Chapter Thirty-Nine

The strangest thing about Hunter’s plan was that he really wasn’t involved in it.

At least not at the moment.

He had another mission that was just as vital, but far from the action. Another lonely search over the ocean.

After exiting the subway tunnel near Chelsea Piers, he’d headed east, out over the water again. The real kink in his plan was the five Russian destroyers unaccounted for since the battle for the Isakov. The conditions out to sea had not improved much, which might be why the five ships had yet to reach New York City. But the danger they posed to the Allies could not be overemphasized. Everyone around the war-planning table had seen a Styx missile in action, and no one wanted any part of them. Especially while in the middle of trying to clean out Tower Two.

These ships had to be found. And because the clown plane could fly low and slow and had such a tiny radar signature, the job fell to Hunter.

Reaching the eastern shore of Long Island, Hunter turned northeast.

If the five destroyers were taking the shortest route to New York, then they’d be out here somewhere. It was puzzling, though, that nothing about the ships’ whereabouts had been picked up on Dozer’s 616 eavesdropping gear. Maybe even the NKVD didn’t know where they were. Or maybe they’d all just sunk.

But going radio silent was usually a preamble to an attack. And considering the circumstances, that attack would probably come somewhere in Lower Manhattan.

This was not like looking for Convoy 56 in his now-departed F-16XL. This meant flying at nearly wave-top level and hoping you saw them before they saw you. As he was passing by East Hampton, three contrails went overhead, cutting through the stars. The three Su-34s streaking in the opposite direction, toward New York City. Hunter felt odd flying away from the action, but that’s just how it was.

All this got him thinking again about the situation back in New York, which of course made him think of Dominique. His jaw still hurt where she’d slugged him.

She said he would never understand, and she was right. He was convinced that she was no longer the person he remembered. But now, as he passed Montauk Point, still dwelling on everything that had happened in the past few days, he couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing at that very moment.