lead wires stretching from his chest to the man’s hand as he fell, helpless and twitching, to the floor.
“Hello, son,” Martin said as he stepped in and loomed over the agent. “Watched you do your stuff in the bar this afternoon- nice job.” Martin stepped away and into the galley. “You too, Kurt,” he said to the man in the rubber wet suit standing beside the couch with the Taser in his hand.
Steiner bent over and laid the Taser on the floor. He pulled a half-inch-wide nylon cable band from his back pocket, put the loop over Woody’s wrists, and cinched it tight by pulling it.
“I got an idea you’re gonna enjoy the fireworks show,” Martin said.
Kurt got a second cable band and secured the babysitter’s ankles. Then he took a small roll of duct tape from another pocket and sealed Woody’s lips.
“If I hadn’t had Kurt on board with that electricity rig, you woulda had me,” Martin said. Then he dragged him easily down the hall toward the sound of the running shower.
Reb had come in and lain beside Erin on the bed, interrupting the mood in the room. Erin had been listening to Laura, who was seated across from her on the V-shaped bed.
“Reb?”
“Can I sleep in here?” He put the birdcage on the side table. The bird yawned and stretched a wing. “Pretty bird,” it said. “Love the bird.”
“Yes, we love the bird,” Erin said, laughing. “Except when he shits on our clothes.”
“Erin!” Laura said. “Poops, remember?”
“Except when the little shit poops on our clothes.”
“Mama, remember the story about the little bird?”
“What story?” she asked.
“The one where the man has the bird in his hand and he asks the other man if the bird is alive or dead.”
“Well,” she started. “This war lord had a bird hidden in his hands, and he asked the wise man to tell him whether the bird was alive or dead. He planned to crush it if the wise man said it was alive and let it live if he said dead. Foolproof, right?”
“And he said?” Reb prompted.
“He said. You, great one, have the power to make the bird as you wish it,” Laura said.
Erin said, “Blah, blah, blah.”
Reb looked as if he were going to hit her.
“And he let the bird go?” Reb said.
“I think so,” Laura said. “I can’t remember. I believe he did.”
“Sure,” Erin said. “If he’d had Biscuit, he would have killed it because it would have pooped in his hand.” She laughed.
“You should both try to get some sleep,” Laura said as she finished her story.
“Okay,” Erin said, tapping the magazine beside her. “Soon as I finish this Vogue.”
“You can read anytime. Sleep.”
Laura sat with the children for a few minutes. Reb fell asleep immediately, but Erin seemed to be faking an attempt. Laura stood slowly and crossed the room. She closed the door behind her gently, noticing immediately that Woody wasn’t on the couch. The heavy boat rocked under her feet as the swells rolled against it.
She lifted the wineglasses from the coffee table and started for the galley sink. She tripped, and one of the glasses fell to the wood floor and shattered.
Erin appeared at the door. “What was that?” she asked.
“Nothing, go back to sleep,” she said. “I broke a glass.”
“Where’s Woody and Reid?”
“In the back, I guess. Go to bed.”
“Where’s Wolf?”
“G-O T-O S-L-E-E-P.”
She turned. “You don’t have to spell it, I heard you.”
“I wanted you to think about it.”
Laura collected the pieces of curved glass and dropped them into the refuse can in the galley. On her way back into the lounge she saw something on the floor near the door and knelt for a closer look. It was a G-SHOCK wristwatch, with the strap broken; it looked like the one Woody wore.
“Woody?” she said aloud. “Reid?” Have they been wrestling? Impossible, she said to herself. There was no answer. She looked out the porthole to see what the agents on the pier were doing, but she didn’t see anyone. She couldn’t see the Coast Guard vessel. It was as if she were peering through a thick veil of moisture.
She started down the hallway. When she got to the bathroom, the shower was still running, and she tapped before she opened the door. The light was off and the room was filled with fog.
“Reid, how long does it take to shower? It’s been a half hour. You’re gonna wrinkle up.”
There was no answer, so she turned on the light. She thought the room was empty until she looked into the shower and discovered Reid’s naked form crumpled against the wall of the shower, facedown. The back of his head was swollen, and there was blood running from a long, deep wound. She could see a white river of skull in the valley of clean red.
“Reid!” she gasped. She knelt and picked up his head. It was warm. She turned off the water. Reid opened his eyes slowly.
“Reid, God, you’re bleeding, what happened? Did you fall?”
“I don’t know-I must have.” Then his eyes seemed to clear. “No… someone was in here… I thought it was you… then… Laura, I’m dizzy.”
She turned his head slightly. He winced, but she had to look into his eyes. One was far more dilated than the other. Concussion. She said, “I’ll get Vance and Nelson.”
“Woody?” he asked.
“I couldn’t find Woody. The guards aren’t on the pier as far as I can tell.”
“We’ve been breached. It’s Martin.” Reid closed his eyes and then opened them. “Laura, listen carefully. The bed frame on my side opens up… magnet inside the wood… Press at the top. It’s a cubby and there are guns in there. Take one and lock yourself in the V berth. When you get in there, there’s a switch in the closet… it’s an alarm. When you’re safely in there, flip it. The troops will come running from all over. Don’t open the door under any circumstances. If anyone tries to come in, shoot through the door. You’ll have fifteen shots. Just keep pulling the trigger, and it’ll fire.”
“I’ll help you get there, Reid. Can you stand?”
“There are two guns… get me one. Then get the hell to the V berth. Don’t stop…”
“Reid, I can-”
“Don’t fuckin’ argue with me,” he snarled.
“But your head-”
“My head is the least of our problems. The guns!”
Laura went into the bedroom. She located the cubby, pressed on the side railing, and it fell open. She reached in for the guns; then she ran back and gave one to Reid, who was up on an elbow. “I’ll cover the hall. Help me out.”
She grabbed his arm to help him. He could stand but was stooped and had no sense of balance. She was crying now. “I can’t… leave you.”
“He’ll kill you and he’ll kill the kids. He’ll torture them first. He’s a twisted deviate who has done horrible things to kids like Reb and Erin all over the world.”
Her mind cleared a bit, and she seized on what he was saying. “How do you know so much about him?”
“I can’t explain now. Run.”
Confusion threatened to lock her reason. But she knew the children were more important than Reid was… than she was.
Laura left the bathroom and moved down the hall in an instinctive crouch, sweeping the gun from side to side as she went.
As she edged past the door to the crew cabin, she saw that it was cracked open, and there on the floor, tied hand and foot, was Woody. She started to enter but caught a bit of movement in the mirror and realized that someone was behind the door, waiting. Her mind, already filled with fear, pushed her on.
