“Right.”
“They hold covert meetings every now and again to discuss stuff they don’t want hacked or compromised. These meetings are so classified that only the very top tier of the governments know about it — presidents, VPs, prime ministers, you name it.”
“Woah.”
“Exactly,” Scarlet said. “Usually it’s just intel agency officials but this time the heads of state are involved.”
“And the Oracle just happens to be in the vicinity!” Kim said.
Camacho swore loudly. “This is the mother of all assassinations!”
“Has Rich warned them?” Hawke asked.
“He’s contacted a friend in MI5 who has briefed the British contingency, but they’re not seeing it as a credible threat. They’ve swept the hotel and blocked all local airspace.”
“So how can Wolff touch them?”
“That’s what we have to find out and fast. They’re not going to cancel a meeting of this level and importance and airlift everyone out until we can give them evidence of a solid terror attack.”
“You told them there’s an airship in the middle of this island, right?” Hawke said.
Scarlet nodded. “His MI5 contact has said that the Americans are very clear about defending the meeting. The second that airship crosses into prohibited airspace they’ll blow it out of the sky. Their view is the president is safe and so are the other leaders and officials.”
“I can see their point,” Camacho said. “They get threats all the time and if they canned everything they were doing every time they got one they’d never get anything done. They’ve looked into it, done their checks and they’re satisfied the president’s not at risk. If all Wolff’s got is an airship, I don’t rate his chances up against a couple of F-16s.”
“But this is Wolff we’re talking about,” Scarlet said. “He doesn’t make mistakes like that. He’s up to something and if they’re not going to cancel the meeting and airlift the president to safety then it’s up to us to stop it!”
“Plus the bastard’s got our friends,” Reaper said. “This cannot go unpunished.”
“No,” Hawke said coldly. “It’s not going to. Everyone, with me.”
Devlin stalked through the complex in search of Lea. He was sure the Oracle would be keeping her close to him, so he headed for what he guessed was the center of operations — the main villa in the center of the island.
He heard voices up ahead in an office and thought he recognized the sound of Wolff arguing with Kruger. Creeping along a corridor with the mace in his hand, he was approaching the door to the office when the game changed.
The serrated blade of a combat knife pushed into the soft flesh of his throat.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Could he swing the mace around and hit this guy before he drew the blade across his throat? No chance. “All right, you got me.”
“You shouldn’t give in so easily, Danny.”
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Lexi’s voice.
“What the hell, Lex?”
Scarlet stepped out of the shadows too. “You need to take five to change your pants, Danny?”
“Fuck off, Sloane.”
Hawke said, “Good to see you, Danny — but where the hell’s Lea?”
“You Know Who’s got her. We were both in some kind of torture cell when he and his South African lapdog showed up and took her. They said they were going for a little flight, so I guess they’ve gone to the airfield. I haven’t seen Blankov since we arrived.”
A terrific explosion ripped through the pool house just outside the window, blasting the roof off and blowing out the windows. The shockwave expelled smoke and glass splinters away from the window at high-speed as a massive fireball bloomed up above the complex.
Then another explosion, and a third.
“What the hell’s going on?” Camacho said.
Hawke punched the wall. “Scorched earth policy,” he said. “He’s pulling out and making damn sure he leaves nothing behind. I’d say every building on this island is rigged to blow, so we need to get the hell out of here!”
They sprinted from the office suite just as the room exploded. The power of the detonation lifted them from their feet and flung them into the swimming pool. They crashed through the burning wood and plastic from the pool house that was bobbing about in the surface of the water and sank to the bottom.
Hawke twisted around in the water and looked up to the surface. He saw black smoke, fire and pieces of roofing timber slowly falling back to earth. They splattered all over the surface of the water while pieces of metal shredded past them to the pool floor.
When the worst of the fallout was over he swam to the surface. The others followed his lead and they assembled on the surface of the pool, swimming to the edge through the wreckage.
Ryan saw it first and pointed it out to everyone else. “Up there! The airship!”
Hawke glanced and saw it. Smooth and silver and with the word Anshar painted on the side.
“Babylonian creator deity,” Ryan said.
“Fuck it, he got away,” Scarlet said.
Devlin cursed. “And he still has Lea!”
Hawke pulled himself out of the pool. “I don’t bloody think so.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The sprint from the fountain in the center of the villa compound out to the swimming pool took seconds. The Athanatoi left behind as a rear-guard sniped at them from hidden positions but they ran like devils toward the jetty.
“Almost there!” Hawke yelled, ducking as a bullet traced over his head and buried itself in the side of one of the huts.
“I beat my personal best for fleeing psychos!” Kim said, glancing at her watch.
“I see the boats!” Ryan said.
They sprinted along the side of the main swimming pool until they reached the end of the island and found what they were looking for. A long, sun-bleached jetty stretched out into the ocean and moored at the far end were a number of airboats.
“Just what the doctor ordered, no?” Reaper said with a grin.
Hawke looked around. “We need some cover fire guys, or we’ll get shot to pieces before we get fifty yards from the shore!”
The rest of the team moved into a defensive position and started firing on the Athanatoi as Hawke heaved the mooring line off the post and jumped down inside the boat. Ryan was looking at him expectantly.
“What?”
“I’m coming with you.”
Hawke’s hesitation said it all.
“Kruger’s up there, Joe!”
Hawke climbed into the seat, flicked a small switch to his right and pushed the ignition button. The propellers burst to life behind the prop cage and the entire boat started to vibrate in the water. “Are you girls going to stand there all day or shall we get going?”
Devlin looked at Ryan and then back to Hawke, shrugging. “What the hell — I renewed my life insurance just last week!”
They leaped down into the boat as Hawke steered it away from the jetty and increased speed. Pushing the stick forward turned the boat to the right and pulling back on it turned them to the left. Speed was controlled by an accelerator pedal on the floor in front of his seat and now he opened the throttle fully and the airboat’s bow pitched up as they zoomed across the water.
Devlin and Ryan were standing either side of the prop cage, hanging on with one hand while the rest of the team fired on the guards back on the jetty. “Evasive manoeuvre!” Devlin yelled.
“Hang on!” Hawke said and steered hard to starboard, almost sending both his friends into the alligator-infested water.
Thanks to the cover fire provided by their ECHO teammates, the Athanatoi’s bullets blasted off course to the left, plowing into the sea and kicking up little foamy splashes in the airboat’s wake. Devlin and Ryan returned fire from the boat, blasting one of the men off the jetty and sending the others scrambling for the cover of the Oracle’s yacht.