The two remaining men looked at the other man, who seemed to be the leader. He was finally starting to look conflicted. The whirring blades of approaching helicopters almost swayed him enough—but not quite. He maintained his position—or his orders. “Have it your way.” He waved for the other two to follow him inside.
“Hayley.” Eddie was angry. “This is not your decision to make.”
“It is, in fact.” I stared him down. “It is no one else’s decision.”
Two helicopters roared overhead, and we stepped under the entrance of the ride—hiding behind a few pillars. They obviously would have picked up our heat signals. They knew where we were now.
I had taken my eyes off Blake for just a few seconds. As I turned to tell him he needed to go with Danny, I caught a brief glimpse of an object coming at my head. Before I could duck, it struck me and I blacked out.
I didn’t hear Blake say he was sorry for knocking me out.
I didn’t hear the gunfire start.
I didn’t feel Eddie pick me up.
And I didn’t hear the voice that said, “Okay, let him in.”
SIXTY-SEVEN – Fail Safe (Hayley)
When I came to, I was in a dark room with only a dim lamp in the corner. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw another person sitting in a chair by an open door. “What’s going on?” I sat up suddenly and winced at the searing pain that shot through my head. “What happened?” I picked up the bag of ice that had fallen on the floor. “Did Blake knock me out?” I had a sudden flashback of something coming at my head.
Flynn stood up from the chair, nodded, and stepped over to me. “The point is you’re okay—we’re okay. They let us in—all of us.”
“Eddie too? Really? Did they knock him out too?”
“No, just you.” She shook her head. “But yes, Eddie’s in here.”
“How?”
“Your brother.”
What did he do now? “Seriously?”
“While you and I were off exploring earlier Danny had Eddie wrap his arm and hide the other C-4 block under the wrap. When they brought him in, he took the C-4 cube out and stole a gun from one of the guys carrying him. He threatened to blow the bunker up from the inside if they didn’t let Eddie in. Somehow he convinced them he was serious—they didn’t have a choice.”
“They could have killed him.” I couldn’t hide the concern in my voice.
“I’m sure he knew that. But he also knew if they’d called Hawaii, they’d know they couldn’t afford to shoot an active American captain, and—as the governor called him—a living hero.”
“I didn’t think he was strong enough—”
“I think Danny was counting on them thinking that too.”
That son of a…
“In any case, it worked…we’re all in here safe.”
“And Qi Jia?”
“That’s the interesting thing. They’ve been blowing the crap out of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. But there’s a tunnel running from that basement room we were in over to Tom Sawyer’s Island. We’re actually under that island, watching them demolish the place. Look.” She pointed to a screen above my head.
I glanced up at the security feed and watched as nearly a thousand men ripped apart the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. “They’re definitely looking for us. What if they find the tunnel?”
“That’s the best part.” Flynn was amazingly calm about all of this. “The Army Corps of Engineers outdid themselves here. That room we were in earlier had a false-floor panel that opened into a three-story staircase. At the bottom of the staircase there was another door leading to an airtight sub-like tunnel over to the island. Once we were inside the sub tunnel, it turned like a drawbridge under the water, swinging us all the way around to the island. It’s airtight and waterproof once the doors are sealed. We just walked right over here. Tom Sawyer’s entire island is one giant bunker.”
“So couldn’t they find that tunnel too? If they found the floor panel and blew the door open?”
“No.” Flynn was laughing now. “We’re good. If they do find the door that led to the tunnel on the other side, and even if they do manage to open it, the whole place will flood. It’s rigged to self-destruct—or they can blow it from here as a failsafe. There’s no way anyone ever figures out there’s any passage at all over to this island. Thirty feet below the surface of water that’s only fifteen feet deep. We’re safe, Hayley.”
I tried to stand, and Flynn quickly helped me up. “Where is everyone else?”
“Everyone but Eddie is in the control room,” she replied.
“Where’s Eddie?” My alarm must have been visible.
“Don’t worry. He’s in a cell, but he’s fine.”
“I need to see him.”
Flynn nodded. “Okay.”
She led me to the cell where he was being held. He stood as soon as he saw me. “Hayley, I’m so sorry. We didn’t have another choice.”
“Forget it.” I waved him off. “That was stupid. You two should never have done that. But I’m guessing knocking me out was Danny’s idea.”
“It was my idea.” Blake’s voice behind me made me jump.
I turned around and slugged him in the chest. “It was a stupid idea, you moron. You don’t get to decide what I do with my life.”
“Easy princess.” Blake laughed, even though I was anything but smiling. “Your brother gave me pretty clear instructions about you. I was not, under any circumstance, to let you give your life for this guy.” He wagged his thumb toward Eddie. “Would you have gone quietly if I’d have asked in a nicer way?”
He knew the answer to that question. “What do you mean he gave you instructions? When?”
“When he was whispering sweet nothings in my ear out there—some of them were actually sweet somethings.” He was still smiling.
“Wait. Why is everyone so calm about this? Danny told you to knock me out?”
“Not exactly. But he knew they weren’t going to simply let Eddie walk in here, and you weren’t going to let Eddie stay out there. There’s got to be a mule somewhere on your family tree.”
I swung at him again, but he blocked me this time. “You’re the ass, Blake.”
“Hayley, Danny had his plan, but he still wanted me to make sure we got you in. I did what I had to do and now everyone is safe.”
“Aaargh—fine—thank you for saving my life. Now, will you shut up and tell me what’s going on with Hawaii?”
Blake pursed his lips, trying hard to prevent another smile. “Which one, princess, shut up or tell you what’s going on?”
“Damn it, Blake, if you call me princess one more time—” I took a step toward him with my fist raised.
A voice in the hall interrupted us. “You guys need to come right now.” It was Mackenzie. With Blake momentarily distracted I took one more shot at his chest—successfully landing that punch. I gave him a fake smile as he took a step back—covering his chest—and I followed Mackenzie down the hall. “What is it, Mack?”
“They just fired the missiles.”
“What?” Blake almost yelled right behind me.
“NORAD launched the missiles,” Mackenzie repeated.
“How many did—”
“All of them,” she said.
I froze in my tracks. We’re too late.
SIXTY-EIGHT – Anything is Possible