Page 100

CHAPTER 99

A SPOTLIGHT BEAM pinned us against the cabin wall. Two shots splintered the decking between our feet. My adrenaline went into overdrive. Kira rolled right and got off three shots with her pistol. The spotlight exploded in a fizz of flame and smoke. I saw two figures drop over the rail.

“How many?” I asked. “How many in the crew?”

“Ten, maybe twelve. Lial said they’re all killers.”

I heard movement right above us on the main deck. I stepped away from the wall and aimed up. Took three quick shots. Dropped three shooters. Kira was already moving toward the main cabin.

“Twelve o’clock!” I whispered. Footsteps were coming from around the curve of the partition directly ahead of us. The next second, I heard footsteps behind me. We both dropped to our knees, back-to-back, I heard Kira’s gun blast three times and heard three loud thuds. I saw four shadows crossing the stern. I shot two on the move. The other two stuck their barrels out from behind the partition and fired blind. The bullets tore through the decking and blasted a gap in a wooden railing. When the shooters stuck their heads out to check for results, I popped them both.

I felt Kira’s shoulders pressing against mine as she reloaded.

We waited, guns raised. My heart was pounding.

Nothing but silence.

Kira stood up and waved me toward the main cabin. She tried the door. Locked. She stood back and fired a round through the latch. The door flew open. I stepped through first, gun raised. I saw a rumpled bed, a control console, and another open door. When Kira came in behind me, I held her back. Were we walking into an ambush?

We heard footsteps on the upper deck, heading for the stern. Kira pushed right past me. “It’s him!”

I followed her through the cabin to the port side. A metal staircase led to the top deck. Kira started up. I grabbed her around the waist and scrambled past her. No way I was letting her go first.

I stepped onto the top deck. It was lit up by a dozen lights, aiming from every direction. Through the glare I spotted a slender guy in shorts and a T-shirt trying to work the controls for the lifeboat launch. Another crew member? I felt Kira come up behind me. She aimed over my shoulder and fired once. Her shot split the lifeboat cable. The boat slid backward on metal rails and dropped over the stern. We heard the splash when it hit the water. The man turned with his hands up. “Don’t shoot!”

Kira moved past me, her gun aimed at his head. “Nowhere to go now, Cal,” she said.

I blinked in the glare. Holy shit. This was no crew member. This was the captain. I was looking at Cal Savage.

I moved closer, searching his features for some family resemblance. Then I realized that he looked exactly like I used to—pale, skinny, and scared. He stared back and forth between me and Kira, not believing his eyes.

“I know,” I said. “We’re dead.”

Cal looked past us toward the stairs. “Lial! Where’s Lial?”

“Free of you,” said Kira.

I saw a change come over Cal’s face. Something clicked. A mental adjustment. He took a step toward us.

“Then it’s just us now,” he said. “The three of us.” He slowly lowered his hands. I could see his mind working, spinning, calculating. “The world has no idea what that means—what the three of us can do together. Doc Savage. Cal Savage. Kira Sunlight.” He spread his arms out. “This yacht? It’s a trinket compared to what we can have. What you can have. Everything is in play. I’ve done the hard work. All we have to do now is…”

Kira fired a shot into the air.

“Cal,” she said. “Stop talking. Lial told me everything.”

“So we do have a future together,” I said. “At The Hague. When we watch you being tried for crimes against humanity.”

I saw Cal’s expression shift again—to defiance. “In that case,” he said, looking straight at me, “this is our last family reunion.”

He pulled up his shirt. Thick strap. Blinking light.

“Bomb!” Kira screamed.

A white blast. My hearing cut out.

I was flying. Then falling.

Then nothing.