Bobbing in the Gulf just north of the super yacht in her Lee County Sheriff launch, Sam examined it with her binoculars. She could see a man with an assault rifle on a catwalk alongside the bridge. And if there’s one on this side, there’s likely one on the other, she thought. She had watched the two groups of men exit the tenders and board the ship, along with Laura, Hildebrand, and the bodyguard. This must be the meeting that Deek was concerned about. If there was indeed a terrorist, were they already aboard?
Both limousine tenders lay moored at the aft platform. Sam was debating approaching the vessel and demanding a “routine inspection” when a small boat appeared from behind the yacht, dashing for the shore. La Fiamma Azzurra was so massive, it had obscured that boat, and she guessed it was about a quarter mile south of the yacht. It looked to be a small dinghy, and looking through her binos she could just make out two men. She immediately throttled up and moved to intercept, but once she’d cleared the obstruction of the yacht she saw a second boat; a catamaran of some kind. Since the dinghy was moving at a good clip, she might not be able to catch it anyway, so she turned her attention to the catamaran.
Moments later, she came alongside it and found three women and three men aboard. And one of the men…
“Sam?”
* * *
“Deek? What are you doing here? And what on earth are you wearing?”
“What? Oh, these.” Deek stowed the pink sunglasses on the neck of his T-shirt. “Sam, thank God you’re here! Two divers just came from that yacht. The ship has a moon-pool hatch on the underside, amidships. We think they may have left some sort of bomb.”
“Bugger! I’ll call it in!”
“You can try, but…”
“What’s up with the radio? All static.”
“Jamming from the yacht. We were just on our way to warn them.”
“I’d advise against that. You were right about the Armenia and Azerbaijan meeting, and they’ve got a lot of security. Some blokes with some big guns are aboard.”
“Blimey, are you English, too?” Emily called out, then sobered. “Sorry, not the time for bonding banter. What do you suggest we do?”
“I’ll warn them. You can follow, but keep a respectable distance.”
Boone turned to Ernesto. “I realize this isn’t what you signed up for…”
“I was in the Dominican Navy for six years,” the man said, steel in his eyes. “If we can save lives, we should do so.”
“We’ll keep well clear, all the same,” Boone said.
“Look, I realize this is a little crazy,” Kate ventured, “but maybe we should stay geared up. If they won’t let Sam approach, we could go to that underwater hatch ourselves.”
“I’m game if you are,” AJ said to Emily.
Kate held up a hand. “Umm… just so I’m clear here… there may be a bomb aboard?”
Deek went to look at his watch, only to find a band of pale skin. “Dammit. What time is it?”
Emily lifted her wrist and looked at her dive computer. “Quarter to twelve.”
“I bet they start the negotiations at noon. If there is a bomb, and I’m right about the timing… whatever happens will probably happen when all the delegates are in the same room.”
As Sam turned her boat to the north and throttled up, Boone followed.
“Right-o, so we’ve got a few minutes before kablooey,” Em said. “Wonderful.”
* * *
“We’ll begin the negotiations shortly,” Laura announced. “If all of you will take your seats around the table. Ambassadors here, on either side of the head of the table. Mr. Hildebrand will sit here between you, and act as a referee.”
“Where is he?” an Azeri bodyguard asked.
“He will be here shortly, I assure you. Last minute business. He insisted you begin without him.”
“Is there any food?” the Azeri inquired.
The burly Armenian security man pressed a button on the side of the dumbwaiter; it elicited a stubborn buzz and remained closed.
“A fresh plate is likely being prepared this very moment,” Laura said. “Now, if you would please take your seats and look at the research materials we’ve provided you, I will go fetch Mr. Hildebrand.”
Laura exited the conference room; the door clicked behind her. Roux was waiting down the hall. “We’re leaving now.”
Laura followed the Frenchman to the aft recreational platform and boarded the tender, where Hildebrand sat at the wheel. “I hope you know what you’re what you’re doing,” she said.
* * *
Sam reached the yacht just as a tender pulled away and headed for shore. Was that Hildebrand? Now alongside the massive vessel, she placed her engine in neutral, retrieved a bullhorn, and was about to shout a warning when a powerful jet of water smashed into her with the force of a cannonball, bowling her over the side and into the drink.
* * *
“They’ve got one of those anti-piracy water jets!” Deek shouted. “Merchant ships use them off Somalia. They hit hard, she might be stunned!”
Boone increased speed, angling toward the empty sheriff’s boat. “Em, if you gals want to make for that hatch, I’ll freedive after you, once I’ve picked up Sam.”
“Right-o! In we go!”
Kate went in first, followed by AJ and Emily. Boone came alongside Sam’s boat, but a burst of automatic weapons fire echoed across the water and a slicing pain seared across his shoulder. He jerked the wheel hard to starboard and angled away, pushing the throttle to the stops to put some distance between them and the shooter.
“Ernesto… take the wheel,” Boone grunted, stepping aside.
“I see Sam!” Deek yelled. “She’s waving an ‘OK’ sign and jerking her thumb down.”
“She’s telling us she’s fine, and she’s going to descend… probably freedive for the hatch,” Boone snarled through gritted teeth, clamping a hand over his bleeding shoulder. “But I think they’re on their own, for now.”
Deek pulled off the swag T-shirt from the boat show, wadded it up, and gave it to Boone.
“Thanks,” the young man said, pressing it to the wound. He winced, but then his face changed and he looked past Deek. “That tender that left the yacht… it’s just sitting there.”
Deek turned his head and spotted the tender several hundred yards away, between the super yacht and the shore. He turned back to ask Boone for his binoculars and found them already being offered up. Deek took them and looked at the boat. Hildebrand was aboard, along with a woman and a man with a military bearing he’d never seen before.
“What on earth is he doing?” Deek asked aloud.
* * *
Emily dove for the bottom, following Kate and AJ. In moments they were under the yacht. Kate made a beeline for a square of shimmering water inside an open hatchway. Emily started to follow, but spied AJ off to the side, grabbing at something trapped on a lifting strake on the underside of the hull. It looked like a packet of crisps. Good ol’ AJ, environmentally conscious even in the face of mayhem. Emily watched Kate’s fins disappear up the hatch, and she followed.
Breaching the surface, Em encountered a darkened room, the only light coming from the water below. She hauled herself up with a splash, the sound muted and echoey in the dark space. “Kate?” she whispered, digging in her BCD vest for the small light she always carried for looking into cracks and crannies for various marine beasties. Her fingers had just found it when a voice came from above.
“Here,” Kate said, flicking her dive light on.
AJ popped up and looked around.
“Welcome to the party, Aidge,” Emily whispered, turning her own light on.
“Why are we whispering?” AJ asked as she pulled herself up into the room.
“The ambience demands it,” Em replied, removing her gear and fins. “What did you snag down there that was so important?”
AJ triggered her light and shined it on the plastic bag. “Barbecue crisps. But what caught my eye, was… they’re unopened.”
“That’s weird, innit?” Em offered, then shrugged. “Some clumsy snacker probably dropped ’em.”
“We better get a move on,” Kate urged, shining her light around. There was an obvious hatch leading out of the room and she reached for it.
“Hang on a tick,” Em said, pointing her beam at a shelving unit that was pulled away from the wall. A substantial amount of water lay on the floor behind it, and at the base of the wall, a grate lay on the ground.
“A vent cover’s been pulled off!” AJ exclaimed.
A splash came from the moon pool and Emily aimed her light that way, “About time Boo… you’re not Boone.”
Sam pulled herself up. “Boone had to take the boat away from the yacht when the crew fired shots.”
“Is he all right?” Emily blurted.
“I think so, but I was still disorientated from being knocked ass over teakettle. I only heard the shots and saw them veer away.” She saw where Kate and AJ were looking. “What’ve you got?”
“A vent that doesn’t look like much of a vent,” Kate said. “With a lot of puddled water in front of it. And in it,” she added, looking inside. “There’s a room beyond. I’m going in.”
Kate crawled into the passage which was only about four feet long. The others followed, and soon the group was in a darkened pantry.
Emily stood up and something crackled under her foot. She reached down and chuckled when her fingers found another packet of barbecue crisps. “Here you go, AJ… something for your collection.”
“This one’s empty,” AJ remarked.
“A lot more water over here, in front of this set of shelves,” Kate said, shining her light on the floor. “And a bunch of jugs of cooking oil lying around.”
“Shine your torch on this empty shelf, would you?” Sam requested. “I see a little orange light back there.”
Kate did so, and the others clustered around. “Looks like a little hatch of some kind. Some controls on the side there.”
Sam reached through and pressed the illuminated button with a lock icon on it. It clicked and the orange light extinguished. “Okay…” She looked at the other buttons. “Green means go, I guess.” She pressed the green button and the panel slid open.
“Holy—!” Moving as one, all four women threw themselves to either side when the contents were revealed: a plate of appetizers with a curved, metal box on top, its surface embossed with an all-caps warning.
“Front toward enemy!” Em gasped. “We’re on the killy end, yeah? I don’t know what you call that, but I’ve seen it in movies.”
“It’s a claymore mine,” Sam said, recovering somewhat from the shock.
“Oh my God,” Kate said softly. “The blueprints. I don’t remember this being in the pantry, but I took a good look at the main dining room up top. It had a huge table in the plans, and at one end there was a box in the wall marked ‘dumbwaiter.’ This has up and down buttons. And if I were going to hold a conference on board…”
“What time is it?” Sam asked quickly.
AJ held up her wrist and looked at her dive computer. “Two minutes to noon!” she hissed.
Sam shined her light around the corner. “Looks like there’s a timer on the back of it.” She looked at the rest of the large pantry. Someone give me their light.” She grabbed AJ’s. “Everybody, get out of this alcove and go to the far corner!”
* * *
“Why did you leave the talks?” Laura asked. “And what are we waiting for, exactly?”
The limousine tender bobbed in the waves, a hundred yards from La Fiamma Azzurra. Hildebrand looked up from his watch and smiled. “As you both know, I’ve quietly tripled the size of my oil and gas shipping fleet over the last few years. A pipeline agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan would not be good for my bottom line, to say the least, but since most of my shipping is under different holding companies, the negotiators don’t know that. As to why I’m not there, I don’t want to be associated with what is about to happen. I have an operative who will by now have passed a weapon to one of the delegates… after the thorough security sweep. The meeting should begin at noon, but several minutes into the remarks, that delegate will pick a fight with the other side; an altercation that will lead to sudden violence. He will shoot one of the opposing negotiators.”
“How do you know this?” Roux asked.
“Because I’ve paid him handsomely; the more violent he is, the more he’ll be paid. And it helps that his wife is in dire need of expensive medical treatment.” Hildebrand again checked his watch.
“I suppose that’s one way of sabotaging the talks,” Laura said, turning to look back at La Fiamma Azzurra.
* * *
Sam put the dive light in her mouth while AJ, Em, and Kate dashed around the corner to find cover. Wasting no time, Sam reached in, grasped the edges of the claymore, and gently lifted it from the grapes, olives, and cheeses. She spared one moment to examine the timer at the back, but instantly decided on a surer course of action. These men are pros, and it might be booby-trapped, she thought, as she scrambled through the vent, into the adjacent room. Throwing herself to the floor, she leaned over the open hatch, pointed the business-end of the claymore downward, and released it into the water, hoping it didn’t roll “bad side up.”
Sam knew this was an anti-personnel mine, so the front end should be packed with sharp bits of metal for a fragmentation explosion, and therefore should be heavier, keeping the lethal end pointed down. In theory. Rolling away, she prayed that her theory was correct.
* * *
Once Sam had vanished through the vent, Emily bolted toward the wall beside it, ready to assist the sheriff’s deputy if something went horribly wrong. She heard a hum behind her and flashed her light back over her shoulder just in time to watch the dumbwaiter suddenly rise, vanishing from sight.
* * *
“He said to begin without him,” one of the Azeri delegates said.
The Armenian across from him nudged the folder on the table in front of him. “Has everyone read over the materials? If so, I say we—”
He was interrupted by a hum and a click. Beyond the head of the table, the dumbwaiter slid open, revealing a smushed plate of olives and cheese.
“Should we eat first?” the Azeri asked.
* * *
Hildebrand frowned at Laura, who was looking back at the yacht. “What do you mean, that’s one way of sabotaging the talks?”
She had no time to answer, as there came a sudden, muted BOOM. A spout of water shot up from the side of the yacht and several seconds later, the limousine rocked like they’d passed over a wake.
Hildebrand stared at the ship. “What on earth was that?”
“The yacht is under attack!” Roux cried. “We should head for shore and call for help! Out of the range of the jammers!”
* * *
“An explosion!” Ernesto cried.
“Underwater,” Deek said, pointing.
Boone stood up from the bench, still clamping Deek’s T-shirt to his shoulder. “We need to get alongside! They could be hurt!”
Deek spotted movement on the far side of the yacht. “Hildebrand’s tender is heading for shore!” He laid a hand on Boone’s arm. “You two, go render aid… if the yacht security men let you. But take me to Sam’s boat! I’ll go after Hildebrand… but more importantly, I’ll get out of the range of the yacht’s jamming, and call for help.”
Ernesto nodded and aimed the catamaran toward Sam’s vessel. “It’s a good plan.”
“You know how to drive a boat?” Boone asked.
“I’ve been along for the ride all week… I think I’ve picked up a thing or two.”
“The radio… call for help on—”
“Sixteen. I may be a desk jockey, but I know the basics. And my cell will probably start working again at the same time.”
Ernesto brought the cat alongside the smaller vessel—a rigid inflatable center console—and Deek stepped across gingerly. He looked at the controls and surprised himself by getting the boat moving with minimal trial and error. Pushing the throttle forward, he looped around the super yacht and headed toward Boca Grande, his eyes searching for the limo tender. Grabbing the mic, he pressed the call button and started speaking, repeating over and over, “Mayday, mayday, mayday… this is the… actually, I have no idea what this boat’s name is… can any law enforcement or emergency services hear me? Mayday, mayday, mayday.”