Gunner slammed the door open and moved left into the room. Cam was as fast as lightning as she wheeled in behind him and quickly placed two kill shots into the pirate’s forehead.
The trio of women began to scream.
Abduwali dropped the phone, scooped up his pistol off the desk, and jumped behind a chair where Jenna Larkin was tied up.
“I will kill the congressman’s daughter! I will absolutely kill her. Do not doubt me on this!”
Gunner kept his rifle pointed at Abduwali, hoping to get an opening. His hands were steady, and to her credit, Jenna Larkin froze and remained still.
“I hate the Yankees,” growled Gunner.
The odd statement caught Abduwali off guard. Subconsciously, his eyes avoided Gunner’s stare and looked up to the bill of his New York Yankees baseball cap. That was the last thing he saw as a bullet ripped through the bridge of his nose and exploded out of the back of his head, killing him instantly.
Cam rushed to untie the women and calm them down. As she did, she reported in to the Den.
“Hostages secured. Repeat, hostages secured.”
“Thirty minutes out,” announced Bear.
“We’ve got some mop-up to do on the lower decks. Maybe two hostiles and then we’ll call it.”
“No unfinished business, people,” reminded Ghost.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aboard the Victory Casino Cruise Ship
One Hundred Miles East of Carvajal, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
As the back side of Hurricane Archie roared over the Victory, Gunner and Cam expertly eliminated the last two pirates on the ship. It took them several hours, along with the help of Captain Garland, to search the ship. Once they were satisfied the vessel was clear of the threat, everyone was encouraged to come out of their staterooms and crew quarters to get some fresh air. It was a party atmosphere on board as Gunner and Cam accepted thanks from the ship’s passengers and crew.
Diplomatically, there was still some work to be done. Mexican officials, despite the success of the Gray Fox team, took issue with Gunner and Cam operating in their territorial waters without prior notice. The U.S. State Department in conjunction with the Coast Guard sent medical choppers to the scene to tend to the passengers and crew.
Cruise officials sent their own form of diplomats, all of whom happened to be attorneys, to console the passengers and offer free passage on a cruise of their choice in exchange for them signing a waiver of liability.
The Navy also was on the scene with a cutter to ward off any attempt by the Mexican government to board the Victory and retrieve the bodies. The DEA wanted to process the dead pirates and use the information in their ongoing war against the Los Zetas cartel.
Two Navy seaman were instructed to return the Mako MK to NAS Corpus Christi once the storm passed. The Coast Guard offered to take Gunner and his team so they could arrange transportation back to Fort Belvoir. Bear, however, had a much better idea.
While Gunner and Cam spent time on the ship with Captain Garland and the freed hostages, Bear became acquainted with Abduwali’s Baja Outlaw powerboats. After a careful inspection, he declared one of them to be in like-new condition. Then, with the assistance of a couple of crew members from the Victory, he topped off their fuel tanks and filled the fast boat with beer. Just as he finished his preparations, Gunner and Cam appeared on the transom.
“What are you doing?” Cam demanded to know.
“Um, well, they want their Mako back. And, hey, like you said, Cam, the insurance is probably too high.”
“You’re out of your mind!” she shouted at him as she discerned Bear’s alternative. “You can’t steal that boat. It belongs to …” Her voice trailed off. She wasn’t sure whom it belonged to at this point, but it had to belong to someone besides man-child Barrett King.
Bear playfully pointed at her. “Yeah! See? Exactly. Are you comin’ or not?”
“No.” Cam refused to be a part of his shenanigans.
“I’ve got beer,” he said teasingly.
“Shit,” she muttered, turning away from him towards Gunner. She rolled her eyes.
“C’mon, Cam. Who gives a shit? It’s a Los Zetas boat. And the damn INL will probably just give them right back to the cartel.” The Mexican INL was comparable to the U.S. DEA.
“Gunner, he can’t just claim a toy every time we complete a mission.”
“Sure he can. It’s one of those unwritten rules. Besides, now you guys will have a way to get out to the island so I don’t have to pick you up every time.”
Cam stood back. Now she was really against the idea. “Hold up! That means I have to ride with him out to your place? No freakin’ way!”
Bear, who was standing in the boat barely fifteen feet away, overheard the entire conversation. “Hey, Cam. You can always take the other one. Hold on. I’ll get you fueled up.”
“No!”
“Come on,” Bear persisted. “We can be twinkies.”
Gunner burst out laughing at Bear’s intentional dig at their partner.
“Screw you, asshole,” she growled back. “Come on, Gunner. I’m only going because he promised beer. Otherwise, I’d sit here ’til hell freezes over.”
Gunner laughed and motioned for her to board first. “That could happen, you know.”
“Shut up,” she mumbled.
The three shoved off. Bear set his course on the dash-mounted Garmin global positioning device and sat atop the seat while the Baja cruised along the now-still water. They enjoyed retelling the mission to Bear, especially the part about Gunner’s ride along Hurricane Archie’s eye wall. As they zipped across the Gulf of Mexico, neither Gunner nor Cam asked where they were headed. It was an opportunity to relax that they’d earned. They even turned off their comms to Ghost and the Den, a decision they’d get reamed out over later.
After Gunner relieved himself in the portable head tucked into the bow, he emerged and slapped Bear on the back. “Great idea, buddy.”
“Yeah, big guy. I thought so, too.”
Gunner squinted and looked ahead. “Say, Bear, where exactly are we going? Seems like an awful
