and dashed into the woods to find him. That was his cue to leave. Before he departed, though, Jones blasted a few shots into the water-his signal for Payne to begin-then slipped deeper into the trees for safety.
He had done his part. Now it was up to his partner.
AND
Payne was ready.
He’d been waiting for several seconds in the water, trying to remain completely silent near the stern, but now that Jones had signaled him, he knew he could spring into action. Using a rope that hung from the deck, Payne quickly scaled the back edge of the ship. He slipped his hand into his shoulder bag and grabbed his Glock. The powerful handgun, fitted with a silencer and a full clip of ammo, would allow him to kill with stealth. And that was crucial. He couldn’t risk drawing attention to himself before he had a chance to leave the area.
As water dripped off his damp clothes, Payne crept around the small boat, looking for the enemy. One stood by the instrument panel, his back facing the water. Another rested by the bow. And neither sensed the presence sneaking up behind them.
Pffft! the Glock whispered.
Pffft! Pffft! Both men were dead.
The prisoners saw the guards fall and immediately turned toward the sound of the muffled gunshots. Payne, covered in slime and water, raised his finger to his lips to silence them.
“I’m one of the good guys,” he whispered.
Ten mouths dropped in wonderment. They couldn’t believe that someone had found them.
“Are there any other guards on board?”
Ten people shook their heads in unison before a masculine voice rose from the back of the crowd. “Jon? Is that you?”
The sound of Payne’s name made his heart leap. He realized it wasn’t Ariane-the voice was too deep to be hers-but the question meant someone else on board knew him. But who? He frantically searched through the faces, looking for the source of the sound, but couldn’t figure it out until the man spoke again.
“Jon Payne?”
Payne nodded and moved closer to the man, desperately trying to recognize him, but the guy’s battered appearance made it difficult. Bruises covered his face and neck. Blood and dirt covered everything else. A makeshift splint was tied to his leg. “Do I know . . . Robbie?”
Robert Edwards, Ariane’s brother-in-law, nodded his head with joy. He tried to stand up, but his ankle prevented it. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe it’s you.”
“Yeah, it’s me,” he gasped. The reunion with Edwards was so unexpected that Payne didn’t know what else to say. “What are you doing here?”
“I was kidnapped. We were all kidnapped.” Edwards clutched Payne’s hand to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. “And what about you? What are you doing here?”
“I heard the island served a nice buffet.” Joking was the only way he could reel his emotions back to where they needed to be. “Actually, I’m searching for Ariane. Is she here?”
Edwards nodded. “Not on the boat, but somewhere on the island. I haven’t seen her today, though.” He took a deep breath of air. “I haven’t seen Tonya, either. I hope to God she’s all right. The baby, too.”
Payne winced. He had no idea that Ariane’s entire family was on the Plantation. What kind of bastards would drag a family, one with a pregnant woman, into this type of situation?
“Do you have any idea where they are?”
“I don’t know,” he sobbed. “They might be in the cabins, but I don’t know.”
“No, they aren’t. I already checked there.” Payne glanced at the other nine slaves. “Does anyone know where the others are?”
All of the prisoners shook their heads.
“Damn!” He had hoped that someone would be able to direct him to Ariane, but it was obvious that the two groups had been kept apart. “One last question, can you tell me how many captives I should be looking for?”
Edwards shrugged. “Ten, maybe more. They rotated us around quite a bit.”
“Okay, I’ll take it from here. But before I leave, I’d like to make a small suggestion. Why don’t you guys go home? Does that sound all right to you?”
Ten sets of eyes got misty.
Payne continued, “Before you can leave, we need to get rid of those bombs on your legs.”
“But how?” shrieked one of the women. “The lead guard said they would explode if we tried to take them off. He said all of them would burst, one after another.”
“And he was right. They would’ve exploded if you pried them off.” Payne reached into his shoulder bag and retrieved Ndjai’s keys. “That’s why we’ll use this instead.”
The lady smiled in gratitude as he handed her the anklet key.
“Carefully remove the bombs, then place them gently in this bag when you’re done.”
While waiting for the bag to be filled, Payne walked over to the boat’s instrument panel, assuming that he’d have to hot-wire it. He was pleasantly surprised to see a key in the ignition. “Hey, Robbie, how are your navigational skills? Are you any good?”
“Not too bad. I’ve taken you water skiing a few times, remember?”
Payne should’ve remembered. He and Ariane had visited Edwards in Colorado on more than one occasion. “That’s right. Good, then I’m making you the captain.” He placed his arm around the injured man and helped him to the wheel. “I want you to pull out of here very slowly.”
“Slowly?” called out one of the kids. “Why slowly?”
Payne didn’t have time to explain, but he knew he’d better do it anyway. The last thing he needed was a mutiny on the escape vessel.
“The area around the island is surrounded by fallen trees. It’s a pretty thick swamp, clogged with all kinds of logs. If he goes too fast and hits one, the boat could sink.” He smiled for the child’s benefit. “And that would be bad.”
The kid nodded his head in agreement.
Payne turned back to Edwards. “When you steer, make sure you have some people looking out into the water. They can help you avoid some of the larger obstacles. Got it?”
“Jon, I want to help,” he assured him. “But Tonya is still here. I’m not going anywhere without her.”
“Trust me,” Payne said, “I’d feel the same way if I were you. But with your injury, you’re in no shape to fight. Hell, you’re not even in shape to walk. So I need you to stay on this boat and help all of these people get to safety. If you do that for me, I’ll do everything in my power to rescue your wife. . . . Okay?”
Edwards nodded reluctantly. “What should I do when we get to the sea? Do you have backup waiting for us?”
“No, there’s no backup. It’s just me and my partner on this mission, no one else.”
The looks on the prisoners’ faces said it all. They couldn’t believe that Payne and Jones had done so much- and risked so much-on their own.
“Once you hit the gulf, open it up to full speed and go north toward the closest set of lights. Don’t stop for anyone unless it’s the Coast Guard. When you hit land, call the police, NASA, anyone! The sooner I get some help around here the better.”
CHAPTER 48
THE
leaves and branches would have covered Jones completely, if not for the small gap near his eyes. It was the only spot that he risked showing, for it gave him his only view of the world. And if his mission was to be a success, Jones needed to know when someone was coming.
The shadow lurking in the distance told him that somebody was.
As he waited, Jones wrapped his fingers around the polymer handle of his gun, readying himself for action. If possible, he would eliminate the target from his current hiding place. If necessary, Jones was prepared to do it on the move. It was the first thing he learned with the MANIACs. Be ready for