He was in mid-sentence when she stabbed him in the throat from behind. Mia covered her mouth as her eyes widened. When the man was done struggling, Shields dumped his body into the water, too.
“I wasn’t ready for that,” Mia said as she looked at Shields.
“What’d you think I was going to do? Smash them over the head and knock them out? We’re trying to stop the next big criminal mastermind. I’m not taking any chances. Now, come on.”
“But don’t you need me in the van?” Mia asked as rain started pounding the deck.
“You’re right. I do. I’ll handle it from here. Just get ready to capture everything Sinclair tells me. However, if I call for you, come down right away. And don’t forget how to hit your target.”
Mia hustled down the dock in the direction of the van. Once she was there, she signaled she was ready to Shields.
Shields stealthily maneuvered onto the yacht, which rocked gently. She eased around the side and headed toward the sleeping quarters below deck. Quietly descending the steps, she entered the galley and found Sinclair making himself a sandwich.
“Drop it,” she said as he was about to take a bite.
Sinclair scowled at her and then glanced at his food. “It’s just a club sandwich.”
“Is taking a bite worth your life?”
He shrugged. “Well, when you put it like that, I guess not.”
“It’s probably not any good anyway,” Shields said. “Now, move over here, and keep your hands where I can see them.”
Sinclair didn’t flinch. Instead, he put a glass of wine to his lips before placing it on the counter and continuing to prepare his food. “So, I’m really curious who sent you, seeing that practically the entire world is owned by me.”
“Not everyone’s for sale.”
“That’s an answer to my question,” Sinclair said, shaking his knife at her. He put a piece of bread on top of his creation and then sliced it diagonally.
“I’m the one holding the gun,” she said. “You answer my questions.”
“Not when you make idle threats. You’re not going to shoot me. In fact, you’re going to tell me who you are, and then I’m going to kill you.”
“My name is Inigo Montoya,” she said. “You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Sinclair shook his head and laughed. “Good one. I’m a fan of The Princess Bride, too. But that isn’t a real answer to my question.”
Shields fired a shot at the pickle jar, causing the juice to cascade over his sandwich.
Sinclair sighed. “Now that wasn’t very nice, was it?”
“The next one is in your chest if you don’t tell me what I want to know,” she said.
“With an attitude like that, you’ll never get answers out of me.”
“I can live with that, especially if it means living on this planet without you.”
“Temper, temper,” Sinclair said. “I’m sure the agency taught you better manners than that.”
“That’s why the agency didn’t want me,” Shields said. “Now, I’m only going to ask you this question once.”
Sinclair held up his index finger. “Just one moment, please. I’m really hungry.”
Shields sighed and shrugged. Then Sinclair acted as if he was going to take a bite out of his soppy sandwich, but instead popped a pill in his mouth. Within seconds, he collapsed to the ground, convulsing back and forth.
Sinclair swore as she rushed over to him. “Don’t you die on me, you sonofabitch.”
“What is it?” Mia asked over the coms.
Thunder rumbled overhead as a flash of lightning flickered through one of the portholes.
“I think Sinclair took some kind of suicide pill,” she said as she stood over his body, twitching and thrashing back and forth. The whole episode lasted about thirty seconds, and then he stopped moving.
“Get down here, Mia,” Shields said. “I need you. This bastard took the easy way out.”
Shields proceeded to sweep the rest of the yacht. When she returned to the kitchen, she knelt next to Sinclair and felt for his pulse. Mia entered the room with her gun drawn.
“Over here,” Shields said.
“How is he?” Mia asked.
“Dead.”
“So, now what?”
Shields stood and shook her head. “Let’s see what we can get from this boat and then get the hell outta here.”
The two women searched for safes and other files. Cabinets, drawers, computers. They grabbed everything they could get their hands on. However, as they were about to leave, Shields heard a faint thumping noise.
“Do you hear that?” Shields asked.
Mia furrowed her brow. “Hear what?”
“It sounds like someone hitting a door or something, maybe down that hallway.”
Shields hustled toward a back bedroom and started hunting around the room for the source of the sound. Less than a minute later, she found a closet with a false back. Wasting no time, she kicked through it and found a man gagged and bound in a fetal position.
Her eyes bulged as she recognized him. “Sterling?”
He looked up at her and nodded. She quickly removed the handkerchief from his mouth and cut him free.
“Are you okay?” Mia asked as she entered the room.
Sterling appeared shaken, but stable. “That man is a monster.”
“He’s a dead monster,” Shields said. “Coward killed himself with some cyanide capsules.”
Sterling’s lips quivered. “He’s going to kill us all.”
“Let’s get outta here,” Shields said as she helped Sterling to his feet.
The trio rushed outside before Mia stopped.
“What is it?” Shields said.
“Security footage,” Mia said. “I need to erase it all.”
“Fine. Just hurry.”
Shields waited on the dock with Sterling. “You all right?”
“I’ll live, but that man is sadistic. I don’t know if I’m more surprised that I’m alive or that he didn’t eat me.”
“Good Lord. What a mess. At least he’s dead now.”
“There’s still a lot left to unravel,” Sterling said. “He wasn’t working alone, and I can almost guarantee you that Obsidian isn’t going to vanish just because he’s dead.”
“Then we still have plenty of work to do.”
Mia
