The oars were still in their locks. Jack grabbed them and began to row, watching the freighter recede into the dark. Manhattan was behind him, drawing nearer with every stroke. Gia and Abe would not be visible for a while yet. Vicky crouched in the stern of the raft, her head swiveling between the freighter and land. It was going to be so good to reunite her with Gia.
Jack rowed harder. The effort caused him pain, but surprisingly little. He should have been in agony from the deep wound behind his left shoulder, from the innumerable lacerations all over his body, and from the avulsions where the skin had simply been torn away by the teeth of the savage little rakoshi. He felt weak from fatigue and blood loss, but he should have lost more—he should have been in near shock from the blood he had lost. The necklace truly seemed to have healing powers.
But could it really keep you young? And let you grow old if it was removed? That could be why Kolabati had refused to lend it to him when they were trapped in the pilot’s cabin earlier tonight. Was it possible that Kolabati was slowly turning into an old hag back in his apartment right now? He remembered how Ron Daniels, the mugger, had sworn he hadn’t rolled an old lady the night before. Perhaps that explained much of Kolabati’s passion for him: It wasn’t her grandmother’s necklace he had returned—it was Kolabati’s! It seemed too incredible to believe… but he’d said that before.
They were halfway to shore. He took a hand off an oar to reach up and touch the necklace. It might not be a bad thing to keep around. You never knew when you might—There was a splash over by the freighter.
“What was that?” Jack asked Vicky. “Did you see anything?”
He could see her shake her head in the darkness. “Maybe it was a fish.”
“Maybe.” Jack didn’t know of any fish in Upper New York Bay big enough to make a splash like that. Maybe the flamethrower had fallen off the gangway. That would explain the splash nicely. But try as he might, Jack could not entirely buy that.
A cold clump of dread sprang up between his shoulders and began to spread. He rowed even harder.
33
Gia couldn’t keep her hands still. They seemed to move of their own accord, clasping together and unclasping, clenching and unclenching, running over her face, hugging her, climbing in and out of her pockets. She was certain she would go stark raving mad if something didn’t happen soon. Jack had been gone forever. How long did they expect her to stand around and do nothing while Vicky was missing?
She had worn a path in the sand along the bulkhead from pacing up and down; now she just stood and stared out at the freighter. It had been a shadow all along, but a few moments ago it had begun to burn—or at least part of it had. A line of flame had zig-zagged along the hull from the deck level almost down to the water. Abe had said it looked like Jack’s flamethrower at work but he didn’t know what he was up to. Through the binoculars it looked like a burning gangway and the best he could guess was that Jack was in effect burning a bridge behind him.
And so she waited, more anxious than ever, waiting to see if Jack was bringing back her Vicky. Suddenly she saw it—a spot of yellow on the surface, the rhythmic glint of oars moving in and out of the water.
“Jack!” she called, knowing her voice probably wouldn’t carry the distance but unable to contain herself any longer. “Did you find her?”
And then it came, that dear squeaky little voice she loved so:
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Joy and relief exploded within her. She burst into tears and stepped to the edge of the bulkhead, ready to leap in. But Abe grabbed her.
“You’ll only slow them up,” he said, pulling her back. “He’s got her and he’ll get her here faster if you stay where you are.”
Gia could barely control herself. Hearing Vicky’s voice was not enough. She had to hold her little girl and touch her and hug her before she could truly believe she had her back. But Abe was right—she had to wait where she was.
Movement of Abe’s arm across his face drew her attention away from the water for an instant. He was wiping tears away. Gia threw an arm around his waist and hugged him.
“Just the wind,” he said, sniffing. “My eyes have always been sensitive to it.”
Gia nodded and returned her attention to the water. It was as smooth as glass. Not the slightest breeze. The raft was making good speed.
Hurry, Jack… I want my Vicky back!
In moments the raft was close enough for her to see Vicky crouched on the far side of Jack, smiling, waving over his shoulder as he rowed, and then the raft was nosing against the bulkhead and Jack was handing Vicky up to her.
Gia clasped Vicky against her. She was real! Yes, it was Vicky, truly Vicky! Euphoric with relief, she spun her around and around, kissing her, squeezing, promising never to let her go ever again.
“I can’t breathe, Mommy!”
Gia loosened her grip a fraction, but could not let go. Not yet.
Vicky started blabbering in her ear. “A monster stole me from the bedroom, Mom! It jumped in the river with me and… “
Vicky’s words faded away. A monster… then Jack wasn’t crazy. She looked over to where he stood on the bulkhead next to Abe, smiling at her and Vicky when he wasn’t glancing over his shoulder at the water. He looked awful—torn clothes, blood all over him. But he looked proud, too.
“I’ll never forget this, Jack,” she said, her heart ready to burst with gratitude.
“I didn’t do it just for you,” he replied, and glanced back at the water again. What was he looking for? “You’re not the only one who loves her, you know.”
“I know.”
He seemed ill at ease. He glanced at his watch.
“Let’s get out of here, okay? I don’t want to be caught standing around when that ship goes up. I want to be in the truck and ready to roll.”
“Goes up?” Gia didn’t understand.
“Kabloom! I placed a dozen incendiary bombs throughout the ship—set to go in about five minutes. Take Vicks up to the truck and we’ll be right there.” He and Abe started pulling the raft out of the water.
Gia was opening the door to the panel truck when she heard a loud splash and shouting behind her. She glanced up over the hood and froze in horror at the sight of a dark, dripping, glistening form rising out of the bay. It leaped up on the bulkhead, knocking into Jack and sending him sprawling head first into the sand—it was as if it hadn’t even known Jack was there. She heard Abe shout “Good lord!” as he lifted the raft and shoved it at the creature, but a single swipe of its talons ripped it open. The raft deflated with a whoosh, leaving Abe holding forty pounds of yellow vinyl.
It was one of those rakoshi Jack had told them about. It had to be—there could be no other explanation.
Vicky screamed and buried her face in Gia’s neck. “That’s the monster that took me, Mommy! Don’t let it get me!”
The thing was moving toward Abe, towering over him. Abe hurled what was left of the raft at it and backed away. Seemingly from nowhere, a pistol appeared in his hand and he began firing, the noise from the pistol sounding more like pops than shots. Abe fired six times at point blank range, backpedaling all the time. He might as well have been firing blanks for all the notice the thing took of the bullets. Gia gasped as she saw Abe’s foot catch on the edge of the bulkhead. He flung out his arms, waving them for balance, looking like an overfed goose trying to fly, and then he fell into the water, disappearing from sight.
The rakosh lost interest in him immediately and turned toward Gia and Vicky. With uncanny accuracy, its eyes focused on them. It rushed forward.