“Michael,” Kate said. “Are you all right?”
I breathed in deeply, sucking up the sweet dry air.
“Been better,” I said.
I looked down at my waist. The stock of the AK-47 still sat in my lap. I hadn’t let go of the machine gun.
“Why did you pull me out?” I said.
I looked around. As far as I could tell, Kate was alone.
“Because like I told you, we’re on the same team.”
“Prove it,” I said.
She removed the gun from my lap and wiped the dirt from my face with her sleeve.
“I think I just did,” she replied.
I looked around. The barn’s two sidewalls were still standing, but the pile of dirt in front of the doorway to the tunnel had been moved to the side. I could see right through the doors into the tunnel, but there was no Unimog there. There was no trailer either. Knobby tires tracks left the tunnel heading out for parts unknown. I turned to Kate. Her hair and clothing were damp, but she was alone. No Faruk. No guards. Nobody from the boat.
“How did you find me?” I said.
“I heard the gunfire,” she said. “When I got out here, the truck and trailer were already pulling away.”
“But how did you know where to look?”
“The bullets, Michael. Your finger must have locked on the trigger. You emptied the mag.”
I looked down at the machine gun. I didn’t remember that I had continued firing, but I didn’t remember much except my bizarre desire for a single malt scotch.
“I had to wait for you to stop firing before I tried to pull you out,” Kate said.
“What about the others? It was more than just you coming after us.”
“They got what they wanted,” she said.
“What do you mean what they wanted? You were working with them. They’re your partners.”
“Not anymore. Why do you think we wanted Meryem eliminated?” Kate said. “I told you we had our concerns about her. She hasn’t been loyal to MIT for a long time. She’s part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The PKK. It’s a fact, Michael.”
I laughed.
“Loyalty,” I said. “You don’t find it amusing that you and I are discussing loyalty? You don’t know what the word means.”
“Maybe I deserve that, Michael. But this conversation isn’t about you and me. This is operational. Meryem is a member of the Kurdish resistance. So are Faruk and his team. They abandoned me back there once I ceased to be useful.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want. They locked me on the yacht. Flex-cuffed me to the toilet. Probably had some kind of misguided illusion about ransoming me to the Dragons. I got out.”
“How?”
“Michael? Really. We don’t have time for this.”
“I don’t care. If they flex-cuffed you to the toilet, how did you get out?”
“I worked the guard, Michael. I got him into the cabin. Got him to where I needed him. Then I broke his neck with my legs.”
I thought about her story.
“Even if you did. You still had to deal with the flex-cuffs.”
Kate raised her wrists. There were raised raw red welts where the cuffs had bitten in.
“Tell me about it.”
I didn’t know whether Kate was telling me the truth. I knew that she had pulled me from my death. That was real. And I knew she had welts on her wrists. Those were real too. But the rescue could have been planned and the welts could have been purposely inflicted. I knew that as well. I couldn’t trust Kate. I couldn’t trust anybody.
“So say I buy that Faruk is working with Meryem? Why fire bullets at us at all?”
“They were worried, Michael. They had too much invested not to find the Device. Pairing you with Meryem was a logical way to ensure that you would assist them. But they couldn’t make it too easy for you or you would have seen through the act. Of course, looking back, I’m sure Faruk would have dialed it down a notch. I’m fairly certain that bailing out of a sinking chopper isn’t anybody’s idea of a good time.”
“The gunfire in the tunnel? Was that you?”
“I took one of their radios and followed them after you. Pegged a few of them off. They left two top-ropes coming down from the ceiling.”
“Suppose I believe you. Answer this,” I said.
“Yes?”
“That thing about you and my father. Was that for real or were you playing me?”
“I’m sorry, Michael.”
“You’re sorry it was for real, or you’re sorry for lying to me?”
“I’m sorry, it was for real. I’m not proud of it, but I did have a relationship with your dad.”
I thought about it. Kate. My father. My mother. Their marriage. I didn’t want to admit it. Not really. But there was a chance Kate was telling the truth. A chance I felt in my bones. Maybe my dad wasn’t who I thought he was. You can never know anybody. Not really. I didn’t know what I thought about it. But I had more pressing concerns. I needed to stop the United States Navy from being blown sky high.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said.
Chapter 55
It was late in the day, but it still must have been more than a hundred degrees out. My muddy shirt and shorts dried in the hot air as Kate and I jogged down the winding mountain road toward the town of Bodrum below. We needed to get back to the castle. It was because of what Meryem had said to Faruk before dumping me in my grave.
Kale — the Turkish word for castle — Bodrum Kale.
I recognized the word from a plaque leading to the dungeon. We needed to get back there quickly. I had an idea of what they were planning. It made sense now. It revolved around the construction crane that had been erected alongside the flagpole in the upper courtyard.
We already knew that the Tesla Device required an insulated tower to operate. But transporting the Device back to its original insulated minaret would waste valuable time. Especially if they were dealing with a moving target. I suspected that the crane had been adopted as a fallback position. And it made sense. The crane would lift the focusing array, but just as importantly, if the sphere was suspended with nonmetallic tackle, it would be insulated from the ground, offering an obstruction-free platform from which to fire the Device.
Kate’s T-shirt and cargo pants were wet, but she hadn’t been buried alive, so she wasn’t looking quite as worse for wear as I was. The first few vehicles that passed us didn’t bother to slow down, but I put my thumb out and we got lucky with the third, a farm truck with a load of tomatoes in the bed. They had no room for us in the cab, but they let us hop on either side of the back bumper like itinerant garbage men as we descended the hill.
The blue sheet metal of the truck was hot to hold, but the sea breeze was refreshing, and we made good time as we rolled down into the city below. We jumped off the truck at a taxi stand two blocks from the waterfront, the last of the day’s heat shimmering off the whitewashed buildings. I could see the castle to the east, the giant red Turkish flag flying from the upper courtyard in the breeze. I stepped into an open storefront and pulled the last wet bill out of the front pocket of my T-shirt to pay a merchant for two large bottles of water. I cracked the plastic lid and handed one to Kate before opening a bottle for myself. The water wasn’t cold, but it was wet. I felt my strength returning as I rehydrated after the long ride down the hill.