With Yakushev and Kilkenny’s aid, Stone stood up and studied the shoreline carefully, trying to get his bearings. ‘We’re in Essex, east of London proper. There are some old docks about a kilometer back. Parnell’s a local lad, like me, so he’s probably familiar with the area. If he’s going to abandon ship, he’s going to do it there.’
‘And he’ll make land before your people can run them down,’ Kilkenny concluded. Other than Spitfire, Parnell had the fastest boat on the Thames. The spies would be safely inland before the authorities could put anything near them by land or river.
Over the short period of time they’d spent together, Stone had taken his measure of Nolan Kilkenny and he already knew what thoughts were going through his mind. ‘Orders or not, we can’t let that happen.’
‘I agree with him,’ Yakushev said in defiance of Axton’s order. ‘We must intervene.’
‘I hate sitting around anyway.’ Kilkenny surveyed the river for Parnell’s boat. ‘We don’t have much time. Let’s get into position.’
Kilkenny piloted Spitfire to the center of the river before turning her perpendicular to the river’s flow, with the port side facing downriver toward the approaching boat.
‘How’s your shooting arm?’
Stone stretched and flexed his right arm; it felt weak. ‘It’s a bit wobbly, but otherwise fine.’
‘Good, because we’ll need all the firepower we can muster if we’re going to offer effective harassment. The plan is the same as before. We’re not going to try to stop them, just slow them down and keep them on the river until help arrives. I hope everyone’s ready, because here they come.’
Merlin rounded the slight turn in the river and came into view with a prominent fan of water issuing from the speeding boat’s tail. Yakushev and Stone crouched and took aim on the approaching ship while Kilkenny eased the throttle into low gear. As Merlin approached, Kilkenny hoped his opponents would assume that the drifting craft offered them no threat.
Merlin left the patrol boats far behind, and only the police helicopter kept up with the blue craft. Parnell showed no sign of veering his boat out of the main channel as it approached Spitfire.
‘He’s going to pass close, probably thinks we’re out of commission,’ Kilkenny whispered to his crew. ‘Let’s draw him in before we open up. On my mark, gentlemen.’
Merlin was almost upon them when Kilkenny shouted, ‘Now!’
All three opened fire on Merlin -bullets shattering the blue fiberglass hull as they struck. Kilkenny concentrated his fire on Parnell, strafing the bow deck and windscreen. Both Kang and Parnell ducked, but Parnell didn’t move fast enough for Kilkenny’s deadly aim. Three rounds caught Parnell in the right shoulder, shattering his collarbone and upper arm. The blow turned Parnell halfway around and nearly cast him overboard. His left hand, still clutching the wheel, pulled Merlin into a sharp starboard turn toward Spitfire.
Kilkenny dropped his weapon and slammed Spitfire ‘s throttles forward. Too late. Merlin ‘s upturned bow surged forward and struck them broadside, her keel driving deeply into the grinning shark’s mouth on Spitfire ‘s tapered bow. The high-tech composite hulls of both ships exploded into a million tiny pieces. Kilkenny and his shipmates were flung overboard as Merlin plowed deeper into Spitfire, trying to capsize her. Merlin ‘s hull, now locked into Spitfire, broke in two as the green ship’s reinforced keel rolled up from below and, like an ax, struck it amidships. The stern half of Parnell’s vessel, carried forward by the engine’s momentum, catapulted over the capsized boat into the river.
The captain’s chair that Roe was lashed to broke free from its base, ejecting her into the water, seat and all. Kang hit the water clear of the largest pieces of the broken vessel.
Merlin ‘s stern crashed down on Parnell and the fractured fiberglass hull tore into his clothing and skin. Parnell’s pain gave way to sudden panic as the back half of his precious Merlin grabbed hold and dragged him down. He flailed vainly to free himself from the wreckage, clawing hopelessly at the water, but each second that passed found him another foot beneath the surface.
At ten feet, Parnell could hold his breath no longer and he coughed the oxygen-depleted air from his lungs. He gagged on the first trickles of water that ran down his throat as he inhaled the river. Each involuntary spasm, his body’s frantic search for air, sent another mouthful of the river into his rapidly flooding lungs. Twenty feet down, he was no longer aware of the brown-black world that surrounded him. Parnell’s mind had closed in upon itself in the final moments of consciousness.
The broken stern of Merlin spiraled silently downward into the silty river with the body of Ian Parnell impaled upon its fractured end. A few scattered bubbles sprang loose when the wreckage struck bottom, tumbling upward to the surface. The weight of the stern pushed Parnell’s body down into the soft river bottom.
59
Kilkenny grabbed hold of Stone’s jacket as Spitfire capsized and they were flung into the river. Once in the water, he threw his free arm across the injured man’s chest and pulled him clear of the wreck. Yakushev broke the water’s surface nearby, still shaken from the crash as he seized hold of the Spitfire ‘s hull.
With Stone in tow, Kilkenny swam over and joined Yakushev beside the wreckage. ‘You okay?’
‘I’m a little bruised,’ Yakushev replied, ‘but otherwise fine. What about Kang and Parnell?’
‘You’re right. One or both of them might still be able to cause us some trouble. Can you hang on here with Andrei?’ he asked Stone.
‘I think so-I’ve still got one good arm.’
Kilkenny left Stone by the hull and began treading water. ‘I’m going to take a look around and see if anyone from Parnell’s boat survived. Holler if you guys see any trouble.’
Kilkenny glided away from his comrades, propelling himself silently beneath the water with only his head above the choppy surface. Steam and exhaust poured out of Spitfire ‘s engine compartment. The boat’s propeller finally sputtered to a stop as the engine choked on river water. Rounding the stern, Kilkenny discovered a widespread field of flotsam littering the surface.
About five meters away, he found someone struggling in the water. Kilkenny fought off the vindictive urge to let one of the conspirators drown; instead, he moved in to help. Kilkenny recognized Roe in the brief instant that her face was above the water. She was lashed to a captain’s chair and the seat’s foam cushions were buoyant enough that they held her facedown in the water. Kilkenny’s muscled forearm wrapped around the chest of the frantically choking woman and pulled her head out of the water.
‘I’ve got you,’ Kilkenny reassured her. ‘You’re going to be fine. Just relax and I’ll take care of everything.’ Kilkenny pulled her through the water and Roe calmed down once she stopped choking and caught her breath. ‘By the way, I’m Nolan Kilkenny.’
‘Kilkenny!’ Roe’s eyes grew wide when she repeated the name. ‘I thought you were in jail!’
‘A simple misunderstanding that a Russian friend of yours claims you can explain.’
Looking at the wreckage, Roe wondered how her mentor had fared in the violent exchange. ‘Is Andrei all right?’
‘Yeah, he’s a tough old guy.’ Kilkenny pulled Roe back to where the others clung to Spitfire ‘s hull.
A fatherly smile came to Yakushev when he recognized the person in Kilkenny’s grasp. ‘Anya, are you hurt?’
‘I’m fine, Andrei, just a bit handicapped by these ropes.’
‘I’ll get those off as soon as I can get a few more hands on you,’ Kilkenny promised. ‘Andrei, take hold of her for a minute.’
Yakushev grasped the chair with his free arm, struggling to keep Roe from flipping facedown into the river. Kilkenny let go and treaded water while untying the knotted ropes.
‘Nolan, did you see anyone else over there?’ Stone asked.
‘No.’
‘Kang, Parnell, and I were the only ones left,’ Roe offered.
‘Well, it looks like you’re the lucky one,’ Kilkenny replied. ‘I’m surprised that any of us survived that crash.’
The pilot of the police helicopter Eagle witnessed the collision in horror from above the river. He had maintained a safe distance from the speeding boats earlier to avoid drawing any gunfire; now he held his distance
