“What the hell are you doing?” Tam shouted. The diver jerked his head in her direction, and then disappeared beneath the water. Tam gaped at the empty space where, moments before, two cold-blooded murders had been committed before her eyes. The world had gone mad. “Get after him!” she shouted to Willis.
“He could be anywhere,” Matt said.
“Just go that way.” She pointed to the spot where she’d last seen the diver. After a few minutes of searching, though, they had to give it up as a bad job. The man was nowhere to be found. “Dammit.” She pounded her fist into her palm.
“Sorry,” Matt said. “There are just too many places he could have gone.”
“It’s not just that. He made me cuss, and I had a three day streak going.” She sighed. “Well, another dollar in the jar.”
“You might want to add a few more dollars.” Willis pointed down the submerged street to a boat speeding toward them. A man stood in the bow. At first, Tam thought he was pointing in their direction. Then a bullet smacked the water a foot from their boat, and she heard the report of a rifle.
They were being attacked.
“Something strange is happening up on the surface.” Dane checked the readouts on the display in front of him.
“How so?” Still distracted by the bells and whistles of this new craft, Bones sounded disinterested.
“I’ll skip the details and just say I think Key West has just been hit by a tsunami.”
That got Bones’ attention. “No freaking way! Corey would have let us know about any warnings.” Corey, their crew’s resident techie, was minding the shop back at their temporary headquarters.
“I’ll bet you a bottle of Dos Equis.” Dane wouldn’t mind losing that bet, but he knew better. His heart sank at the thought of his home being struck by such a disaster. And then he thought of Matt, Willis, and Tam. “Say, do you know what Tam and the guys had planned for today?”
“Besides bitching about us getting first crack at the sub? They were going to… Holy crap. They were going for a run somewhere around the pier. She’s been ragging Willis about his conditioning.”
“I’m taking over. See if you can raise Corey on the radio.”
Bones made several attempts to reach their friend, but failed. “He’s got to be okay. He’s minding the radio, so he wouldn’t be down on a bottom floor.”
“He probably lost power,” Dane said as the sub sliced through the water, headed for the dock. As they approached, he gradually brought the sub to the surface.
“Up periscope.” Bones tapped a button and an image of Key West appeared on their monitors.
Dane groaned. The island, or at least this part of it, lay under a good eight feet of water. The topmost portions of buildings rose above the churning surface, and all around, people sat perched on roofs or leaned out of second-story windows to witness the disaster.
“What do we do?” Bones asked.
“Let’s see if we can get closer. Maybe we’ll run into the others.” Dane felt the conspicuous absence of conviction in his voice, and he tried to force down the rising doubt. “They’ve been in worse situations than this. I figure they’re partying on a rooftop somewhere.”
He grew concerned as they made their way into the city and began to navigate the flooded streets. He wasn’t sure how far he dared take Remora. The sub was small and maneuverable, but the streets were choked with debris and submerged vehicles. If they found themselves stranded, at least they’d have a chance to try out some of the special features.
“Hey, check this out. An external mic!” Bones exclaimed. A moment later, a cacophony of noises filled the cabin: rushing water, people shouting… and gunshots. “What the hell? Surely nobody’s looting when the water’s this deep.”
“I don’t know,” Dane said. “Let’s find out.”
Chapter 6
“Listen up!” Wills shouted over the whine of the engine and the crackle of gunfire. “When we round the corner up ahead, there’s an office building with a broken window. I remember passing it. I’m going to swing in close and you two are going to jump in there. I’ll draw them off.”
“You can’t outrun them.” Matt stole a glance back at the boat that followed in their wake. “They’ll catch you in no time.”
“I don’t need to outrun them. I just need to draw them off of you and then I’ll swim for it.”
“Without diving gear? You’re crazy. I won’t allow it.” Tam grabbed for the wheel. “Let me.”
Willis gave her a level look and held on to the wheel. “I know you’re the boss, but this time, neither one of you needs to argue with me. I’m the only one of the three of us who can pull this off.”
“I hate it when he’s right, but of the three of us, he’s by far the best swimmer.” Matt turned to Willis and gripped his friend’s shoulder. “If you don’t make it back in one piece, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“You just fire up the barbecue and have me some ribs and a cold one waiting. Now, you two better be quick about it. Don’t let them see you.”
They approached the corner at a rapid clip. At least, rapid for the glass-bottom boat. As they turned and swung toward the gaping window, Tam and Matt moved to the edge of the boat and tensed to spring.
“You first, and be quick about it,” Matt said. “One… two… three!”
Tam flung herself through the window, tucked her shoulder, and rolled out of the way as Matt followed on her heels. He landed at an awkward angle and hit the floor with a thud.
“That sucked.” He rolled over and drew in a deep breath.
“Get up. We need to help Willis.” Tam didn’t wait for him, but dashed through the empty room and out into a hallway. To her right, she spotted the door that led to the stairs. With Matt hot on her heels, she dashed to the top floor, the fourth, and hurried along the hallway until she found the room closest to the corner of the building. Inside, she spotted what she’d hoped to find: a heavy wooden desk. “Help me turn this over.”
Matt bared his teeth in a predatory grin. Clearly, he understood what she had in mind. Together, they flipped the massive desk over onto its smooth top.
“You ready?”
“Just like football practice.” Matt put his shoulder to the desk and they pushed, gaining momentum until the desk slammed into the floor-to ceiling window. The sturdy grass cracked but did not shatter.
“Again,” Tam huffed. They repeated the maneuver two more times. The first time send a spiderweb of cracks splaying across the glass. The second time, the glass shattered, leaving a gaping hole four feet high. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Matt peered around the edge of the window frame. “Here they come. “Let’s do it.”
The boat rounded the corner, traveling as fast as the tight quarters would permit. Its momentum forced the craft to swing wide, bringing it right up to the side of the building where Tam and Matt waited. She caught a glimpse of the armed man in the bow. His eyes were locked on Willis. Slowly, he raised his rifle.
“Now!” Tam said. They threw their weight against the desk. It slid forward, teetered on the edge, and then plummeted down onto the unsuspecting men. It struck the boat near the stern with a resounding crash, taking a chunk out of the boat’s side and eliciting cries of alarm as the boat tipped hard to port, taking in water over the damaged section. It didn’t, however, sink, and a hail of bullets answered their improvised bomb. Broken glass scoured their exposed flesh as they dove away and scrambled out into the hall.