John Lee Ray was in the security business, providing personal protection, investigative services and “threat management,” which was his euphemism for pre-emptive assassinations, only to the wealthiest of the wealthy — men who could afford to hire their own army, which was exactly what Ray’s organization was. A former US Army Special Forces officer, Ray had the training, experience, and most importantly, the international contacts to be very good at his chosen profession. He had started out as a single operator, but had quickly gathered a cadre of professionals with a similar background in black ops, to form a multi-million dollar agency. Scalpel, who had been a member of Ray’s SF team — it had been Ray that had given him his operational nickname — had been one of the first to sign up.
“Steady now.” Ray’s voice was accented by a faint South Carolina drawl, which only seemed to add to his charisma. “I can wheel you closer.”
“No,” Scalpel gritted his teeth. “I’ve got this.”
Ray nodded and stepped aside to let a hospital orderly take the wheelchair back into the main lobby. He said nothing more until they were both in the back seat of a heavily armored SUV, one of a fleet of such vehicles that Ray had at his disposal.
When they were on the move, Ray turned to him. “If you’re not ready for duty, I need to know.”
“I can handle it,” said Scalpel, mustering as much confidence as he could. “I need to be in on this, John Lee.”
“You need? Oh, yes. Payback.”
“He left me to die down there. The doctors say this pain might never go away.”
Ray shook his head. “I need you to be focused. The mission comes first.”
Scalpel nodded. “Always.”
“This is important to me.” Ray gripped his subordinate’s hand.
“I know,” Scalpel assured him. And he did know. As part of Ray’s inner circle, he was intimately familiar with the man’s obsession with the Templars. “And making sure that Dane Maddock dies screaming is important to me. So let’s kill two birds with one stone, all right?”
“‘Kill two birds.’ That’s what I like about you. Always looking for ways to maximize our efficiency.” A smile creased Ray’s handsome face, but then he was all business again. “Listen, I didn’t come halfway around the world just to wish you a speedy recovery. I’m personally overseeing this operation now. I can’t afford any more mistakes.”
Scalpel bit back the reply that was already on his tongue. Ray didn’t abide excuses, and the simple truth of the matter was that Scalpel had made mistakes, not the least of which was underestimating Dane Maddock. He chose a different tack. “All I’m asking is for a chance to make this right.”
“You’ll get it,” answered Ray in an easy voice. “But the situation has remained fluid during your convalescence; a lot has happened. Maddock split his team. His crew is back on the site, but he lit out for England to pay a visit to the current Lord Hancock.”
“You said that was a dead end.”
“And so it is, for us at least. Maddock may not have learned anything that we don’t already know, but he’s clearly up to speed now because he’s on his way back. And he’s got company; that loose end you failed to tie off in DC.”
Scalpel did his best to ignore the rebuke. “She’s with Maddock?”
“She is. I’ll admit, when this began I did not anticipate she would be anything more than an annoyance. Now, I’m less certain as to her role in this entire affair.”
“Three birds, then.”
“Quite. But I have changed our tactics. Subtlety instead of blunt force. I have been monitoring Maddock’s team. They haven’t found the Hancock medallion yet, and frankly I’m not certain that they will.”
“And if they don’t?”
“It’s out there,” Ray said confidently. “I’ll just come back and scour every square inch of the site until I find it.”
“So why not just do that now? Let’s take them out and do this our way.”
Ray’s expression did not change, but his blue eyes seemed to harden to the color of concrete. “We are going to do this my way.”
CHAPTER 13
“We finished clearing the ship yesterday, and started sweeping the surrounding seafloor.” Bones motioned to a pile of encrusted debris on the deck. “So far, all we’ve found is a whole lot of nothing.”
“If you don’t include the remains of over four hundred Allied soldiers,” remarked Alex, gesturing to the array of dog tags laid out on a table. There were a half-dozen different styles representing the same number of nationalities. The metal tags were badly corroded and would have to be meticulously restored if an identification was to be made, but some, such as the distinctive red disk and green octagon pair issued by the Royal Army which were made of vulcanized asbestos fiber, were perfectly legible.
Dane didn’t think that she had meant it to sound like an accusation, but he could tell from the way Bones stiffened that it had come out that way. They were all tired and irritable. Bones and his crew had been working long, tedious and ultimately unfruitful hours sifting through the wreck of the Nagata Maru, while Dane, Alex and Professor had been traveling non-stop for too many days to count, first hopping their way across Europe and Asia to reach the Philippines, followed by a long journey aboard the Sea Sprite, a cramped — and not altogether sea-worthy — cabin cruiser, to rendezvous with Jacinta shortly before sunrise. The travel expenses alone had put quite a dent in their reserve — which consisted of several thousand dollars in Dane’s money belt — and every day they spent at sea was just adding to the final tally.
Dane quickly tried to smooth things over. “I appreciate all the work you’ve done. I wish there was a shortcut, but unfortunately this isn’t an exact science. More of a process of elimination, really.”
Bones stared suspiciously at Alex a few seconds longer then turned his attention back to Dane. “Well, like the lady said, we did bring up a whole mess of dog tags. The grandkids of these missing soldiers will probably think that’s worth a hell of a lot more than some fairy tale treasure.”
“Ordinarily, I would feel the same way, but unfortunately this is one fairy tale that people are willing to kill for.”
“People kill for less than that all the time,” intoned Alex. “That doesn’t make any of it real.” She turned to Bones and stuck out her hand. “I’m sorry if I offended you. Truce?”
Bones grimaced, but there was a playful twinkle in his eye. “My people have learned to be very suspicious when the white man asks for a truce.”
“I know this will tax your powers of observation,” Alex countered in the same tone, “but I am not exactly lily-white, and I’m certainly not a man.”
Bones looked her up and down with an exaggerated lascivious grin. “Well, there’s no arguing that.”
Behind them, Gabby cleared her throat. “When you two are finished, maybe you’d like to tell me what to do next.”
Bones transferred his smile to Gabby for a moment then became serious. “As I see it, we have two choices. We can keep searching the sea floor surrounding the wreck, or we can try to go back into the interior.”
He walked over and laid a hand on the monitor screen which displayed the alien-looking sub-surface environment in dull hues of green and brown. “We found some remains in the area around the wreck. I’m no forensic expert, but judging by the way the bones were shattered, I’d guess they were shot, probably trying to escape. So, there’s a chance we’ll find our guy out there, but the further out we go, the less we’re finding. On the upside, it’s going quickly because we can sweep with the metal detector.”