A/N… So this wasn't as long of a wait as last time. I'm hoping that's progress. We're back on the cargo ship, so I'll let you get to it.

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 22

BELLA

It was pitch black on the water as we sped away from the docks in a boat that Mickey had hotwired for us. We went dark as we neared the cargo ship.

"That giant fucker looks dead in the water," Jasper pointed out as we slowed down to quiet the motor. He'd joined us once Alec had left with the Carvers and Seong.

"Damn sure does," Carlisle agreed, killing the engine.

The large container ship loomed over us intimidatingly. I felt a little like David standing in front of Goliath. The thought of the name Goliath reminded me of the enormous black horse at Aunt Kate's, and that reminded me of my kids and Edward and family, all of whom I ached to set eyes on and wrap up in hugs. I'd been through tougher times, but this whole thing was pissing me off. I was ready to be done. My exhaustion was most likely causing these thought processes and needs, because we truly hadn't stopped since Twi Towers had been attacked. My only worry was that if we kept going at this pace without a break, someone would make a mistake. And that mistake could cost someone their life. We'd already lost Felix, and we'd almost lost Alec. I would lose my damn mind if something happened to anyone else.

"Bella?" Carlisle whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. "You okay, sweetheart?"

I nodded, making myself focus on the task at hand, which was to somehow board this floating monstrosity. We drifted silently up the starboard side of the ship toward the metal steps; the only sound we could hear was the water splashing against the boats – nothing overhead, nothing between Carlisle, Mickey, and me, and no other watercraft in the area. We were too far away from land to hear traffic or voices.

There were five of us on the boat we'd stolen – or "borrowed" as Mickey had put it. We still had Ji-Yun with us, and she'd remained passive since she was clearly outnumbered, although getting her from one tiny boat to the massive ship was going to be a challenge. I had a feeling it would be down to Mickey and me to drag her ass up onto the metal steps.

Once those steps were directly over us, Jasper waved me over. "C'mon, Bella," he encouraged, linking his fingers together to form a step.

He boosted me up, and he did the same for Mickey and Carlisle. The three of us reached for Ji-Yun when he passed her up as well. Jasper was last, and he gave a good jump, taking hold of the bottom step, where Mickey and Carlisle tugged him the rest of the way up. Mickey took charge of Ji-Yun, keeping a gun trained on her as we made our way up the side of the ship to the deck.

Jasper led the way as Carlisle watched our backs, keeping Mickey and me in the middle with Ji-Yun, and at the top, Jasper held up a hand to stop us before we left the stairs for the deck.

Waves splashing close and buoy bells from a distance were the only sounds heard as we waited for Jasper to give us the go-ahead, which came a minute later. We slipped quietly over the railing and onto the deck. There was no movement, which meant the trouble was down below.

And by trouble, I was thinking my Edward, who was a force all his own.

The thought made me smile, but I fought it, following Jasper toward an open door.

"Up?" he asked Carlisle softly, jerking his chin toward the staircase that clearly led up to the bridge.

Carlisle nodded, replying, "Yeah, maybe we can get a bird's-eye view of this bastard."

When we reached the bridge, we stumbled upon a standoff. If I'd had to guess, it was the poor captain who was being held at gunpoint by two men with automatic weapons…and an Asian background.

"Get this ship running!" one of the captors yelled.

"The engine is not responding! There's nothing I can do until we fix it. We're stuck where we are. And I can't risk getting out into the open ocean and it happening again!"

The sound of a gun engaging was loud in the small room, and Carlisle, Jasper and I all reacted instantly. Mickey kept her weapon on Ji-Yun, though I noticed she'd added a silencer onto the end of it at some point.

"Drop the guns, assholes," Jasper commanded in his usual soft, calm drawl. "I won't say it twice."

Both men rounded on us, but barely a sound left them before they fell to the floor. Two bullets, two shots, and two fewer men to have to hunt down on this massive ship.

I shot a glance to Mickey, who shook her head. "Last thing we fucking needed was an O.K. Corral-type shootout in here, letting Kim know his shit is blown."

"Roger that," Jasper agreed, taking the weapons Kim's men had been holding.

Carlisle, on the other hand, walked to the gentleman who was clearly still a little shaken. "You okay?" he queried, holding out his hand. "Carlisle Cullen. You the captain?"

"Earl Fischer. Everyone calls me Fish."

Carlisle cracked a small smile as he shook the man's hand. "Relax. We're here to help."

"Can you fix my engine?" he said through a nervous laugh.

"No, but we can remove the trouble you have on board." Carlisle's tone was no-nonsense, and he gestured to the men on the floor. "How many left?"

"Including the leader? I dunno. Maybe a dozen or so. I stopped counting when they all showed up. They've taken my cargo hold." He turned to one of the computers, typing quickly. "It went from a few guys paying for a ride with their container to a whole damn army loading up."

"Where were you headed?" Jasper asked, leaning against the wall.

"Anchorage."

My head spun, and immediately, Carlisle's hand landed comfortingly on my shoulder. "Easy, sweetheart. That doesn't mean much right this second," he whispered against my temple. "That's a big trade port."

I nodded but turned to Mickey, pointing to Ji-Yun. "Let's find a place to put her because I'm tired of watching my back with her."

Mickey nodded, pushing Ji-Yun to the floor and pulling out the large roll of duct tape from her backpack. Within seconds, she had Ji-Yun secured to a post on the bridge off to the side. Her hands were bound behind her back and her ankles tied together. Thankfully, the tape was still across her mouth.

Jasper reached to the small of his back, taking out a handgun. "Here, Fish. If she even looks like she's come loose, shoot her. She may look small, but trust me, that chick is deadly."

"What about my engines? We're gonna be stuck for a bit until my mechanics can tell me what we're dealing with…" He trailed off as his eyes glued to a computer screen. "What the hell?"

I walked over to see his monitor, cracking a smile. "Take your time on the engine, but we'd better spread out on this thing. It seems our presence has been noticed."

Jasper came over to look, asking permission from Fish to touch his computer. "Okay, let's see. We've got a few teams working their way about the ship. Bow, stern, infirmary, stairs, and… Holy fuck, look what we have here," he said in a sing-song way. "Well, I'm pretty sure I know where Ed and El are." He clicked through a few more security feeds that showed the cargo hold and a group of men down one aisle of containers. Another screen showed a familiar face sneaking around the engine room. "And your engine trouble is probably fixable, since I see who most likely did it."

Carlisle's chuckle was soft. "Boris." He turned to Fish. "I wouldn't worry about permanent damage, but if you get questioned, play it off as something much bigger. We'll be cleaning this mess up for you. How many of your crew are on board?"

"Ten," he replied.

"Can you get a message to them quietly? Somehow tell them to get to a safe place to hole up for a bit?" Jasper asked him, clearly understanding we were dealing with innocent lives on this ship.

"When these assholes came on board, I told everyone to get to the living quarters and stay there once we pulled up anchor. I needed the money, but I didn't trust them. One of the galley workers, a mechanic, and myself were the only ones walking around."

Turning toward the security feed, I searched each one. If I knew Edward, he was most likely somewhere in the cargo hold. As stealthy as my husband could be, he was also a touch impulsive, so he'd get as close to Kim as possible without alerting the enemy they outnumbered him. I needed to make sure he didn't kill Dean; I had no idea if he'd received Mickey's selfie, so I needed to stop Edward from acting vindictively. I'd promised Miranda we'd get Dean out of danger, and no one was more dangerous than Edward when he was pissed – a thought that made me smirk and roll my eyes.

"What'cha thinking, darlin'?" Jasper asked low enough no one else heard him.

"I'm thinking we need to split up. You and Carlisle get to Boris." I tapped the computer monitor showing the cargo hold. "I think Mickey and I clear the way to this section. I'd be willing to bet Eleazar and Edward are somewhere in there, because look at this."

I clicked a few camera views, bringing up the one that showed the maintenance office. Kim was there, along with Dean and two other guards who were well armed. Kim was pissed off, pointing and gesturing to his men.

"Yeah, that's where I'd be." Jasper tapped the screen. "Somewhere up high."

"There's no camera view, but I'm thinking the same thing. What we need to do is get them away from that damn container, or this will end nasty," I surmised, looking to Mickey and Carlisle. "Teams of two. Mickey and I will work our way to the cargo hold. You two can clear the engine room and work your way up."

"Christ," Fish gasped. "What's in that container? I only saw car parts on the manifest."

"Bombs, captain," Carlisle replied. "Maybe getting off this ship completely is a good idea. Get your people out of here. But do it quietly."

Fish looked fearful for a brief moment but then shook his head. "I'm not abandoning ship. I'll give my crew a chance to go, but I'll give you whatever help you need."

Carlisle studied the man for a couple of seconds. Finally, he took control. "Fair enough, Captain. This woman needs a guard on her. We need you to stall the mechanics on the engine, not to mention keep everyone away from those men and those containers. If Kim Min-Jun gets even a hint that we're on to him, then this whole ship will end up in the bottom of this bay."

"Does this have anything to do with the building in Seattle?" Fish's question was sharp and shockingly to the point. When all four of us turned to him, he shrugged a shoulder, muttering, "At least that's what they're saying on TV. Terrorists. I was… I didn't think it would be… They aren't what I'd thought they'd be…" He trailed off, waving a hand. "Never mind."

Jasper chuckled softly at the poor captain's nervous rambling. "Yes. Yes, it is the same group."

I cracked a small smile at Fish's embarrassment. There was a touch of Alice in me that wanted to pipe up with the fact that most domestic terrorist attacks were home-grown, Caucasian, and crazy. He was assuming the terrorists were some sort of ISIS type group. He wasn't expecting Korean. I stayed quiet; there wasn't time for a deep discussion about racial/religious profiling.

Instead, I turned back to the security feeds, searching for Edward but doubting I'd locate him. I studied the cargo hold, the hallways, and the stairways – and those were located all over the ship, leading to various locations. The main stairwell was down the hallway from where we'd come in.

Turning to Mickey, I pointed to it on the screen. "You and I should take this way. Clear the way down."

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed easily. "Let's go kick some ass."

We turned to face Carlisle, waiting for him to give the go-ahead. His first instruction was to Jasper.

"You've got a fairly decent view from up here, so you guard the girl until the captain can get his people off this boat or hunkered down in a safe location," he told him, pointing out the window that faced the majority of the cargo ship toward the bow. "I'll get to Boris. The girls will work their way to the cargo hold."

"Roger that," Jasper agreed, taking his bag off his shoulder and getting out his sniper rifle. He looked to the captain. "I'll cover you and your men if you should choose to put them on those life boats over there."

"Thank you," he mumbled before leaving his bridge in Jasper's most capable hands.

Carlisle faced Mickey and me. "You two… I don't want you to take any chances. I can't risk you two getting injured or worse. Got me? There's most likely zero communication down there, which is why we can't hear Edward or Eleazar. So…maintain silence for as long as possible. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," I answered with a teasing tone to my voice. "If we can reduce the number of men Kim has on this ship, then we stand a better chance of getting to him. Dean is not to be touched. We have no idea if Mickey's message has been received."

"I totally agree." Carlisle took a deep breath, but he smiled wryly. "Although, message or not, I'm not sure that'll stop my son."

Grinning at Mickey's chuckle, I added, "You aren't wrong, which is why our goal is to find him before he can kill Dean."

I loved my husband, but he was as stubborn and hot-headed as the day was long, and Carlisle and I both knew it. Funnily enough, it was only the two of us Edward would allow to dissuade him from whatever he'd set his belligerent mind on, which was why my personal goal was to get to Edward as soon as possible.

"Okay, off you go." Carlisle followed us down the stairs back to the hallway. From there, we went to the left and Carlisle stepped back out onto the deck.

Mickey and I made our way toward the stairs and the end, stopping long enough to take a look at the map of the ship. If my calculations were correct, then we'd be running into some of Kim's men at any second.

The sound of a door slamming somewhere below put us on alert and got us moving again. As we neared the stairs, voices echoed up the stairwell. Glancing down over the railing, I caught sight of two figures ascending from three levels down. They only went up one level, disappearing behind the door.

"Let's go," Mickey said, giving my shoulder a nudge. "We'll catch 'em from behind."

The narrow stairwell was a little too close for comfort, but I pushed the thought out of my mind as we hurried down to the door the two men had used. We opened the door as quietly as possible, stepping out into the hallway and keeping our handguns behind our backs.

Edward and the boys always told us – though most of the time we'd ignore it – that Mickey and I could disarm a man by simply smiling at him. Occasionally we'd use it. We'd pretend to be lost, flirty, or innocent, and it helped give us the advantage. We were able to get closer to our target, get them to relax, and catch them off guard just long enough to relieve them of their weapons. We'd been doing it so long now, we barely had to think about it. It worked when we'd first met, it worked back at Twi Tower, and I smiled at the fact that it was working as we walked down that hallway.

"Oh, stop it," Mickey whispered. "It can't be that fucking easy."

Giggling, I shook my head at the men watching us walk their way. They were a little nervous, still holding their weapons. Only one of them had the self-control to maintain his job.

"Where are you going?" the guy on the left asked, and my brow furrowed at the fact that his accent was little to none.

Mickey smiled slow and easy, tilting her head a little. Pointing behind the guys, she said, "Bathroom. Don't mind us."

He narrowed his eyes, and we slowed down a bit, my hand still behind my back and wrapped around my nine mil. "You two weren't on here earlier. I would've remembered—"

"Yeah, about that…" I huffed a laugh, waiting until Mickey got into position.

The two of us moved swiftly – jabs to the throat, kicks to the knees, and uppercuts to the jaws. Before the men could react, I kicked their weapons away and Mickey pistol-whipped them both. They collapsed into a heap, and I chuckled when she produced the same roll of duct tape she'd been using since we'd found Miranda and Marcus in the warehouse.

"What?" she asked with a laugh, winding that shit around their hands, ankles, knees, and finally their mouths. She held up the big silver roll. "The only thing this shit doesn't fix is stupid."

I snorted softly. "C'mon. I want to get to Edward before he decides to just blow up the ship in order to stop every-damn-body."

"I couldn't hate him for it," she mumbled, picking up the weapons and handing one to me. "Just sayin'."

"Me either, but I don't feel like swimming back to the harbor."

We slowed down as we approached the stairway door we'd come in through, listening long enough to determine we were clear to go. One more flight down and we saw the cargo hold through the window.

"According to that map we saw, the walkways go straight up the middle and around each side. Four rows of containers on either side of the center walkway, and those are rows are stacked four containers high," I told her in a whisper, though really I was thinking out loud.

"I'll take the outside right. You go left. My vote is to go up to the top. We'll have a better view," Mickey instructed.

"Ten-four."

When no movement came anywhere near the door, Mickey and I slipped into the cargo hold as quickly and silently as we could, splitting left and right. The smell inside that enormous section just about put me on my ass. It pissed me off that the smell of dampness and metal and sweat could still bring back fear and anxiety. I hated it. It was a struggle to keep focused and run to the corner. I peeked around, seeing my way was clear. I forced a deep breath, slipping around the corner container stack.

I figured about halfway down would be far enough. I felt more than heard through the metal walkway the thump behind me. Before I could turn around, a hand covered my mouth, but I knew the feel of that hand on my skin, the feel of that body pressed against mine from behind better than I knew anything else in the world. Immediately, I relaxed, the anxiety I'd had only seconds before evaporating.

"Shhhh," I heard in my ear, and I nodded.

The hand was removed from my mouth, and I grinned. "Is that a Glock in your pocket, Edward, or are you just happy to see me?"

He chuckled at my familiar tease, kissing my cheek. "Oh, sweetness, I'm always fucking glad to see you."

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

Bella spun around, grasping my face in her hands. "Edward, you can't kill Dean. He… We found his wife and son. Baby, we're the reason Kim took them."

My brow scrunched up. "What the fuck? What do you mean? I got Mickey's message, but—"

She cut me off with a brief kiss, speaking softly and quickly. "Dean was stationed in Korea with his family, essentially spying for intel when we took black market nuclear bombs off the bargaining table when we were in Russia." A shiver ran through her, but she went on. "When Kim lost the deal, he found out that Dean was a Marine and had infiltrated his group. Dean's whole team is dead. When they returned to the States, Dean divorced his wife to make them less of a target."

I sighed, tugging off my hat and raking my hand through my hair. "Son of a bitch! Now I am gonna fucking kick his ass for not coming clean from the start."

"I get it, I do, but later. We—" She stopped when a noise echoed up the walkway.

There was a sound of approaching footsteps, and I grabbed her hand, tugging her toward the closest container. "Up, sweetness," I told her. "Get that sweet ass up top. We'll sort that shit out later."

Bella secured her gun at the small of her back in the waistband of her jeans. She didn't really need my help, but I guided her up all the same. I was merely happy I had eyes on her again. Being out of communication with her was bullshit.

Once we were up top, I led her to the next stack of containers over. "Who's with you, baby?" I barely asked aloud.

"Your dad, Jasper, and Mickey. You can also thank Boris for killing the engine of this beast. We left Jasper on the bridge, watching over the captain so he can get his people off this thing."

My mouth quirked up into a half smile. "And Alec?"

"He's taking the Carvers and Seong someplace safe."

"Roger that," I said through a sigh. "C'mere, and stay low."

I led her to a safe spot to peek over the edge. There were fewer men with Kim down there than before she'd arrived. There were five now, since he'd ordered the rest of them to search the ship for us. Dean was one of them. Now that my dad had boarded the ship, there were enough of us for me to feel we could take the rest of these motherfuckers. Two against fifteen was shitty odds. Seven against fifteen – the seven being my crew – just raised the odds in our favor. We'd been destroying these sons of bitches for four damn days. I had more faith in my crew's ability than anything Kim's men could throw at us.

"I think there were fifteen of those assholes," I whispered to her. "El and I took two out, making it thirteen."

"We took out two on the bridge and two on the way down here," she stated, smiling when I snapped my gaze her way. "So nine left?"

"Hot damn, sweetness." I kissed the side of her head. "I've been in contact with Dean already. He's waiting for a signal from me."

Bella nodded, her eyes scanning the dark cargo hold beyond Kim's location. A smile crept up her face when she caught sight of Eleazar and Mickey emerging on top of the containers on the other side of the middle walkway.

"I hate not having coms down here," I muttered softly.

"Yeah, not being able to give you info was killing us—"

There was a struggle down below. Carefully we peered over the edge as Boris was shoved by another man hard enough to make him stumble, but he stayed on his feet, giving the man behind him a scathing glare over his shoulder.

I shot a glance over to Eleazar, who held up a hand to stop us as he shifted into a different position. Having the higher ground gave us an advantage, but one wrong, poorly aimed bullet could kill Boris or Dean or both.

"Where's your dad?" Bella muttered softly, shaking her head a little. Her eyes scanned the dim cargo hold, but she shook her head again. "Boris looks like he's got them. Not the other way around."

She was right. Boris looked comfortable and easy, giving Kim a go-fuck-yourself kind of expression. Even better was the belligerent way he refused to speak English. With every question, he'd answer Kim in Russian.

"Old man is bat-shit crazy," I noted in a sigh. "But you're right. He's here by choice, which means Dad is around here somewhere."

Dean looked confusedly at Boris. He wouldn't have known the old man, since Boris showed up in Eleazar's command post at the front door of Twi Tech Tower. But I had to give credit it where it was due; Dean stepped up for the old man.

"Kim, he probably works on this ship. Why fuck with him?" he asked.

"We found him in the engine room," the guard holding Boris explained.

"And?" Dean argued. "He might have been trying to fix this fucker."

Kim smiled wryly. "You should learn your enemies better than that, Carver. This is Boris Zukov, a longtime Russian associate of Carlisle Cullen's. He was just as involved as Cullen with the loss of those nuclear bombs. He got your fellow soldiers killed."

That statement caught everyone's attention. Just how much did this motherfucker know? If he knew of Boris, did he know about Aunt Kate?

"I'mma kill this asshole, I swear to fucking God," I mumbled, reaching for my Glock.

Bella's hand landed on my shoulder, pulling me away from the edge. "Baby, stop. We have to do this the smart way, or we'll get Dean or Boris killed."

She turned toward Mickey and Eleazar, who were on the other stack of containers across the walkway. Eleazar nodded her way, giving hand signals as to what we were going to do next. Mickey and Bella were to stay on the high spot of the container stacks. He and I were going to sandwich everyone on the walkway. I was coming from the bow, and El was coming from the stern.

The only unknown was my dad. I hadn't caught sight of him yet.

Before crawling away from Bella, I kissed her lips, whispering, "Don't shoot my ass, sweetness."

Her smile was wickedly sexy. "Now why would I go and harm such a beautiful thing? I hope I have better aim than that."

I huffed a soft laugh. "Just watch my six, love."

"Gladly."

I grinned, shaking my head when I crawled to the edge. Making sure it was clear down below, I climbed down the container to the metal walkway. I stepped silently toward the T junction of the walkway. When I got to the corner I stopped, almost pulling the trigger at movement on the opposite corner. My dad shifted out of the shadows to stand across from me on the other side of the center walkway.

Using hand signals, I passed on Eleazar's plan for this next phase. I also pointed two fingers at my eyes and then toward the top of the containers. He smiled at Bella's and Mickey's guns already trained on Kim and his men.

This would either be a standoff of ridiculous proportions, or bullets would rain down on all of us.

"Cullen!" Kim Min-Jun yelled. "Come out, or I'll kill this old bastard. I know you're out there somewhere. You or your son."

Locking gazes with my dad, I nodded and readied my weapon. We turned our corners at the same time, facing Kim, his five men, and Dean, all standing in front of the open container they'd loaded. Something looked off or missing inside there, but I focused on the fact that Dean was holding Boris at gunpoint.

Kim and his men all turned our way when my father spoke.

"You've got us both, Kim. Not particularly sure you want that, but still…"

Kim faced us fully, leaving ample opportunity for Eleazar to shift forward up the walkway behind him.

"Boris, you okay?" I asked the old man who had become quite the family friend and ally the last few years.

"You'll talk to him when I say—" Kim started to order, but I cut him off immediately.

"Motherfucker, when will you learn that I don't fucking answer to you? Boris could kill you where you stand; he's letting you hold him." I grinned, shaking my head. "You're probably outnumbered by now, you're definitely out-skilled, and there's a bet going around as to just who gets to put you out of your goddamn misery, but if you don't let him answer, I'll win that fucking bet myself."

Kim's nostrils flared, and he raised his weapon a bit, but I went on.

"Where was I? Oh, Boris. You okay, sir?"

Boris smirked, nodding. "Yes, son. I'm fine."

Nodding, I glanced back to Kim. "Now, you may continue. Something about threatening us…blah, blah, blah." I waved a hand his way in a shooing motion.

Even Dean smirked on that one, and his hold on Boris lightened just a bit. Eleazar shifted his position again, unnoticed by anyone but Dad and me. My eyes wanted to verify Bella was okay, but I'd give her location away, and I needed her and Mickey to remain unseen.

"You have nowhere to go, Kim," Dad continued on. "This ship is dead in the water, and you have no way to transport these bombs. I've relieved the captain of his duty. By now, he's back to the docks. We've killed or rendered most of your men useless at this point. You won't make it off this ship alive."

"If you surrender, you may live the rest of your days out in a cell at Guantanamo Bay," I added, shrugging a shoulder. "Honestly, I think that's too sweet of a ride for you."

My lip curled in hatred at all the innocent lives lost since this asshole had started his plan to come for my dad, my family, my crew. So many Twi Tech employees died in pure cold blood on the stage of the auditorium, on the streets surrounding that skyscraper, in the lobby, at the mountain cabin. Police officers, FBI agents, CIA operatives like Felix, and young military kids all dead or injured. My wife, my parents, and my children had been running around in that building wired to there was Cho Seong, who was too young to know any better. Her father, Jin-Sang, was fighting for his life in a military hospital.

But what hit home with me was Dean's family. Miranda and Marcus Carver had been held captive for weeks. The situation was so fucking familiar that it hurt to think about it. I remembered leveling a mountain compound just to get my wife back. I remembered all the lives I'd taken in order to hold my Bethy in my arms again.

And I didn't regret a single second of fighting for them.

"I figured you'd say something like that," Kim stated calmly, holding up something in his hand. He jerked a chin to one of his men, who roughly grabbed Boris out of Dean's grasp and shoved him into the container with those thermobaric bombs.

"If I die, then I'm taking all of you with me."

He opened his hand to show what looked like a car's key fob. He pressed a button, and inside the open container next to him, shit started beeping and whirring to life. All six bombs' control panels lit up. Boris spun around to look at them and back to us in a panic.

"Christ," my dad whispered.

"You have three minutes, Cullen. Let me go, and save your friend. If you shoot me, you'll never disarm them in time. If you come after me, I'll blow them all, no matter who is in here with you."

Dean's patience and temper snapped at the same time. In one swift move, he pulled Boris out of the way and reached for Kim's hand holding the detonator. It was a dumb and spontaneous move, but it caused the small remote to tumble down into the depths of the ship. Kim aimed toward my dad and me, and his men aimed their weapon at Dean, and three of them were dead before they could pull their own triggers. One shot went off, hitting Dean in the arm before he was shoved inside the container and swiftly locked inside by a padlock. Kim pulled off enough shots to make us dart around the corner again.

Footsteps and yells and gunshots echoed out over the whole cargo hold. It was chaos, but we needed to move.

Dad and I got back to the main walkway, and Eleazar was already ordering us. "Go! Stop him before he gets off this bastard. We'll get Zukov and Carver."

I shot a glance to the container, and Mickey was already working quickly to pick the padlock. Bella wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"She's already chasing them. Go, Ed!" Mickey yelled, barely looking up as she popped the lock open. "We're hitting the water. Go!"

Dad grabbed my shoulder. "Take the stern and get Jasper. I'll take the bow. We'll work our way up. Run, son. Don't get caught on this fucker when she blows."

"If you see Bella—"

"I know! Get your ass moving," he said, already running out of the cargo hold and up the closest steps.

I ran down the middle walkway by El and Mickey getting Dean and Boris out of the container, hitting the stairs at top speed. This metal bastard was about to be a wreck at the bottom of this harbor.

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… Now this is a cliffie. ;) Time's ticking, but there are people on board. This will be a fight to the finish.

We're still not really on any posting schedule. We've gone from 4 months between updates to 3 weeks. An improvement, but I am hoping to get faster. We'll see. Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)