I hand Manning his phone and start to get ready to go back in the water. I head for my crate on the other side of the warehouse that we're located in. I'll be transported the short distance across the compound to the small lake that's located on the campus. Once there, I'll be waiting for the SEALs to enter the water, and then it's a game of tag. If I tag someone, he's out, but if one of them can tag me, then I'm out. They have paintball guns, and I don't. I've never been tagged; however, they have managed to tag each other multiple times.
I hear Manning's cell phone ring. I try to tune him out until I hear him answer it.
"Yes, Miss Cavendish, what is it?" he asks.
Why is Maggie calling back? I turn and look at Manning. The look on his face is one of puzzlement.
"Who is this?" he demands.
Pause.
"No this isn't Abe, it's Dr. Manning," I hear him explain. "Mrs. Mann, please calm down. Please explain what happened."
Another pause.
"Mrs. Mann, please slow down, I can't understand you," he says in exasperation. "What has happened to Miss Cavendish?"
I hadn't even realized that I was walking until I'm standing next to Manning. I can hear Sharon's panicked voice on the other end of the line. Manning is starting to get annoyed so I take the phone away from him.
"Sharon, it's Abe," I interrupt her rant. "Please take a deep breath and then tell me what happened from the beginning."
I hear her inhale and then she tells me what happened to Maggie in a shaky and slightly hysterical voice. She explains how they were both standing next to the railing overlooking the bay, Maggie pushing her, telling her to run, a wall of water coming over a railing that's a good thirty feet about the ocean waves, the water pulling Maggie back over the railing and down into the sea. She describes seeing a woman with dark hair, wearing practically nothing in the water holding Maggie under, and then swimming off with Maggie.
I feel the muscles in my chest contract. Once again, I'm glad that I have gills to breathe instead of lungs.
"Abe? Are you still there?" Sharon asks. She sounds to be in near tears and it snaps me out of my shock.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the Monterey Plaza Hotel."
"Does anyone else know that Maggie's missing?"
"Only the people who came out to see what I was screaming about," she answers weakly. "So, most of my family."
"Maggie's staying at that hotel, right?" I ask.
"Yes, she is," she replies.
"Good, if anyone else asks where she is, say she went up to her room," I instruct. "Hold onto her phone, I'll call you back in a little bit."
"But…," she starts to protest.
"It's all right, Sharon, we'll be there as soon as we can," I say.
"Ok," she manages to whisper. "Bye."
She disconnects before I can respond. I finally realize that I'm staring at the floor and I look up. Manning, Liz, Red, John and several other agents are standing around me.
"Dr. Manning, we have a problem," I say to the director. "Maggie's been kidnapped and I believe that Lewis is responsible."
"What makes you so sure that it's Lewis who's responsible?" he asks.
I tell him everything that Sharon told me. I feel my heart doing double time, and it's all I can do to keep from screaming in frustration as Manning digests what I've just told him. The commanding officer of the SEALs comes in and walks up to Manning, ignoring everyone else.
"Dr. Manning, my men are waiting," he says hotly. "How much longer are they going to have to wait before you get your 'agent' into the water?"
Manning looks at him and I could almost hear the gears working in his head.
"Commander Metz, how would your men feel about a real assignment instead of all of these training sessions?" Manning asks.
"What do you mean?" he responds.
"One of our agents has been kidnapped," Manning states. "We must leave now if we want to have any hope in saving her."
"What exactly can we expect?" he asks.
Manning gives him a brief run down on Lewis' ability and of Maggie's disappearance. Metz thinks about it for a minute, nods his agreement and then heads for the exit. Manning starts issuing orders and the others start to carry them out. I call Sharon back to let her know we're coming.
"Yes?" Sharon answers in a shaky voice.
"Sharon, it's Abe," I say. "We're going to be leaving soon."
"Maggie's near the middle of the bay on the very edge of the canyon," she replies without preamble.
"How do you know this?" I ask.
"A few members of my family have joined with cormorants," she tells me. "They were able to track them and have been able to dive down to near where they are. As far as we can tell, Maggie's still alive. She's breathing with a respirator and tank but her eyes are closed and she seems to be tied up in the kelp. The woman I saw take her is down there and isn't using any scuba gear. There's also some sharks hanging around. I'm no expert on sharks, but I think they're great whites. I know you told me not to tell anyone else, but I had to tell the rest of my family what happened. I can't lie to them. We've moved to a little beach just under the hotel, so it's pretty secluded. Just look for the circling cormorants. That's where you'll find Maggie."
"Ok, thank you, Sharon," I say. "I'll let Dr. Manning know. We'll do everything we can to get her back."
"I know you will," she replies quietly and then hangs up.
I find Manning, hand back his phone and tell him where to find Maggie. He thanks me and sends me to my crate. Within a few minutes, I'm in the crate and we're moving out. I don't think we've ever moved out this fast before.
Within fifteen minutes we're at the marina. My crate opens and there's a tarp covering the opening. I'm told to walk into the tarp and let it cover me. I do so and then I'm led down a ramp and a few steps onto a boat. Then I'm led down a few more steps. Once the tarp is removed, I find myself below deck. Hellboy is brought in the same way as I was a moment later and we're told to stay below deck and away from the windows until we're called. The door is shut and I can feel more people get onto the boat.
A short time later I hear the motor start up and then we start to move slowly out of the marina. A few minutes later, we're past the breakwater and headed out into the bay at high speed. I sit down and put my head between my knees as we bounce along the water.
"Are you all right, Blue?" Hellboy asks. "You're looking a little green around the gills."
"How can you tell?" I respond without looking up. "My respirator is still on."
"Blue…" he growls in warning.
"I forgot to take my Dramamine," I tell my knees.
"Oh, sorry," is all he can come up with in response. Lacking anything better to do, he decides to light a cigar.
After what seems to be an eternity later, I feel us slow down. The motor is put in idle and then finally, turned off. I can here Metz talking to his men as the boat gently rocks in the waves. Manning sticks his head through the door and looks at us.
"Abe, Hellboy, get ready to go in," he orders. "Hellboy, you're going in with the SEALs. You'll have to leave the Samaritan here and use a spear gun instead. When you're both ready, I want you to come up on deck."
I nod, stand and start to strip down to my shorts as Red takes off his duster, boots and black T-shirt. Hellboy takes the Samaritan off, and carefully wraps it in his duster. As soon as we're both ready, we head for the door. I let Red go first to lessen the impact of the sight of me. As he steps out onto the deck, I hear several gasps and a few guns get cocked. Then I hear Metz yelling at his men.
"THAT WILL BE ENOUGH!" he yells. "You will save your trigger happy fingers for the real target, this Lewis woman. This is Hellboy; he's one of the targets you've all been trying to hit and failing miserably at all week."
"Sir?" I hear one of the soldiers ask hesitantly. "Does that mean there's another, um, target that we've been chasing in the water?"
"Yeah, there is," I hear Hellboy respond.
I feel the boat move under his weight and the click of his hooves as he walks across the deck. I don't need any psychic ability to know that Red is probably in this guy's face now and blowing cigar smoke in it. The fact that I can hear the guy coughing is a good indication that I'm right.
"Hey, Blue," Red calls out. "Why don't you come up here and say 'hello' to the nice gentlemen."
I step out onto the deck into the light of the setting sun. I look around and see ten men dressed in wetsuits all armed with knives and spear guns, and sure enough, Hellboy is towering over one of them. Some are hastily putting their guns away. They're staring at Hellboy and me with a mixture of fear and confusion. Manning and Metz are standing on either side of the door I just walked through. I also notice that the sun is just starting to go behind the hills on the horizon. While I have fairly good low light vision, I know the others don't.
"Hello," I say with a wave. "I am Abraham Sapien. You may call me Abe."
"All right, you bums," Metz shouts to get his men's attention. He points off to the starboard side of the boat where about half a dozen black birds with long skinny necks and beaks are circling about fifty yards away. "This is a search and rescue. You'll be going out to that patch of kelp and diving down until you find the target. Hellboy will be going in first, you will follow his lead. Also, we have confirmed sightings of sharks in the area. Don't get yourselves eaten. Are there any questions?"
"Isn't, uh, Abe going with us?" asks the man that Hellboy is currently trying to cow.
"No," Metz answers. "He'll be following you lot in after you've engaged the enemy."
"Hellboy, get your gear on," Manning starts. "Remember that Lewis can control water, so be ready for anything. I also want your transmitter on at all times."
"Yeah, sure," says HB.
He pulls on a modified buoyancy control device with a very large air tank strapped to it. Then he grabs the largest pair of goggles I've ever seen and a snorkel and starts to put them on. He stops and looks around.
"Where's Liz?" he asks Manning.
"She's with the Cavendish family," answers Manning.
I hold my hand out over the water toward the birds stretching the webbing in my hand as far as it will go. I can feel the power of the Air Mages that are joined with the birds. I also sense where Lewis and Maggie are. I point out into the water.
"They're directly under the birds," I tell Hellboy. "You'll find them near the ocean floor in the middle of the kelp. Maggie is currently still alive."
Hellboy nods, grabs a spear gun and heads to an opening at the back of the boat. He puts on his goggles and snorkel and puts the respirator in his mouth. Using his left hand to keep the equipment on his face Hellboy steps out of the boat and jumps into the water. The SEALs follow suit a moment later.
I watch their bubbles as they head for the kelp bed. Stretching my hand out over the water, I follow their progress.
"Abe," says Manning from behind me. "As soon as they've got Lewis distracted, I want you in that water. Get Cavendish and head for shore and her family. I'm sure you'll be able to find them without any problem. Liz is expecting you. One way or another, we finish this today."
I nod my understanding and continue to follow the others progress. I just pray that the way this ends will be with one death: Lewis's.