Adrenaline (33 page)

She stared at him, not able to stop herself. Trying to read if she had been truly tricked by a man for the final time.

She couldn’t tell.

Strike yelled for Lee again, and then pulled a big aluminum case from a side locker and began to put Geoff’s money in. Carly saw a huge stack in there, probably as much as Geoff thought there was. She told herself he really wanted it. She told herself he would do something for it, if not for her.

Lee came into the cabin, his massive frame filling the doorway.

Strike jerked his head at Geoff. “This guy’s calling you a fat bastard. How you like that, man?”

Lee walked up to Geoff and shoved him against the wall. “Tough guy.” He looked over at Carly and whistled. “You shoulda heard him watching out for your ass, girl, until Raul burned him. Took awhile, but your man give you up like a bad itch.”

Outside, the sound of a motor started, close by.

Lee cocked his head to one side, listening. And then it looked like Geoff had punched him, a fast blow to his Adam’s apple.

The man went, “Huh!” like he was surprised.

And coughed blood.

Raul turned, his expression irritated, and Strike said, “What?” and then suddenly reached under his shirt.

Lee dropped to the floor, and Geoff yanked the little knife from his throat. Geoff sprang away from the wall toward Strike.

Carly grabbed at Strike’s hand as he pulled out a small gun and then Geoff was on him. Geoff punched the little blade into the guy’s chest, two, three times, as she held Strike’s arm off to the side. The gun cracked twice, bullets flying past her ear.

The kid fell down, clutching himself. There was a click behind them and Geoff whirled as Raul calmly aimed a big revolver.

Carly knew it was over. She saw Raul’s finger tighten on the trigger even as she saw that Geoff was already moving. He was going to kick Raul’s hand.
He’s too late,
she thought,

That’s when the boat exploded.

She was thrown back against the galley counter. The door closing off the bow flew across the cabin and hit Raul.

It knocked him off his feet and the gun fell to the cabin floor. He scrambled for it, but she got to it first.

Immediately afterward, as she climbed into the cockpit, the boat sinking bow first, she couldn’t remember if she had actually said it or if she had just thought it.

But then, she must have. Because Geoff had the big case in his hand and he was laughing and kissing her and saying, “I can’t believe you!”

So she must have said it. “I’m calling this one
Hooker’s Revenge.”

Right before shooting Raul in the balls.

Geoff had taken the gun from her and put another bullet into Raul’s forehead to make him shut up.

The gun flash, the blood, the screaming … all of it made her feel dazed and breathless. Geoff was half holding her up.

But she was certain she’d said the words.

Certain.

Chapter 38

Geoff thought his heart might burst, he was so proud of Carly. Then he remembered Steve and sobered immediately.

The cockpit lights were still shining, showing the big Blue Water floating alongside. Beyond it, the Mako was floating away, the line free.

Steve wasn’t in either boat.

Carly grasped Geoff as the
White Angel’s
bow sank even deeper.

“Where?” she said, and Geoff laid the gun she had used on Raul alongside his leg. He whirled when he heard a noise just to his left.

Nothing.

Then there was the cold touch on the back of Geoff’s head and Steve said, “Drop it.”

“You know that shit won’t work with me,” Geoff said.

“Good. Because I don’t need you now that I’ve got her.” Geoff heard Steve cock his gun.

Geoff hesitated, but then let the gun and money fall to the cockpit sole. Suddenly, the boat squealed as if in pain, the hull settling as water began to rush over the bow. Geoff reacted instantly and swung his arm back to knock Steve’s gun off his head. He then did the opposite of what Steve—or anyone—would have expected.

Geoff threw himself back into the sinking boat.

“Geoff!” Carly screamed.

Steve stood in the cabinway and fired twice. Geoff dove into the chest-deep water and hid behind Strike’s floating body. He saw Carly come up behind Steve and try to wrestle the gun away. Steve shoved her away.

“Geoff!” she screamed. “Get out, it’s sinking!”

Steve dragged her away.

Geoff waited, listening to her yell for him until it sounded as if they were far away. He remembered the Mako was still within swimming distance. The bow of the yacht sank deeper, and already the water was pouring in from the open portholes as if shot from a firehose. The hull screeched again as the forward bulwark shifted under the press of water.

Geoff rolled Strike onto his back and found the Mako’s keys. He thrashed his way up the steep incline to the cabin door—just as the cockpit rail slipped below the surface. A solid wall of black water roared into the cabin, sweeping him in deeper. The last of the lights shorted out and the
White Angel
went down in darkness.

The girl tried to scramble off the dive boat and go back for Geoff.

“No!” she screamed, as Steve held onto her. She hit him with her elbows and fists, crying, “Geoff, oh my God, Geoff, get out!”

Once the yacht went under, Steve waited until she sagged against the rail, crying, before he let her go.

Steve felt some sympathy, but only a little.

He remembered her holding a rifle on Lisa all too easily. He said, “Tell me where she is.”

Carly stared at the black water. “I can’t believe it.” She turned to Steve, her cheeks wet with tears. “He
did
protect me.”

“Where is she?” Steve fought to keep his voice calm.

Carly didn’t seem to hear him. She turned back to the water.

Steve spun her around. “What’s he got set up, damn it? Did he put her in a box again?”

She seemed to really see Steve for the first time. The hurt, bewildered look on her face turned hard. “You shot at him. You must have hit him.”

“Where is she?” Steve shook the girl.

“She’s drowning!” the girl spat back. She pointed to the water. “She’s under there, just like him.”

Steve felt a hand squeeze his heart, but kept his voice calm. “You say she
is.
Meaning she’s still alive.”

The girl shrugged.

“Is she?”

Steve drew his hand back—and then stopped. He cupped her chin so that she had to look at him. Even in the feeble glow of the instrument lights, he could see the hurt in her eyes. “Look,” he said, gently. “You know how you feel about Geoff, how you’re missing him? It’s been like that in my head for a week now. I’m just about crazy with it. Tell me where she is or I’ll hit you and I’ll keep hitting you until you do. I’d rather not. I would really rather not. But think how you’re feeling, and you know I will.”

The girl stared at him and then pulled herself away. She looked at her watch and said, “She’s got a little more than a half hour left. Then she runs out of air. He put them in a car and sank them in the water with two scuba tanks for each.”

“Each of
them?”

“Her and that cop, Lazar.”

“He found you?” Steve’s mind raced, wondering how Lazar had found them.

“Came snooping around,” she said. “Snooping cop is going to get it too.”

“Where?”

She crossed her arms. “I think I’ll just wait.”

“How deep?”

“What?”

“How deep was the water?”

She smiled. “I don’t know.”

He hit her then, hard. “How deep?”

The blow surprised her. “Thirty … Geoff said it was about thirty feet deep.”

“And how long have they been down?”

“Fifty minutes.”

An hour and a half for two tanks at thirty feet sounded about right. Maybe worth a little more. “Where are they?”

“Fuck you.”

He raised his hand again and she stared back defiantly. “Go ahead. I’ve been hit before.”

Steve hesitated for a moment, then went to the bow locker and came back with the aluminum case. It looked much like the case that had held Raul’s money. He grabbed Carly’s wrist and before she could yank it away, he snapped a handcuff bracelet on her. The other end was attached to the case handle. Another set dangled along the case.

“What the hell?”

She tugged at the case and it banged against her leg.

Steve took a key from a Velcro pouch on his wetsuit and turned a lock on the case. Suddenly a red digital readout was visible just under the handle; the number forty-five glowed.

“What’s this?” she snapped.

“I’d intended it for you and Geoff. I figured if Geoff had a time limit on the two of you, he would take me to Lisa. You were important to him.”

Her chin lifted. “He said that?”

“In so many words,” Steve said, realizing it all came down to this. “He might have put you at risk, but he definitely did not intend for you to die.” Steve put the key into his pocket. “Now you get to make that decision by yourself.”

“Or what?” She stared at the readout. Forty-four minutes.

He waited until she looked up, and then he nodded to where the
White Angel
had been. “Or an explosive charge as big as that removes you from the planet.”

Chapter 39

The batteries on the dive light were weakening, but Lazar could still read the watch easily enough. He figured the air would last only a few more minutes.

Maybe not even that. They had both been breathing pretty hard.

He thought about what it had been like when the first tank went dry. Thought about how it became hard to draw a breath. How his cheeks had pressed against his side teeth—and then the air stopped altogether. What a blessed relief it had been to put the other mouthpiece in and taste the easy rush of fresh air.

He thought about not having that sweet rush, what the minute or two afterward would be like.

Beside him, Lisa was searching hard, so he tried again, straining his arms at the length of the line so he could run his fingers along the edge of the seat and try to reach down between the gap, between it and the armrest. Lazar bit down hard at the exquisite pain of forcing the torn muscles in his shoulder to work, of forcing his freshly sliced right hand to feel for the very blade that had cut him.

Nothing. The mask gave him tunnel vision and from where he sat, he couldn’t see if the razor was inches away or on the other side of the car. Either way, it was beyond his restraining lines. He relaxed, and the cold water overwhelmed him suddenly.

God, he was tired.

When they had first gone down, the saltwater in his wounds had made him scream some of his precious air away. But now he was so exhausted, it almost didn’t matter. He thought about Charlotte some more, wondering how long it would take for her to find out what had happened to him.

A week? A month? Maybe never.

He imagined her crying. But, the truth was, he could just as easily imagine her being relieved that she had been separated from him for a year before he was found dead.

Then he caught himself.

Caught himself down there, underwater, minutes away from being a big lump of fish food—and still pissing and moaning about his wife.

He laughed into his mouthpiece.

The sound scattered the little fish that had swum into the open windows of the car, attracted by the light like moths. And that seemed pretty funny too, so he laughed some more. He looked over at Lisa and the light caught her eyes well enough to see that she was begging him to get on the stick, to keep looking for that razor. He liked her, that Lisa.

Lazar closed his eyes and told his wife good-bye. He sucked in a great gust of air and then threw all his remaining strength against the line.

It gave.

Not much, one of the knots just slipped. But he gained an extra two inches of play.

And a painful cut along the tip of his forefinger.

He had found the razor.

Carly’s eyes were glued to the red digits, down to thirteen minutes now.

They had just charged through town in Alex’s truck. Carly had said they weren’t too far away by water, but she didn’t know how to find the place by boat. Not in the dark, anyhow. Steve had spun the boat around and they had taken more time than he could afford running through the night to get back to the boat launching site. He had run the Blue Water up onto the ramp and thrown two tanks and his dive gear into the back of Alex’s truck.

Steve got it when they saw the sign for Sea Crest.