Selena saw it from under the piano. “Cade!”
*
Decker and Riley ran down to the stern. Entering through a door, they engaged in a short firefight with two armed men in suits. A brief exchange killed one of the men and sent the other retreating into a corridor.
“Go, go, go!” Decker yelled, leading the way with his gun raised into the aim.
He swung into the corridor just in time to see the man dragging Atticus out of one of the cabins. He roughly bundled the old professor in front of him to use as a human shield and fired off another few rounds. Still no sign of Diaz. Decker prayed he was still alive and hit the deck. On his stomach now, arms out-stretched before him, he raised his pistol and fired on the man, blowing the top of his skull clean off and spraying the corridor walls with blood and brains.
“Talk about turning someone into pink mist!” Riley yelled. “Good shot, Cap.”
As he slumped to the floor, Atticus stepped away and straightened his jacket.
The old bird’s as cool as a cucumber, Decker thought, climbing to his knees.
“Ah, Captain Decker!” Atticus said. “How good to see you.”
“Are you all right?”
“A little shaken up, but pretty much tip top as usual.”
Decker reloaded. “Then let’s get out of here. Hopefully, Lena and the others got the capstone.”
Atticus grabbed his elbow and stopped him as he turned to leave. “It’s more complicated than that now, Mitch. They have another hostage!”
“We know,” Decker said. “A physicist named Salvador Diaz. Why exactly did they want him?”
“They’re forcing him to operate the doomsday machine. It’s some sort of amplifier. Physics isn’t my field at all so it was a bit above my level.”
“Mine too, but we can talk about it later,” Decker said. “Let’s get back to the others.”
*
Behind the bed, Cade checked his wound and sighed a breath of relief. Nothing more than a graze, but it had been too close for comfort. Another half inch and he’d have a lead slug in his arm. “I’m fine,” he called back. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you certain?” Selena said.
“Yeah, sure. I love getting shot. I do it all the time.”
“With your aim I can see why…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing… look out!”
The man in the door rushed forward, compact machine pistol held tight to his body as he closed in on Cade behind the bed. At the foot of the bed he brought his gun up and aimed it on the wounded American. Cade reached out for his dropped gun but he wasn’t fast enough. He stared up at the armed man and winced.
The report of the gunshot boomed loudly in the stateroom. He opened his eyes to see the gunman drop to his knees, blood bubbling in spurts from his mouth like a fountain. Then the shot man tipped forward, eyes rolling back in his head, and crashed down into the blood-soaked plush pile.
Selena watched Cade closely as he turned and saw the smoking gun in her hand.
“You’re more than welcome, Mr Thurman.”
His heart beat like a drum in his chest. “Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out. Right now we have to get out of here! We still haven’t found the capstone.”
Not exactly sure how he was still alive, Cade snatched up his gun and scrambled out from behind the bed. He trampled over the silk sheets in his filthy, bloody boots and slammed down on the other side, reaching down to help Selena out from behind the trashed piano.
“I’m just going to put myself in serious mode for a second,” he said. “Thanks.”
She looked down at his blue checked Bermuda shorts and bright sunset-pink Hawaiian shirt.
“You’re going to need some new clothes for serious mode, but you’re more than welcome.”
“Are you and Mitch still an item? Because I sure can see the two of us sharing a sun lounger on Taylor Beach one night.”
“I think you’d better keep that thought to yourself, Mr Thurman. And yes, Mitch and I are still an item, as you put it. But I am prepared to do one very special thing with you though.”
His eyes widened and his heart began to speed up again. “What?”
“Find the frigging capstone!”
“Sure, roger that. But if you ever change your mind…”
“The capstone, Cade! Now!”
With guns held high, they searched the rest of the deck. Quick, quiet and efficient, they made their way from cabin to cabin. Above their heads, the sound of a desperate gunfight crackled and buzzed. Decker and Riley sounded like they might be in trouble, but she had to put it out of her mind.
“Last cabin on this deck,” Selena said. “We’re running out of places to search!”
Gun held up into the aim, Cade slowly advanced into the room toward a galvanized steel trunk in the corner. “I think we have it.”
“You’re counting chickens, Cade.”
“Maybe.”
Three padlocks secured the trunk. Cade lifted his gun and shot all three locks open in a shower of hot sparks. Then he carefully raised the lid and looked inside.
“Well?” she asked, eyes wide and expectant. “Is it in there?”
“Shoulda waited till the damn chickens hatched, Lena,” he said with a sigh. “Sorry.”
Selena prayed she was the subject of one of Cade Thurman’s notorious gags. When she reached him beside the trunk, she realized that despite the shirt, he was still on serious mode.
“Damn it,” she said. “It’s not here.”
“But it was,” he said. “This was definitely the trunk they used to transport the capstone, right?”
She nodded. “I’m sure of it. They obviously got nervous because of our
