SAC Waxman stood up and paced back and forth at the head of the table, arms crossed, jaw tight.The room’s fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows across his silver hair and the planes of his face.“Chen, Scott, status report.”
On the center screen, Chen’s camera showed the view from the Kimball’s deck—black ocean stretching and heaving, broken only by the cargo ship’s lights piercing the darkness like a small city.The image lurched and swayed with the cutter’s movement.Sophie’s stomach rolled in sympathy.
“In position,” Chen’s voice came through the speakers, breathless.“Boarding team ready.”
Marcella’s feed appeared on the adjacent monitor.Her camera angle showed Coast Guardsmen in tactical gear checking weapons, their faces green-tinged from night vision.The wind whipped past her microphone, creating bursts of static.
“Signaling now,” the Coast Guard commander announced.
Sophie watched as spotlights blazed to life, illuminating theMoku Pahu’s rust-streaked hull.The cargo ship seemed to freeze for a moment, but maybe that was the connection, as the plunging movement resumed.
Sophie dug her fingers into the conference table‘s edge, grounding herself.
“They’re responding,” Chen reported.“Reducing speed, turning on deck lights.”
On screen, the two vessels drew closer.Sophie could hear the engines' throb through the agents’ microphones, feel the vibration in her chest.The Kimball’s crew shot lines across the gap, securing the ships together with practiced efficiency.
“Boarding ladder secure,” someone called out.
Chen’s camera tilted up, showing the ladder stretching up theMoku Pahu’sside; twenty feet of swaying metal over black water.
Sophie’s palms grew damp.
“FBI!We’re coming aboard!”Marcella shouted over the wind into a bullhorn.“Put your hands up and visible!”
“Copy that,” came through an amplifier.“We are unarmed and prepared for boarding.”
The camera lurched as Chen began climbing after fastening a sliding safety harness to one side of the ladder.Sophie caught glimpses of gloved hands gripping rungs, boots finding purchase on metal.Below, the ocean churned white between the ships’ hulls.One slip, one missed grip ...yes, Chen would be safe, but the fall sure wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Halfway up,” Chen panted.
Marcella’s feed showed her following, the ladder bowing under the women’s combined weight.Sophie could almost taste the salt spray, feel the wind trying to peel them off the ship’s side.
“Contact on deck,” a new voice reported.“Crew members visible, hands raised.”
Chen hauled herself over the rail, camera swinging wildly before stabilizing on a group of casually dressed multiethnic sailors, their hands high, eyes wide in the spotlights’ glare.The deck beneath her feet shone with spray and the rainbow glare of grease.
Moments later, Marcella joined Chen, followed by the cadre of armed Coast Guardsmen.Marcella stepped forward, holding an official document in a plastic cover.“This is a joint venture by the FBI and Coast Guard.We have a warrant to search this vessel.”
The captain, a weathered man in stained khakis and a yellow slicker, stepped forward.“We cooperate, yes?All legal here.Agricultural equipment for American Samoa.”His speech was accented.
Sophie leaned closer to the monitors.The captain’s body language seemed genuine—confused, worried about his job, but not guilty.He took the warrant, turning on a flashlight, and scanned it.
“Where are the containers?”Marcella’s voice cut through the wind and static.
“This way, please.”The captain gestured toward a massive hatch.“Everything is on the manifest and it’s in the hold.”
The Coast Guard men preceded the FBI agents, following the captain down steep steel stairs.The cameras, moving up and down with the women’s strides, descended into the ship’s belly as the agents followed.
Sophie’s nose filled with phantom smells—rust, diesel, stale air recycling through inadequate ventilation.The LED work lights mounted in the ceiling carved harsh circles in the darkness, revealing container after container stacked like giant building blocks.
“Looking for container MSKU-7892341,” Chen read from her phone.“Should be third tier, port side, according to the manifest.”
They moved deeper into the maze.Sophie’s chest tightened with each turn.So many hiding places.So many ways to lose something or someone in this metal labyrinth.
“There,” Marcella’s camera focused on a blue container, partially hidden behind legitimate cargo.“That’s our target.”
“Crane operator!”Chen called.“We need this container on deck, now!”
