Chapter 8
Michael sat on a cushy couch on the aft deck with Madeline. He had an arm wrapped around her and she had hers around his torso and leaned into him. She spoke to him in soft tones. Bailey and Menaro took up a couple other chairs. The extraction team guarded Strong and kept an eye out on the fore and aft decks, binoculars up, looking for danger. After all they'd been through, Sam didn't think that this was all over with Larry's death. If he was really dead. Sam was beginning to wonder if he wasn't immortal, because he always came back after everyone thought there was no way he could have survived. This time, however, he saw it with his own eyes. He touched Larry's lifeless body. No way he was coming back from this. But if Sam had any wooden stakes on board, he would put one through his heart just to be sure.
"Mike, Maddie, you guys want anything?" He didn't want to interrupt, but he imagined that Maddie had to be parched from the day's activities.
Michael answered. "Maybe some water, Sam. Thanks."
"Okay. Anybody else?" He glanced up to the deck where the captain piloted the yacht. Jesse stood with him, surveying the open water with a pair of binoculars.
With everyone's drink requests, Sam went to the galley to fulfill them and came back with a cooler full of water bottles. They all took their fill and sat back to wait for the trip to be over. Time seemed to pass slowly. Other than the dull roar of the motors, there were no other sounds. The passengers were either too tired or too reflective to speak.
"Uh oh, got something coming in fast at eleven o'clock," Jesse announced and pointed toward it.
Michael jumped up from his place on the couch and climbed the steps. He took the glasses from Jesse and spied it. "That's not an Agency boat."
"How can you tell?"
"I don't know. I just have a really bad feeling about it. Plus, they're getting ready to attack." He handed the binoculars back to Jesse, and he spied the boat through them.
Jesse sucked in a small breath when he caught sight of the five men on the boat. Four of them were setting up automatic assault rifles and putting on flak jackets. The driver was intent on his target. "Who do you think they are?"
"I don't know."
"Think they're after you, or Larry?"
Michael replied, "Does it really matter?" He let out a deep sigh. "We better get ready."
The extraction team brought enough firepower for twice the men, so Michael, Sam, Jesse, and the agents Baily and Menaro had weapons. Michael sent Maddie downstairs for her safety.
"Ma, get down on the floor and don't move until I tell you it's okay."
"You want me to go down there with dead Larry?"
His eyes bore an apology as he spoke in a strained, but soft, voice. "Please, Ma. I don't want you to get hurt. Now go, they're coming up on us fast."
She studied the pain in his eyes and she smiled, caressed his cheek, and said, "I'm going. Be careful, Michael. I love you, honey."
"Love you too, Ma. Now please, go."
The first volley of bullets came from the small craft as it zipped around the starboard side of the yacht. Virgil fired on them from his position, but it would be hard for him to shoot and drive at the same time. Michael and Sam worked with the extraction team to take them out, and Bailey and Menaro covered the port side in case they came around.
Maddie, seeing that everyone was occupied and Virgil was having trouble, waved at Virgil and signaled him. He caught her waving arms, and he nodded. Maddie slipped away to the foredeck on the port side, and Virgil raced around the yacht to meet her up front.
"Maddie, what are you doing?" Matching speed and trying to defend himself wasn't easy, and talking to her made it even more difficult.
"Stay where you are!" With more athleticism than she'd displayed in years, thanks to all the water aerobics and yoga, Maddie stepped over the rail and aimed for the aft deck on Virgil's boat. Her feet hit the teakwood and she held out her arms to steady herself.
"Madeline, you shouldn't be here. You should be down below!"
Maddie joined him at the controls and shook her head, the passion for the ones she loved burning in her eyes. "No, Virgil. You need someone to drive this thing while you fight. Go on. I've got this!"
"Do you even know how to pilot a boat?"
"No, but I'll learn fast. Go on!" She hit the throttle and Virgil almost took a backwards somersault off the conning deck. He could only stare at her and marvel at this side of her.
For a moment, he thought she was even sexier than he remembered, and he tempered his smile, turning his thoughts back to defense. Virgil climbed down to the aft deck. He had some weapons stashed below, so he went for those, and by the time Maddie steered the boat around to where the battle raged, he was ready on the bow. He kept himself low, flat on the surface, and he strafed the attacker's boat. They weren't expecting firepower to come straight at them.
Maddie swung around to the attackers' starboard side so they became a terrorist sandwich. Virgil fired on one side, and the crew on the yacht fired from the other. They were down to two men standing on the boat. One of them threw something at the yacht and it stuck to the side. The driver hit the throttle and they began to get away as the other man threw another object at the yacht and it stuck.
"That's C4!" Virgil yelled.
Michael got one more shot at the retreating boat and hit the driver. He slumped over the wheel, turning it and causing the boat to go into a spin. The last man standing was caught in a dilemma. Either he stopped the boat from circling, or he did his job. He grabbed the wheel and took off.
From where they were, everyone saw him raise the detonator and hit the button. Two explosions rocked the yacht, and the blast hit Virgil's boat, throwing jagged debris at him and Maddie. He was still on the bow and couldn't get to her. Something stabbed him in the thigh, and the pain caused him to scream, unable to move even if he wanted to.
"Virgil!" Maddie shut down the boat and hurried to him.
"Madeline, no!"
"Ma, don't shut it down or you'l run into the yacht!" Michael called when he picked himself up from the yacht deck.
Biting her bottom lip, Maddie's eyes scanned the control panel, found the button she sought, and pushed it. The anchor dropped and slowed their forward progress, and she breathed in relief.
The captain stopped the yacht and dropped anchor, and he went below to see what the damage was and how bad. Everyone assembled on the aft deck, and Michael said, "Let's do a head count. How many of us are left?"
"I'm here," Jesse said, jumping down from the conning tower.
"Me too," Sam added.
"We're okay," Menaro said, and he and Bailey joined them. "We lost two guys on our extraction team."
"Okay, with my Ma and Virgil, we didn't do too badly," Michael remarked. He heard the captain's steps and he turned. "Well? Can we make it back to Miami?"
"No chance. There's water coming in, and I'm guessing it'll be about fifteen to twenty minutes before this vessel sinks."
"Lifeboat," Sam said. "Not to worry, we've got a lifeboat and Virgil's boat." He moved to the side and surveyed the scene. Maddie was with Virgil on the bow, assessing his injury. "Maddie, how's Virgil?"
"He's got a big piece of shrapnel in his leg and he's bleeding. He needs to get back to Miami as soon as possible!"
"Hey Virg, how many passengers can you fit on that tub?"
"None right now," Virgil answered, getting up on his elbows to talk to Sam. "We're taking on water. Some of the shrapnel must have hit the boat hard enough to cause a leak."
"Dammit," Sam muttered under his breath before turning back to the others. "Well, we'll have to stuff the lifeboat. It's built for five or six."
"We've got nine if we count Strong, and eleven with Maddie and Virgil," Jesse said. "I'm not liking those numbers."
"Sam, get that boat out while I get Strong." Michael descended the stairs to retrieve the CIA agent while Sam and Jesse worked with the extraction team to open the hatch that hid the lifeboat.
Michael hit the bottom step and discovered that the water was already a foot deep in the lower cabin. He sloshed through it to the front bedroom and opened the door. Strong was still inside and awake. His eyes locked on Michael's, and the pain in his eyes would have struck something inside if Michael didn't have such dark residual emotions inside.
"What, come to finish the job?"
"No, but some of your friends out there tried to. The boat is sinking and we're evacuating. You're coming with us." He moved to the side of the bed and put an arm behind Strong's back.
"Uh uh, I'm staying. Michael... I'm sorry. You were a good agent, and I was a hack. I was stupid enough to fall for Larry's promises, and I let my jealousy of you get in the way of my judgment." He stared into Michael's eyes, his own flooding with desperation. "Please, forgive me."
The water lapped up to the bed surface. "The boat is sinking, Strong."
"And I'm not going with you. I'm not gonna make it anyway, so why drag yourselves down with me?"
Michael hesitated. Strong smiled.
"You know I'm right." His voice began to fade as the strength of speaking became too much for him. "Goodbye, Michael. Get off this boat and back to Miami, and promise me you'll get out while you still can, before the Agency turns you into a guy like me." His head fell back and Michael reached for a pulse. It was still there, but faint.
"Mike, come on! We've got the boat ready!" Sam yelled from above.
Michael swallowed and dropped Strong's upper body on the bed, making a splash. Without another thought, he turned, hurried out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. He passed Larry's body bag floating on the water and it gave him a chill. For a moment, he stared at it. Then he reached out and felt it, wanting to make sure that there was indeed a body in it.
"Mike!"
"I'm coming!" He unzipped the bag and saw Larry's pale, dead face. It was already turning garish colors. Pursing his lips, Michael pushed the body under the water and held it for long enough that if Larry had been alive, he would have struggled against him. But there was no resistance. Larry was finally dead for real, no faking it. A twinge of sorrow hit him, despite the hatred he held for the man. Larry ruined his life, but a part of him would always be grateful for the things he taught him in the field. Without Larry, Michael wouldn't have been the agent he was.
Convinced that Larry had left the earth, Michael released his body. It did not return to the surface. The water was up to Michael's knees when he stood, so he hurried to the deck and was assaulted by the sunlight. He squinted and held up a hand to shield the rays.
"Where is it?"
"Back here, Mike. We'll swing by and get Virgil and Maddie once we're all settled in." Sam turned back to him. "Is Strong dead?"
"Not yet, but he will be soon."
"You didn't shoot him, did you?" Sam stared at him, knowing his friend yet not wanting to think the worst.
"No. I don't think he'll even know what's going on. Quick, let's get off this thing before it goes down."
Sam dropped into the lifeboat and Michael followed him. It was a tight fit with ten people when Maddie and Virgil were brought aboard. No one dared move for fear of tipping the small craft.
"Did anyone send a signal before we got off the yacht," Michael asked, his eyes on the captain.
"Yes Sir, Mr. Westen. I sent out a signal, but I don't know if the Coast Guard got it. I didn't get a response."
Michael nodded. "I heard someone on the radio as I was leaving. They were probably trying to hail us."
"And with no answer, maybe they'll get their butts out here a little faster," Sam suggested with a smile.
"That's what I'm hoping," Jesse quipped. "I like you guys, but man, this is a little too close."
Nervous laughter ran around the lifeboat, then they fell silent.
Menaro broke the reverent silence and asked, "Hey, what happened to our attackers' boat?"
"After that guy placed the last C4, he took control of the boat and set off the explosion rom a distance," one of the surviving team members said. "I'm sure he's long gone by now."
"Kinda surprised he didn't stick around and take us out on this dinghy," Virgil suggested. He moved and winced, and Maddie held him tighter to herself while she stroked his face and whispered words of comfort.
"He's got a point. We're like fish in a barrel here," Menaro groused.
"Well, if we get sucked down with the yacht, we won't have to worry about it," Bailey snapped.
"Guys, button it," Sam ordered, and the look on his face told them they better obey or they would be volunteering to swim for help.
The lifeboat drifted closer to the yacht, following the current. The commandos took oars and rowed it away while the others watched the yacht sinking lower in the water, its sides half gone under the surface.
"Maybe if the CG's get here in time they can tow it back to port," Sam mused aloud. "If not, Elsa's gonna kill me."
"Why? You're not the one who commandeered it to rescue us," Jesse said with a smirk and a glance at Bailey and Menaro.
"Yeah, that's right." Sam's face brightened with a dimpled smile. "You haven't lived until you've felt the wrath of Elsa. Be afraid, my friends. Be very afraid."
BOOM! Heads whipped around, and they witnessed pieces of the yacht shooting into the air and outward. The rest was a ball of flame that incinerated some of the pieces while the others rained down around the survivors.
"What the hell..." Sam muttered.
"Who did that," Michael barked. "Who blew up the yacht?"
"Not us," the team member said.
Bailey and Menaro shook their heads.
"Strong must have done something," Jesse suggested. "One last ditch effort to make sure Larry was really dead, maybe?"
"Yeah. Maybe." Michael stared at the remains, which not only ensured Larry's death and sacrificed Strong's life, it also served as a big beacon for the Coast Guard to find them. Now all they had to do was wait and hope that the lifeboat would hold out long enough. Water sloshed in the bottom, but whether that was from debris splashing water inside or a slow leak caused by overloading... Michael didn't want to think about that.
