EIGHTEEN – No Choice (Ryan)
“They knew we were coming.”
We could hear Danny loud and clear—through his transmitter—as he stood outside the gate of the compound and looked up at the sky. He looked back down at the piece of paper in his hand. “Tara, you’re going to want to sit down.”
She didn’t ask why. She sat down and grabbed my hand.
Danny sighed deeply. “This is what it says.” He cleared his throat and read the note—aloud—that had been in the envelope taped to the gate.
“There is a live video feed to your left…” Danny pointed out the camera. “… and there are cameras throughout the compound. The house is wired with explosives. If anyone trespasses, we will blow up the house and everyone inside it. We are not afraid to die. If you would like to test us, go ahead. If you obey, we will not hurt the girls. They will not be touched. Disobey any of these instructions and they all die. Do not come back to Kauai again until Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. ONLY Danny may return here for the next set of instructions. Come prepared.”
Danny looked back up at the sky. “That’s it.” Then he turned to the others with him and said, “What choice do we have?”
Tara stood up then and said loudly, “You don’t have a choice, Danny.”
Damien looked at her. “He can’t hear you. I’m sorry.”
“Then tell him through his earpiece. He doesn’t have a choice. We have to listen to them.”
“Ma’am—”
“Don’t! Don’t you ma’am me. You tell him to leave. Right. Damn. Now.”
Dad moved over to Tara and put an arm around her. I’d already tried and she’d pushed me away. Awesome. Damien spoke into the headset. We watched Danny nod and give the “round it up” signal. The Pack climbed back into the jeeps, and they drove off.
On our end, Governor Barnes had a former Navy pilot fly us back to Redemption. When we landed we coasted up to the dock—parking next to our seaplane. Danny and the rest of the Pack were already there. Tara was first out, and she ran to Danny—who was approaching us on the dock. He wrapped her in his arms, his eyes on me. She pulled back as the rest of us approached and asked him, “What do we do now?”
Danny waved at the Navy pilot as he pulled the plane away from the dock and headed back toward Oahu. “Right now I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”
No one argued.
“They were waiting for us,” Blake chimed in. “This is all some big plan.”
“Who is they?” I asked. “Do we have any idea who is doing this?”
“Actually, yes. Axel found this on the boat yesterday, taped to the console.” Danny held up a patch with an emblem on it. “This same emblem was carved into the stone pillars of the gate at the compound we just left. I had Keena look it up.” He took a deep breath. “It’s Libyan Intelligence.”
“Did you say it was taped to the console?”
Danny nodded. “Someone wanted us to find it.”
“Who? And are you saying these people are connected to Qi Jia?” Other people have to be wondering the same things. “Are you saying there are some of them here?”
“One question at a time, Dad. First of all, we don’t know who left the patch. Whoever it was couldn’t have known for sure we’d find it. Hoped? Maybe. Known? No way. Secondly, we don’t know that this is connected to Qi Jia—though it certainly could be. And…” Danny held his hand up as I was about to interrupt. “And finally, whether or not it is connected, they surely had operatives in every single state of the US to make sure the attack went off as planned. If these are their people and this is their compound that would not surprise me. They would have known where to be to survive the chemical attacks.”
It sure surprised the hell out of me.
“These are professionals,” Danny continued. “They asked for me specifically for some reason. I take that to mean they know far more about us than we do about them. The note was written in perfect English. Not that a Libyan couldn’t know perfect English, but it implies someone on our side could be working with or for them. They have this entire thing staged—and maybe have for some time. I actually believe they left that satellite gap intentionally. They wanted us to get their message.”
I don’t get it. “So why make it so hard? And why tell you to come prepared? For what?”
“I don’t know, Dad. Come prepared doesn’t mean anything to me right now. And truthfully, I don’t think they expected us to find them that soon. I think they were ready for it just in case, but most likely they were going to deliver the next instructions somehow tomorrow night.” Danny looked at all of us. “If anything, we tipped our hat at how connected we are. If anything, we just made everything worse.”
I heard Tara mumble, “Not possible.”
“Oh yes.” Danny apparently had heard her too. “It is possible. You and I both know that.”
Tara apologized, blushing.
“Don’t. I know what you meant. But we all need to realize this can get worse. Right now we have to do exactly as we’re told. We need to sit and wait. No one leaves this island. Period. Everyone got that?”
We did.
Just then Danny held a finger up and cupped a hand over his earpiece. I watched his expression change from calm to fear, and I saw the color drain from his face.
“What?” I asked.
Danny sank to his knees, staring at the water.
“Danny, what?” Tara demanded.
“They caught the terrorists on the carrier…” A sudden and absolute hush fell over us. “And they killed them.”
NINETEEN – Shock and Awe (Hayley)
Lazzo and I were cuffed and being pushed across the carrier deck toward the command tower. Brock had already radioed in to Captain Baker, “I’ve caught them.” So they had been looking for us!
The captain stood up on the deck with a smug expression, looking down on us as we approached. “Welcome,” the jackass said sarcastically. “So good to see you.”
“Whatever happens, Laz,” I whispered with my head down. “Don’t say a single word.”
“Shut up!” Brock shouted, striking me in the back of my shoulder with the butt of his rifle. “Another word and I shoot you on the spot.”
“You better ask your dad first.” Asshole. My shoulder stung, but my own stupidity hurt me more. Now what are we going to do?
“He’s not my dad,” Brock mumbled.
I looked away from him and allowed myself the smallest of smiles. Idiot.
Quite a crowd had gathered, but I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Fortunately. Nonetheless—with that audience—the captain was forced to rein in his natural tendency to be an all-around dick. Some women watching us probably wouldn’t like him condoning my abuse. He scolded Brock briefly and warned him not to strike me again. I could see right through it. I knew Baker probably knew who I was and probably—therefore—wanted to hit me himself. I’m sure you’ll find the time.
“Put them in the holding cells. And not together. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
Baker’s “few minutes” turned into a full hour. Brock individually searched us before Baker arrived. Brock enjoyed his frisk and squeeze a little too much with me—particularly between my legs, all the while smiling and claiming he had to be extra diligent with girls, “given all the extra hiding spots.” Then he added that maybe I should reconsider talking back to him next time. “See where it gets you? Who got the last word now, bitch?”