
“You, you—” The older woman was distraught, backing into her room.
Grant followed the woman. “Sorry about that. It was him or me.”
She nodded, eyes wide. Her husband was seated in a wheelchair inside the room. “Marge?”
Marge spun around. “This man saved me, Marvin.” She turned back to face Grant. “Who are you?”
“Former SEAL, ma’am. I think you should be safe to stay in your room now. I’m going to shut your door and get this mess cleaned up in the hallway. Try to stay quiet and don’t go near the balcony. Don’t use water or flush the toilet. Can you do that?”
“We can,” Marvin responded. “Thank you so much for helping my Marge.”
When Grant turned around, he found Callie standing in the doorframe, smiling. “That was nice of you,” she whispered as Grant shut the door. He reached for the dead guy’s legs and hauled him into the room with his knocked-out buddy.
Callie surprised him by helping unload the guy of his weapons and zip ties. When Grant reached up to take the weapons from her, she shook her head. “You can’t carry all of these, and I want to be armed too. Let’s go.” She nodded toward the door, looked both ways, and stepped into the hall. This time she held a gun in her hand, aiming it.
“Do you know how to use one of those?” Grant asked, concerned. If she did, he would be even more impressed. If she didn’t, it would be too risky for her to wave a gun around. She would be more likely to get shot by one of the other soldiers.
Callie had strapped the automatic over her shoulder. She had a knife and a pile of zip ties in her back pockets. As soon as she decided there was no longer a threat in the hallway, she turned to look at Grant. “Please. Don’t insult me. I have four brothers, a father, and two uncles. All in different branches of the military. My dad made sure I could handle any weapon and discharge it safely before I learned to walk.”
She was exaggerating of course, but Grant was fucking impressed. “Okay then. Let’s keep going.”
Callie kept up with him, taking the stairs two at a time until they reached the next floor. A quick assessment showed no signs of passengers or militants, and then they moved to the next floor. Sticking to the starboard side of the ship, Grant had to hope Holden was having equal success on his side.
Luckily, Grant converged with Tavis on deck ten just as Keene and Holden stepped into the stairwell at the same time. All were armed, which meant at least five Chinese soldiers were down.
“How many men do you think boarded the ship?” Holden asked, his question directed at Tavis and Keene.
Tavis answered. “I think twelve. Six on each side. We’ve taken out five?” He glanced around at everyone’s weapons.
“Appears that way,” Grant confirmed.
“Seven left,” Keene concurred. “I believe two are up at the bridge patrolling, not permitting anyone in or out.”
“So five must be guarding the theater. Let’s split up,” Grant suggested.
Tavis nodded. “Agreed. Keene and I will take back the bridge.”
Holden glanced at Grant. “Grant and I will each take one side of the theater.”
Callie looked up at Grant. “There are two of you and five of them,” she pointed out.
Holden chuckled. “Didn’t you just watch him take down two men alone?”
Callie sighed. “Yes. Fine. I’ll head toward my assignment.”
Grant shook his head. “Not alone.”
“I agree,” Holden said. “I’d rather you stay with us until we’re sure it’s safe.”
“I should check on Melanie too,” Callie pointed out.
Holden shook his head. “I already did. She’s in the room and fine.”
Callie smiled. “I’m glad she heeded our advice instead of following the captain’s orders.”
“You and me both,” Holden agreed. “Now, let’s go. The clock’s ticking. I don’t know how long it might be before the Chinese figure out they are five men down and get trigger happy. Or worse, send more men from land.”
Tavis and Keene took off up the stairs at a jog.
Holden led the way down the stairs.
Grant nodded for Callie to precede him, talking to her as they hurried. “I’ll pick a spot and I want you to stay back while we secure the area. I’ll come back for you when it’s safe and we’ll head for the justice’s suite.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
At least he didn’t have to argue with her. She knew her limits. She may have had experience using weapons, but he’d bet his last dollar she’d never had to do so before.
When they reached the seventh floor, Grant pointed at the ticketing desk. “There. Hide behind the desk.” No one was in the vicinity. She should be safe there.
She hesitated. “Be careful.”
He paused just long enough to kiss her. “I always am.” And then he took off behind Holden. It was time to put an end to this Chinese invasion.