Life Goes On
Chapter 53
The only place Hayley had seen a boat like the one she and Jackson Hunt occupied was in a Bond Film. The shape was sleek, cutting through the water with almost no resistance. The motor was insanely powerful, as if souped up by "Q". It also bore some interesting accouterments, like the shackles attached to a metal brace by chains. Hunt studied a screen showing a satellite view of a ship. "Gable's there alright," he confirmed. "Bastard's right up on deck enjoying the sun. He's not the only one. Looks like these guys are operating a deluxe version of 'Escapes are Us.' There's a pretty full crew. I can see four on deck and there are probably more below. They're armed too, looks like Kalashnikovs."
"Bollocks!" Hayley exclaimed. "Out-manned and outgunned. How in the bloody hell are we going to get Gable?"
"Relax," Hunt counseled. "We're not going to try to out shoot them and snatch Gable. We're going to rescue him - from a sinking ship. It happens in this neck of the woods. Pirates scuttle a ship, especially one with a valuable cargo. Then their divers retrieve what they want as salvage. We'll just be making a different kind of retrieval. For a moment Gable might actually be glad to see us."
"And how do we organize that?" Hayley questioned.
Hunt pointed to the equipment locker. "How are your scuba skills?"
"Barely adequate," Hayley confessed. "Where I grew up we didn't have much interest in swimming."
Hunt grunted. "This is where Junior would have been useful. From what I've observed over the years the kid's pretty good. Learned when he took that bitch second wife of his to the Galapagos. I guess it was at least quiet underwater. Alright, when it's dark, I'll plant the charges myself. You can stay in the boat and monitor Gable's ship by infra-red. You'll see the explosions. You can pick me up and we'll pick Gable up. In the dark he won't realize who you are until it's too late, and by that time we'll have him secured. I'm sure he'll be talkative. There's nothing like being stuck in the middle of unfriendly waters to stimulate conversation."
Castle lugged the bags of baby things into the loft. The last thing he'd expected was that Kate would go overboard, but once she started building BG's layette there was no stopping her. There were t-shirts in three sizes, baby coveralls, a baseball uniform with matching hat and mitt, a collection of onesies, sleepers, jackets, baby sneakers, and a tiny karate gi as an homage to BG's substantive kicks. For his own part, Castle had not been reticent about the use of his credit card. He found a stroller reminiscent of an X-wing fighter and a high chair modeled on the Iron Throne. Kate particularly approved of the chair, commenting that she'd always like Cersei and that it was better to have a female in the seat of power.
"I have no doubt that BG will be occupying the seat of power," Castle had quipped. "After a few nights of her waking us every couple of hours, you'll realize just how much control she has. Fortunately babies usually grow out of that slightly before parents die of exhaustion." With no room for the large boxes in the trunk of the car. Castle had arranged for the stroller and chair to be delivered. Together the Castles stowed their purchases in the modular storage that had been designed for the nursery. Castle's brow furrowed. "You know we still haven't bought a changing table. Massive oversight on my part."
"No it isn't Castle. I wasn't supposed to know," Kate explained, "but given what she described as our nesting frenzy, Lanie thought she'd better tell me that we're getting one as a group gift from some of the cops at the Twelfth. I believe they said something about hoping my kid won't put out as much shit as my husband does."
"Ooh, ouch!" Castle winced. "Nice. I'm afraid to see what it's going to look like."
"Don't worry. They've enlisted Jenny to oversee the purchase. Apparently they think that Ryan's taken up your conspiracy theory legacy and she's just the one to cope with it."
"Ouch again. But at least we know she's got good taste. She did marry my theory crafting protegé. Is BG ready for a snack?" Castle inquired, eager to change the subject.
"No, I think the curry from lunch is still with both of us. But I wouldn't mind if... Is that from your father?" Kate queried as Castle's phone interrupted with an alert.
"Mm," Castle confirmed. "It says, 'Operation about to commence,' whatever that means. It's almost five o'clock now here, if they're far enough east, it should be a couple of hours later, sundown. Sounds like my father is planning some kind of attack under the cover of darkness. Wow, I wish he hadn't said anything, now I'm going to go crazy waiting to hear from him again."
"Castle, it will be fine," Kate soothed. "Sounds like he has a plan. The way he works, it shouldn't be long. You just need a distraction. You want to play Moonrider?"
Castle's brows rose. "You want to play Moonrider against me? Last time I beat you by twenty thousand points."
"Well then it's time you gave me a chance to redeem myself," Kate declared. "Get the console, Castle."
"I'm not sure Moonrider is going to do it," Castle worried.
Kate stroked the stubble that had begun to form along his jawline. "well if it doesn't, we'll just have to find something that will. Mount up Space Cowboy!"
Hunt swam along the hull of Gable's ship trying to calculate the most effect placement for the two bombs he carried. The charges were shaped, made to direct the force of the explosions inward. He would just have to find the spots where they would do the most damage. The infra-red readout from the satellite had showed the most heat aft and near the bottom of the ship. That would most likely be the engine: the optimal target for one of his devices. For the other he would have to make an educated guess. He stuck a listening device to the side of the hull to detect voices. The greatest number were midships. That would suggest a large, less easily sealed compartment, more vulnerable to a breech. He attached his second device there. Swimming what he judged to be a safe distance away and inserting plugs to protect his eardrums from the shock wave, Hunt activated his homing beacon and his detonator.
Hayley saw the beacon activate on one screen a second before she saw the blob of red on another. The locations seemed awfully close to each other. She steered the boat toward Hunt. Once Hayley reached Hunt's location, it took a couple of minutes for him to clamber aboard, but he was alert if slightly unsteady. Hayley steered for the ship. Hunt used a searchlight to scan the water. He spotted several crew members before he spotted Gable. Hunt hauled his quarry aboard.
"What about the others?" Hayley questioned. "We can't leave them to drown."
"We could," Hunt replied mildly. "It's not like they're the good guys. But I'll put out a distress call with the coordinates of the ship. There's plenty of wreckage they can cling to. They might even have some life rafts. If they're lucky someone will pick them up before too long."
"And if they're not?" Hayley pressed.
Hunt shrugged. "Fortunes of war, Hayley. You were with MI-5 long enough to know that. When they chose their line of work they painted targets on their backs. We just hit the mark."
Hayley's throat tightened. "That's cold, Hunt."
"When you've been in the business as long as I have, it's just realism." Hunt picked up a transmitter and entered a short string. "The message is sent, Hayley. That's the best I can do." Hunt sent a second message, this one to Castle. "Package acquired."
