Starr nodded. Looking back at the two FBI agents, he continued, "You will not come aboard this vessel while we are conducting our operation. Any attempt will be met with deadly force. Do you understand?" Styles and Christman brought their assault rifles to the ready.
"Are you serious? We're the FBI!" Agent Haines looked as though he was about to go into cardiac arrest he was so red in the face. "We have to board that boat."
"The discussion is over. Commander, get these men out of here before there is real trouble."
"Yes, sir," he said, saluting Starr and receiving one in return. "Proceed back to where we were going," he told the seaman at the wheel.
"We're not going anywhere," ordered Haines in complete frustration.
The commander of the second boat walked straight up to Agent Haines and stood face-to-face with him less than ten inches apart.
"Apparently, you don't hear real well. Make no mistake, these men will shoot you. You have no authority whatsoever over them, and if you compromise a military operation, they do have standing protocol to use lethal force, and I don't want the paperwork of trying to explain your stupidity. You are not going on that boat, and that's final. One more word from you, and I'll take you both back to the dock. Are we clear on this?"
"You're making a big mistake, Commander."
"Maybe, maybe not. That's my choice. Holloway!" he called to the seaman at the helm. "Get us the hell out of here!"
"Just a second, Commander," said Agent Forbanks as he was holding his cell phone. "I want confirmation of this."
In a flash, Styles had leaped across his own boat and jumped into the second craft, brushing past the shocked Coast Guardsman, almost knocking down Special Agent Haines, and snatching Agent Forbanks's cell phone from his hand and tossed it overboard. "As my commander stated clearly, this is a military operation, and you civilian clowns are not going to interfere." He whirled around and advanced toward Agent Haines.
"Give me your cell phone!"
"I will not."
Styles grabbed the man's hand, turning it over and then up and backward. "Give me your cell phone, or I snap your wrist."
The commander of the second boat was totally perplexed. He had a hard time believing what he was witnessing.
"I won't say it again," snarled Styles.
Agent Haines fumbled in his sport coat pocket and came out with his cell phone. Handing it over, he growled, "You are going to regret this."
"Not as long as I'm doing my job, I won't."
The splash indicated where the second cell phone had landed and then sunk.
Styles was immediately back, flanking Starr.
"You're good to go, Commander," Starr verified.
"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I know I want no part of it!" exclaimed the commander of the second boat.
Starr, Styles, and Christman watched as the boat turned and sped away from the scene.
"You handled that with the aplomb that I remember so well," Styles said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
"It worked, didn't it? I noticed it didn't take you long to get rid of those cell phones."
"Everybody gets lucky once in a while," he said with a grin.
With the second vessel gone, they returned to the salon. "J. C., keep an eye out just in case," instructed Styles.
"What do we do with the rest of these guys?" asked Phillips, who had just come up from the ship's office. "I uploaded everything onto a portable hard drive. They only had one computer. I did secure this satellite phone, though. I should be able to retrieve some numbers from it."
Starr offered up a suggestion. "Let's do something different. We have the info we came for. We could notify proper channels these people are here and let them sort it out. Plus, it just might be good to let the government look like they actually know what they're doing for a change."
Styles just looked at him.
"Marv, we have the intel that al-Hadid obviously isn't going to give them. It'll take a while for us to interrogate the other crew members. I'm sure they're in on what happened, but I'd bet they don't know what al-Hadid knew. That's how they work. You know that. Everybody is a spoke in the wheel."
Styles looked at Phillips and Christman. "What do you guys think?"
Christman offered, "I can see both sides of the fence. I know that's not much help."
"I say leave a note explaining the basics and shoot the crew. Why waste taxpayer money? I'm with Starr; I think they knew what was going on. We're supposed to kill terrorists. This bunch killed the president; why are we even talking about this?" Phillips stated emphatically.
"I agree with Phillips," said Styles. "Leave a note."
"Marv, you sure about this?" quizzed Starr.
"Discussion's over." He screwed the suppressor onto the barrel of his Beretta, walked over to each man, and told them in Arabic, "This is for killing the president." He fired two rounds into the middle of each man's forehead. He asked Phillips, "What did you write?"
"Nazir al-Hadid was one of two men who shot down the president's helicopters, the crew members were part of the scheme, and the wedding party is believed to be uninvolved."
"That'll work. Let's get the hell out of here. J. C., once we're away, contact that other boat and request assistance at the Oceaneer. Don't say anything else."
Five minutes later, the Oceaneer was a distant view. Forty minutes later, after securing the Coast Guard boat to a dock, the group was airborne in their own helicopter flying over the bay. Boats could be seen speeding toward the Oceaneer with several already tied up to her.
"Gonna be a hornets' nest down there," quipped Starr.
EPILOGUE
It seemed like forever since the group had relaxed around the dining room table at the Ranch, yet it had only been four days.
"Ryyaki Ali had two brothers. One was killed six years ago in a military air strike perpetuated by us. Zabakkar Ali is the surviving brother. He is the one that Nazir al-Hadid referenced. I'm running a search on him, but so far no luck," Phillips reported.
Styles looked at her and asked, "Just what is in that concoction of yours? I've seen quite a few chemicals used in my time, but nothing that works with that kind of speed."
She answered, "The basic formula is actually Russian. I've just added a few, shall we say, spices to the mixture. The one drawback is it does often lead to cardiac arrest. I didn't think any of us would be overly concerned about that particular side effect under the circumstances. With the amount I gave him, he would be good for five, maybe six answers before either we stopped or, well, you saw what happened. It is not something I'd use on someone we were concerned about keeping alive. Speaking of chemicals, I've started researching the Chemist that I picked up in chatter couple of days ago. I think I have it narrowed down to three possibilities, but it will take more time."
"You were right on both counts. Anyone had second thoughts about going totally dark?" Styles asked.
Christman and Starr both shook their heads.
Phillips spoke up. "I've been thinking about whether it is absolutely necessary for us to involve family."
Styles answered, "That's crossed my mind half a dozen times, and it always comes back to that if we guess wrong, we guess real wrong. Darlene, I have no doubt whatsoever that no one can make us disappear as well as you, but if we don't go dark, somehow, somewhere, if someone digs deep enough, somebody is going to find something on one of us. Then it would only be a matter of time before they could trace it back to either your mother or my father. We can't put them in harm's way. My dad is okay with it. He's going to talk to his friend, and I believe invite her to join him, which, if that is what he wants, that's what we'll do. J. C. and Starr both state they don't really have anyone, which leaves just us. It's completely your call as to whether you involve your mother or not."