had never before faced. But despite his injuries, his hand-to-hand skills were still formidable. To use them, he had to get them off guard. And presently, he had only one way to do that. Tell them the truth.
“Are you crazy?” Erica said.
“It’s only a minor wound,” Kevin said, seeing that Lobec’s expression hadn’t wavered. “He’ll be all right.”
Which was true, but for the moment Lobec was a mess. Blood was streaming down his leg and pooling onto the floor of the boat.. His left arm dangled awkwardly at his side. It looked dislocated.
“I can’t believe you shot him.”
“He wouldn’t have stopped if I hadn’t. After two days with this guy, I’m sure of it.”
Lobec spoke. “You are probably wondering why I shot Mr. Bern.”
“We know why,” said Kevin. “Because you’re a greedy son of a bitch like Tarnwell. You wanted Adamas, and you weren’t willing to share.”
“Then why did he tell me to throw the bag into the river?” Erica said.
“What?”
“When I told him to let you go or I’d throw the bag in the river, he said that he didn’t care. He practically told me to throw it into the Potomac.”
“He was bluffing you.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Hamilton. She is right. My intent was to have her drop the bag in the river.”
“Oh really?” Kevin said sarcastically. “And why did you shoot Bern? So you could let us go?”
“Mr. Bern’s death was tragically unavoidable in the protection of my country’s national security.”
“Oh that’s just great,” Kevin said. “You work for the government? It’s just like you guys to wave the flag around whenever you do something wrong and pretend you’re doing it for God and country.”
“What does the Adamas process have to do with American national security?” Erica said. “If anything, it should be good for it, considering all the possibilities Kevin’s be telling me about the process.”
Without changing expression, Lobec said something that splashed over Kevin like a bucket of ice water.
“Who said I was American?” In that one short phrase, Lobec’s cadence and accent changed noticeably. Kevin couldn’t place it, but it was definitely not an American accent.
“Please allow me to introduce myself yet again. My real name is Nils Van Dyke.”
“What is that?” Erica said. “A Dutch accent?”
“Very good, Erica. Not exactly, but you’re close. I’m from the Republic of South Africa.” The words came quickly now, not the measured rhythm Lobec had used with the American accent. “My one flaw has always been my inability to master accents. I could do an American accent, but it required me to speak in a stilted manner. Unfortunate, since it drew attention to me. Not something I relish in my line of work.”
“Which is?” Kevin said.
“I thought that would be obvious by now. I’m a spy.”
Erica looked at Kevin, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off Van Dyke. The pistol was still pointed straight at his head. A pool of blood was slowly expanding at Van Dyke’s feet.
“You’re a spy working for Clayton Tarnwell?” Kevin’s voice was dubious.
“As you both probably know, South Africa is rich in mineral resources. In fact, it’s one of our main sources of wealth. It obviously makes sense to observe the world’s most powerful country to see what is happening in the mining field, both politically and industrially. My position in Tarnwell’s company allows me to do just that. Of course, he thinks I’m a mercenary for hire, bowing to his every wish because he manipulated my release from a Mexican prison and now holds the lives of my brother and his family as hostage.”
“Let me guess,” Kevin said. “There is no brother.”
“Oh, I have a brother, but not one in California, which is where Tarnwell thinks he lives. If Tarnwell does retaliate for my actions, it will be against a family that, except for a few fabricated records in my phone bill, doesn’t exist. If Michael Ward wasn’t lying, that videotape would have given
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t watched it?”
“We watched it,” Erica said. “The only thing we saw was the first experiment, the one that got this all started.”
“Then Ward
“So you never were helping Tarnwell?”
“Oh, my missions helped him tangentially, but that wasn’t my intent. In fact, this mission will almost surely ruin him. Tarnwell has all of his money riding on a merger with Forrestal Chemical. If he doesn’t have Adamas by tomorrow, his company won’t be worth enough to pay the interest on his loans.”
“If you really are a spy,” Kevin said, “then why are you telling us all this? I thought you guys took poison pills before talking.”
“I’m telling you because I want to appeal to you. My country is in a very fragile state right now. It will take years to recover from apartheid, years that could stretch into decades if our country is suddenly plunged into economic ruin. And this Adamas process will do just that. It could devastate our economy, maybe even provoke a civil war. Whatever you think of me, I am a patriot first. I can’t let my country be ruined, and I’m sure you don’t want it to be.”
Kevin chuckled. “You expect us to believe that load of crap?”
“It’s the truth.”
“The truth! Van Dyke is the third name you’ve given me. Lord knows how many other ones you have. You killed my father, Bern, Ward, Stein. Now you want us to believe that all you want is peace and harmony for your country? Pardon me for thinking this is a bunch of bullshit. Erica start the boat. We’re taking this guy to the police. Let them figure out whether he’s telling the truth.”
“I must point out that I’m merely trying to protect you. Tarnwell has thirty men still looking for you. They’ll find you, just as I…found…” Van Dyke’s voice trailed off, and his face began turning white.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” she said. “He’s going into shock.” She started toward him.
Kevin put his left hand out to stop her. “Wait until we get to the marina. It’ll only be a few minutes.”
“He may not have that much time.” She struggled against his arm, and Kevin turned his head to face her.
“Erica, I’m telling you, this guy is dangerous. If he…”
Suddenly, Kevin’s left arm exploded in pain. The impact of Van Dyke’s foot knocked the gun from his hand. The Glock ricocheted off the port side of the boat. Before he could react, Van Dyke slammed him backward against the console.
In the next instant, Kevin could feel a hand pawing at his midsection. He realized what was happening and wrapped both hands around Van Dyke’s wrist just as he felt the SIG Sauer being drawn from his waistband. The safety was on, but if they wrestled much longer, Van Dyke might be able to flick it off. Kevin didn’t like the idea of a gun going off in his pants.
Erica, who had almost fallen overboard when Kevin glanced off her, regained her balance and came up behind Van Dyke. Using a modified Aikido move, she hammered both arms into his neck. Van Dyke released his grip and the SIG clattered to the deck. In a single twisting motion, he swung in a 180 degree arc and threw his fist at Erica. She ducked to avoid a direct blow, but Van Dyke managed to catch the top of her head. It was enough to send her reeling toward the bow.
Kevin stooped to pick up the fallen SIG. As his fingers brushed the grip, Van Dyke threw his knee into Kevin’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. Then Kevin felt himself being tossed to the back of the boat.
While he struggled to breathe, Kevin saw the Glock lying underneath a life vest in front of him. He scrambled over to it. In a prone position, Kevin raised the pistol and turned to point it at Van Dyke.
At the same time, Van Dyke was rising next to the console, holding the SIG Sauer. But it wasn’t pointed at Kevin. It was pointed at Erica. She was now standing at the bow of the boat.
“Hold it!” Kevin yelled.
Van Dyke remained facing Erica. “I saw you retrieve the Glock, Kevin. Drop it, or I will kill Erica.”
