“Yeah, jump in.” The captain guns the engines, and as we head out, the three of us try to find places to sit among the vast array of electronics.
At Landy’s last known coordinates, he lets loose a drone, and talks as it flies off. “Your Grayson Patten called me in. He promised to finance my next expedition. Should I believe him?”
Our leader, the man of few words, watches the monitor and nods. “In my experience, he always delivers.”
“Hey, you alive, boss?” Hackzilla sounds in my forgotten earpiece, and I jump, surprised the comm unit survived salt water.
“Cheers, go ahead.” Pressing on my headset, I wait, wondering if the mic works, but a few seconds later, my female hacker responds.
“Caleb says the FBI found Egonov’s bomb-making facilities.”
The hesitation in her voice makes me ask, “But?”
“The team believes one is still out there, big enough to take down a large city block.”
“Shite. Whenever the egomaniac realizes the e-wallet is empty, he may decide to set off his toy anyway.”
“Oliver and Caleb have him under surveillance, and are waiting for the Italians to wake up, just to start the paperwork, granting apermessoto question the bastard.”
I sigh. “Knowing how the Italians love their bureaucracy, they’ll need a notary, a judge, an old priest, a young priest, an espresso machine, and those are simply to schedule a meeting.”
Keeping my binoculars glued to the ocean, a phone rings in the background and my employee curses. “Speak of the devil… Hold on, Montclair, Egonov wants to speak with you.”
Only a madman could keep his voice so eerily calm. “I warned you. They die now and it’s your fault, not mine.”
The link he sends causes my heart to skip a beat and tells me he’s not bluffing. “Wait, we didn’t wipe the general’s e-wallet. You did when you interfered. Remember? Give me a moment and I’ll prove it.”
Bloody fucking hell.A camera shows the lawn chair brigade sitting in front of my apartment building in Sunset Park. Dammit, thousands of people live and work in those neighborhoods.
“Hackzilla, send him the drive’s specifications, including the transmitter and receiver.”
“Good copy. Standby.” As she works her magic, I pray, hold my breath, and watch the monitor,
A few minutes later, the hacker curses, hangs up, then pings me. “We’ve conferenced in Trencher. The FBI is already evacuating the buildings and sending in dogs to sniff for explosives.”
“And Egonov?”
“Not sure. He went dark but I think he believed you.”
Major drama over, I glance down at my phone, and mutter to no one in particular, “My love’s been in the water for over six hours.”
Quinton sends up two more drones and we wait.
Sixty minutes later, a satellite phone rings. As the captain picks up, I watch his mouth for what seems like an eternity.God, please let her be okay. Let it be her.
“Yeah?” Grinning, the man shoots me a thumbs up. “The local coast guard found her. She’s tired, but fine.”
I collapse to the boat bottom, close my eyes, and as I say a prayer of thanks, tears drip down my face. I don’t even bloody care who sees them.
She’s alive.
Chapter 22
Landy
Blinking repeatedly, I finally trust my eyes when the tiny rowboat bobs in the water but doesn’t disappear. Maybe, this image is real and not a hallucination. Hope surges, until the bow rises and falls in the waves.
No, no, no. Oh God.
