“I’m sure it will. But not totally satisfying. How do you dispose of me then?”
“Did I forget to mention I have pretty heavy artillery myself?” He gestured to a white tube on the ground at his feet. “A small surface missile by some standards, but heat-activated, and big enough. The moment you start to run, I blow you and your men in that other boat out of the water. Are you getting nervous, Kaskov?”
“Terrified,” he said dryly. “Is that what you want me to say?”
“That’s what I want you to feel. And you will. Is Eve Duncan there?”
“Right beside me. I couldn’t keep her from coming. You said that you’d let her be with her son. She still thinks she can save him.”
Cara went rigid. “Eve?”
Mama is here. Michael had said.
But not if Eve was on that ship. Michael was wrong. And there was no way Eve would be able to save him.
“I want to see her face,” Norwalk said. “Turn on the boat lights. And I want to talk to her.”
The speedboat lit up, and Cara could see Eve standing there, red-brown hair windblown, every muscle appearing tense, strained. She took the phone from Kaskov. “Where is my son?”
“Hello, Eve,” Norwalk said. “It’s so good that you showed me how much power I have over you. I’m sorry that you appear so stressed.” He smiled. “But I’m afraid that I’ve changed my mind. The boy will be alligator food by the time this little standoff is over.”
“No!” She grabbed an automatic rifle from the seat and began firing at Norwalk. “You can’t do that. You can’t kill my son! I won’t let you—”
“You fool. I make the rules here.” Kaskov grabbed the rifle, swung it, and hit Eve’s head with the barrel.
She fell backward over the rail, into the water.
Cara screamed!
She leaned forward, trying to catch sight of Eve in the water.
Not Eve!
Nothing. No sign. Nothing.
She must have been unconscious when she hit the water and sank immediately out of sight.
Cara felt sick, her gaze still frantically searching.
“A fine way to begin,” Norwalk said. He had his binoculars lifted and was also scanning the water. He lowered the binoculars. “I was looking forward to doing that myself, but I’ll accept being the cause of it.” He bent forward and started the motor. “And now I’m eager to see the rest of it.” He shoved the small motorboat in the direction of Kaskov’s speedboat. “There you go, Kaskov. Choose which way you want it to happen.”
Cara could feel the movement of the water beneath the boat, she could see Kaskov’s speedboat in the distance, but all she could think about was Eve’s terrible cry as she reached for the automatic weapon and her face as she plunged off the speedboat into the water.
The tears were running down her cheeks as she remembered Michael’s excited whisper.
Mama is here!
*
Norwalk’s face was lit with hunger and a feral joy as he watched the motorboat chug slowly toward Kaskov’s huge speedboat.
Jock was feeling that same hunger as he gazed down his sights at Norwalk from the branches of the cypress tree above him.
Not yet.
Something could still go wrong.
Hell, something might already have gone wrong.
He didn’t want to think about that possibility.
Focus.
Don’t look at Cara’s small motorboat that was already too close to Kaskov’s speedboat. Soon, Norwalk would decide that she was close enough to allow him to take down both boats with that detonator.
Move Kaskov!
And Kaskov was moving, he was starting to reverse, backing away from Cara’s boat.
And Jock could see Norwalk stiffen, his entire attention on Kaskov’s apparent defection.
Now!
*
She was going to die.
She was too close to Kaskov’s speedboat, Cara realized. The blast was going to come soon. What would it be like to die? What was out there? Music? Surely there would be music …
But there were so many things that she had left undone. Jock … Michael … Darcy … Eve … They were all there before her as she saw that white speedboat in the bayou ahead.
And Kaskov. Was there something left undone there?
She didn’t know, but there might have been.
And if she was going to die, she didn’t want to give Norwalk the satisfaction of using her as a weapon to destroy him.
The only way she could keep that from happening now was to work her way to the edge of the boat and roll into the water. Her hands were tied, so that would mean a good chance of drowning, but the alternative was giving Norwalk what he wanted, and he’d already taken too much from the people she loved.
She moved a little closer to the edge.
She started to rock the boat. If she tilted the boat, she might be able to slip over the side into the water and that would—
“No! For God’s sake, don’t do that, Cara. You’re going to screw up everything!”
She froze, her gaze flying to the water several feet away. “Darcy?”
“Well, I’m not a mermaid. Listen, don’t ask questions. Just do what I say, okay?”
She nodded dazedly. “Okay.”
“Keep on the edge of the boat, but get up as far as you can and draw up your legs. Quick. Kaskov can only keep Norwalk distracted for so long.”
Cara was already moving, curling up at the top of the boat. “Darcy, I don’t want you to—”
“Be quiet. I have a job to do.” She was pulling out a plastic-wrapped object that looked like an oval ball and was hurriedly unwrapping it. “I’m going to toss this grenade into the bottom of your boat, and I can’t jerk you into the water until it goes off. You have to be close to it for it to work. So expect an explosion…”
“Grenade? How much of an explosion?”
“I have no idea.” She pulled out the metal grenade. “Just brace yourself.” She pulled off the safety and tossed the grenade into the boat. “He said no more than a minute until—”
The bottom of the boat exploded, rocking Cara almost into the water.
“That wasn’t too bad.” Darcy was swimming toward her. “You’re not hurt?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but jerked Cara the rest of the way into the water and was pulling her away from the sinking boat. “I’ll check you later.”
“Darcy, get away from me.” Cara was struggling, trying to push her away, but her hands were still tied. “Norwalk will have seen that explosion. He’s going to press that—”
“Let him. I’m not leaving you. What do you think this is all about? I’ve got to get you out of this stinking bayou.”
“I’ll go with you. Let me try to swim. Just don’t get close to me.”
“It’s okay,” Darcy didn’t let her go. “I’ll explain later, but Norwalk must have pressed that damn button already. And you’re still in one piece. I think the bastard is probably in a tearing rage and going to focus on Kaskov instead.” She started to swim toward the bank. “Jock will take care of it. I’ve done my part.”
*
Yes.
Jock watched the smoke rise from the sinking motorboat before he swung back to see Norwalk’s reaction. Rage. Frustration. Confusion. Wild rejection. Norwalk was looking at Cara’s head bobbing in the water, and he still couldn’t realize what was happening. He had the detonator in his hand and was pressing the button over and over in disbelief that it wasn’t exploding Cara’s vest.
No way.
But there was still a small danger, and he couldn’t permit Norwalk to continue to press that button. It might trigger some random response in that bomb.
Jock quickly aimed carefully and pressed the trigger. He blew the fingers off Norwalk’s right hand. The next shot exploded the phone he was holding in his other hand. Norwalk screamed, looking wildly around and up at the trees as he dove instinctively for the missile at his feet. But Jock had already targeted the missile, and he blew the firing mechanism.
Now for the head shot, Norwalk …
But Norwalk was no longer there, he’d rolled into the shrubs at the side of the path.
Son of a bitch.