Jake took his position again and waited until they closed in. This time he ignored the men in the back. There seemed to be two of them again, so someone must have come from below deck to take over for the man hit.
As they closed in on the fishing boat, bullets again hit the side of their boat. Jake guessed the craft could take a beating, especially from 9mm rounds. Instead of returning their fire, Jake aimed high and fired at the two men up in the pilot deck. The man with the long hair hit the deck and the one behind the wheel dropped when a few of Jake’s rounds hit him. Now the fishing boat veered hard to the left as the dead man pulled the wheel that way when he fell.
Jake yelled at Elisa through the wind, “Get me right up their ass again. I’m gonna aim for the engine.”
Rushing forward on the patrol boat, Jake got to the bow and lay on the deck. He shoved a new 30-round magazine in and took aim as they moved straight into the fishing boat. It looked like the Yanni long-haired fellow was now piloting the boat. When they got almost too close, bullets again flew at Jake, which he ignored as he aimed low at the boat, just above the water line.
Bullets hit all around Jake.
Finally smoke started to rise from the back of the fishing boat and it seemed to be slowing down.
Elisa turned hard to the starboard to avoid crashing into them. The patrol boat quickly passed by the starboard side of the fishing boat and continued past them.
Smoke continued to rise from the boat as Elisa turned around the bow and swung back past them. The fishing boat was still moving, but at about half speed.
Jake came back to Elisa and said, “I think I took out one of their motors.”
“Now what?” she asked.
He checked both of his sub-machine guns and figured he had at least 60 rounds left between them. Then he would have to use his 9mm handgun. Not a great prospect from those distances and speed.
“Come back around behind them and we’ll figure something out.”
When Elisa piloted back behind the fishing boat, the smoke had gotten more intense, with flames visible from the stern.
“We’ll have to put on some more pressure,” Jake said. “They’ll be busy trying to put out the fire.”
Just as he finished saying that, he saw the long-haired dude up at the wheel, his left arm wrapped around Sara’s neck and his right arm pointing a gun at her head.
“Keep your distance,” Jake yelled. “They have a gun to Sara’s head.”
He watched in desperation, helpless now to these men. They would just have to follow and call ahead to have the Italian authorities waiting at the dock for them. But even then Sara might be in danger. He wasn’t sure any of these men remaining would want to go without a fight.
Unsure of what to do, the decision was made for him in the next few seconds as he watched what unfolded on the fishing boat. First, there was a struggle between Sara and the man with long hair. Then Sara dove from the boat into the water. The men took aim and started shooting at the water.
Elisa saw what he saw and shoved the throttle down, powering the patrol boat closer to the burning fishing vessel.
Rushing to the bow, Jake had a sub-machine gun in both hands. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings as they closed on the other craft. Jake propped his feet into a secure shooting position and opened fire with both guns. Bullets from his gun peppered the other boat and he didn’t stop firing until the bolts stuck back on each gun. He dropped the guns to the deck and he pulled his handgun as their boat passed alongside the boat. But he had no targets to fire upon.
Without warning the fishing boat burst further into flames, followed seconds later by a huge fuel explosion knocking Jake back onto the deck.
Elisa turned the boat to the starboard away from the flames and smoke and sharply back toward where the professor had jumped into the water.
Holstering his gun, Jake searched the water for Sara. He looked back to Elisa and raised his hands, desperate. They cruised slowly and as the boat rose and fell with the waves Jake finally saw a body in the water.
“There,” he yelled and pointed.
The boat slowly closed in and when they got close enough Jake dove into the water. He came up a few feet from Sara and grasped her just as she was starting to slip under water. With great difficulty he pulled her toward the patrol boat. Elisa was waiting at the side of the boat with a life ring, which she threw toward Jake. He grasped on to the ring and with Elisa’s help the two of them were able to haul the professor aboard the old Italian boat. Jake, out of breath, gave Sara mouth to mouth and finally resuscitated her, sending a flow of salt water from her lungs. She began to cough and Jake checked over her body for any possible bullet wounds. But she had not been hit.
“Jake,” Elisa yelled. “Take cover.”
Jake looked up and saw the burning and crippled boat heading right for them. He pushed Sara into the enclosed pilot house and took out his gun, hoping the salt water would not stop it from firing.
Elisa powered up their boat just in time to avoid the collision.
Standing in the stern of the patrol boat, Jake aimed his 9mm auto at the upper deck. Just as he fired he noticed that the man who once had hair past his shoulders now had burned stubble on his head, and his face was black, either burned or full of soot from the flames. As the two boats passed each other only feet apart, Jake fired until his magazine was empty and the slide locked back. He watched behind them and saw the Greek man slumping and finally dropping to the deck, the boat now limping in a slow, long circle, flames and smoke rising into the morning air.
He went inside and found Sara Halsey Jones sitting on a bench, her arms wrapped around herself. Jake found a blanket in one of the compartments and placed it around her.
“Are you all right?” Jake asked Sara.
“I am now,” the professor said. “Thank you for finding me. Both of you.”
Elisa smiled and turned the patrol boat toward the coast of Sicily, which was just visible on the horizon now.
“Are you ready to go back to Texas?” Jake asked.
Sara nodded. “But first we must secure the stone in the catacombs.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Elisa said. “I had our government secure the site just after our encounter there. Nobody has been in since we removed the bodies from the catacomb.”
Nice touch, Jake thought. He had been so busy trying to figure out how to get Sara back, he hadn’t even thought about that.
They slowly made their way back toward the navy base at Augusta.
“What kind of trouble you suppose we’ll be in when they see all the bullet holes in this beast?” Jake asked.
Elisa shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”
Jake sat down next to Sara. “We’ll get you some warm clothes and onto a flight back to the U.S. Anything else you need?”
She simply shook her head and then leaned it against Jake’s shoulder. They would stay like that until they got to the port in Augusta, Italy.
28
Hours had passed since Jake and Elisa pulled into the Italian navy port in Augusta and turned in the old World War II patrol boat. They weren’t happy with the holes in the hull, but understood once Elisa told them how things went down.
From there they had driven their acquired Fiat to Sigonella Naval Air Station outside of Catania, Sicily. A Gulfstream jet waited on the tarmac outside the operations building as evening set in.
Jake and Professor Sara Halsey Jones stood outside waiting while a couple of sailors prepped the aircraft for flight.
“Thank you again, Jake,” Sara said. “I’m sure they would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”
On the drive from Augusta to Catania the professor had told them about her keel-hauling experience, where she thought for sure she would die. She felt guilty for actually giving in and telling the men about the stone of Archimedes.