As I raced back to the bay, grateful they were letting me take Axel and Keena, I knew I couldn’t chance letting Blake be seen until we reached the mainland. To that end, I also knew I couldn’t afford to communicate with anyone on Redemption or even say much to Axel or Keena. I’d told Keena I’d talk to them when I could, but until then I needed them to follow my lead and instructions. Any slipup at all—by any of us—could mean the end. We were laying all our cards out on the table for the captors to see. That was why we’d brought the boat over instead of the plane. If they had eyes on it, they’d know we weren’t trying to sneak anything past them. I’d told them about Keena because I figured they already knew she was there. I didn’t want to give them any reason not to trust me.
We hopped into the boat and cut across the choppy water toward Oahu. We rode in silence the entire way. When we arrived at the airport, Axel led us to the plane where he’d hidden Blake, and we taxied down the runway. As we lifted off, I looked down at the dim lights slowly fading away. I shook my head. After all it had taken to escape the mainland, you never could have convinced me I’d be going back so soon. After defying Captain Baker to stay here, now I was following him there anyway. But I knew our missions were unrelated. The other planes would’ve already left the carrier by now. We’d be landing on the carrier, refueling, and following them a good five hours behind. I reminded Axel to let the carrier know we were on our way. He held a thumb up and I unbuckled, heading to the back.
I didn’t care about the NORAD rescue mission anymore. I only had Hayley on my mind. And Kate. And the baby—my baby. Okay, so I have a lot on my mind.
I walked over and lay down next to a crate in the cargo hold with a painted red X on it. I pulled a blanket up over my head and turned to face the crate. I knew there were cameras on us—probably both in the cockpit and in the back. As loud as it was back here I doubted they could pick up any decent audio, but I didn’t want them to see me talking to this crate. “You okay, buddy?” I whispered through the cracks in the wooden box.
“Yeah,” Blake replied from inside the crate. “Face still hurts a little.”
“I can’t let you out until we leave the carrier. Might not even be able to come back here after I get up.”
“That’s fine,” he answered calmly. “It’s tight but I’ll be alright. Hey Danny?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I’m sorry, man.” I knew he was talking about Hayley. “We’ll find her.”
“Hope so.” I closed my eyes. I needed a little sleep. “Can you wake me in an hour, Blake? Knock on the crate or something.”
“Sure thing, Rocky.”
I smiled and shook my head. There was silence for a few seconds and then I heard Blake add, “You know, I’m sorry too, Blake. I really didn’t mean to hit you in the face as hard as I possibly could. Awww… thanks Dan. That’s so considerate of you.”
I chuckled but kept my eyes closed. “Jackass.”
“Apology accepted.” Blake laughed quietly inside the box. “But—just sayin’ Danny—you hit like a little girl.”
Maybe I should keep you in that crate.
TWENTY-FIVE – Fuel (Hayley)
Flynn had two large black SEAL packs for Lazzo and me, and we jammed them full of the supplies we thought we’d need. We snuck our way back through the channel toward the grate exit. It was pitch-black above the exit and relatively silent. Too silent. “Flynn,” I whispered. “Is there another way out?”
“Yes. But it would take more than an hour to crawl through it. It’s a drainage channel like this one, but it runs the full length of the carrier. There’s an exit halfway down, but it brings you up right in the middle of the deck. The other exit is all the way at the opposite end.”
“I don’t like this. This has to be a trap. They know we’re down here.”
“Let me go check.”
“Flynn, no—”
I felt Lazzo grab my shoulder. “Let her go.”
“Hayley, I’ll be fine.” She started to lift the grate, and I saw the red laser line a second before the grate crossed it. An alarm screeched loudly in the hallway above us. Flynn dropped the grate and slipped back down into the channel. “We’ve gotta go.”
We turned and scrambled back toward the flood room. We dropped into it and followed Chase up another ladder into the other channel. We had scrambled halfway to the midway exit when I heard the unmistakable sound of running water behind us. Someone had intentionally flooded the other channel. When the water filled up the flood room, it would fill this channel too. “Hurry!! They’re trying to drown us.”
Chase was grunting loudly, pushing himself as hard as he could. The water had caught up to us. It was only a half-inch deep but was rapidly rising. We reached the grate at the midpoint, and Chase looked up through it.
“There’s a plane running about fifty yards from us. I think you can get there.” He stood up, pushing the grate up.
“Chase, wait.” I reached out for him, but it was too late. He pulled himself out of the channel and took a few steps toward the plane.
I popped my head up out of the hole and had a look for myself. The plane was indeed running, and close, but there was no one around. This isn’t right. “Chase, stop.”
He turned around and motioned for me to follow him. Before I could object and convince him to come back, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Two men in black had crawled out from behind the wheels of the plane. They had raised their guns and had Chase in their crosshairs. “Chase, watch out. They’re going to shoot you.”
The sudden terror in his eyes was unmistakable. He saw the men and backed toward me. Then I saw another two men step out from behind a stack of crates on the plane. Captain Baker and Brock. Baker had a megaphone. Brock had a rifle. It too was pointed toward us. “Do not move,” Baker barked.
Chase was standing above me, blocking me from the three rifles pointed in my direction. “Chase, step aside, son,” Baker said calmly, taking a couple steps down the open cargo door of the plane.
Flynn had pushed her way up beside me. “Chase, just move,” I said. “They want me. I’m here.”
But Chase shook his head and yelled back at his father, “No, Dad. You don’t need them.”
“Son, this is no time to be something you’re not,” the captain replied. “You are not a hero.”
“And you are?” Chase laughed in disgust.
“Chase…” Flynn begged him not to taunt their father.
“Just leave, Dad. Stick to the plan… they can’t stop you.”
“Last warning, Chase.” Captain Baker was visibly irritated.
“Chase, move!” Flynn yelled at him.