Elite 2: The Wrong Side of Revolution (32 page)

Chapter 18

Daniel had no time to waste if he wanted to get out before Boone told the rest of the Birthright where he was and they changed their minds about how they wanted to handle his fate. In his closet he had stashed what was left of the money in his old account before he became Daniel Simmons. Because the government had supplied him with more than enough to live on, he still had over ten grand in cash that he withdrew from the bank in St. Louis.

“At least the taxpayers won’t have to fund my hiding anymore,” he told himself as he got a few necessary things together. He pulled his gun out of his dresser for the first time since he and Jordan had arrived, throwing it and the two extra magazines Eva had given him into the bag with the money.

He then pulled out the cell phone he had bought under Daniel Simmons’ name and opened the contact list. He scrolled down to Jessie’s number and hit send.

“What’s up bruh?” Jessie answered after four rings.

“Hey, which does your dad like better? His cabin cruiser or his sailboat?” Daniel asked him.

“Uh, he loves ‘em both, but his sailboat is his pride and joy. I think he loves it more than me to be honest. Why, what’s up?”

“In that case I need to borrow the cabin cruiser, which works out since I have no fucking clue how to sail anyway,” Daniel replied.

“And by
borrow
you mean…”

“I’m gonna steal it, yeah,” Daniel confessed.

“May I ask why?” Jessie inquired.

Daniel decided there was no more reason not to tell the kid the truth anymore. “If I don’t leave there are some people who are probably going to come try to kill me.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. “That’s fucking rad, bro! I knew you were into some heavy witness protection shit like that!”

“Yeah, yeah. So will you help me?”

“Hell yeah I’ll help you buddy! Just name the time and place.”

Daniel smiled to himself. The kid was crazy, but reliably so. “Meet me just outside the bay at dawn tomorrow. And you’ll probably want to bring another boat with you.”

“No problem, I’ll bring my buddy Marvin with me. We’ll just stay out all night and meet you there bright and early.”

“Thanks Jessie,” Daniel said sincerely. “And I’ll give you some cash for your dad’s boat.”

“Dude there is no way you have the cash to pay for that boat!” Jessie countered.

“I didn’t say it’d be a fair price.”

“Yeah, I’ll probably just keep that shit,” Jessie admitted.

Daniel laughed. “Alright, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“A’ight.” Jessie hung up the phone.

Daniel threw his phone onto the bed and continued packing. He was now placing his life in the hands of a nineteen year-old delinquent. What had his life become?

Daniel and Jordan spent the night in his bed, holding each other and talking. It was crazy to think that everything that had happened had happened because Daniel so badly wanted to get to this moment, and now that it was here he was being forced to let it go.

Though there were a lot of tears, the night had provided both of them with closure. They both cried not because they were losing a lover, but because they were losing a friend. There was no doubt within either of them that they were not destined to spend their lives together, but they would never stop caring deeply about one another as friends.

For a moment Daniel feared that he was making the wrong decision. What if leaving Jordan meant that he was leaving her for the Birthright to use against him as Demérs had in Chicago? But he soon realized however that if they had no way of getting the message to him, they had no way of threatening him with it. There was no reason to believe they would bother her after he was gone, whereas if she went with him they would hunt her in the same way they would hunt him.

“What about when Gordon and his people make their move and start a war with the government using their super people? How will they find you?” Jordan asked softly as she twirled his hair around her finger.

Daniel took a deep breath and sighed. “That’s not my biggest concern at the moment.”

“But all the people who will get hurt,” Jordan argued, “you can’t just leave them helpless. You’re our best chance of stopping them before anything begins.”

Daniel looked at Jordan and a part of him knew she was right, just as she had been at the jewelry store. He couldn’t turn his back on all of those people.

“If a war does happen, I will hear about it and if it’s safe for my loved ones, I’ll come back.”

Jordan looked as though the answer wasn’t the one she had wanted to hear, but given the circumstances she did not argue any further. She wanted to spend her last few hours with Daniel loving him, not fighting with him.

Daniel rolled over and reached for something on his nightstand. “Take this.” He handed Jordan a folded up piece of paper.

“What is it?”

“It’s a note to Eva,” Daniel answered. “It explains why I left and tells her to make sure nothing happens to you or my family while I’m gone. Make sure it gets to her.”

Jordan tucked the note in her pocket and grabbed Daniel’s face before giving him a sweet and gentle kiss, then she started to cry. Daniel closed his eyes and tried to stop himself from joining, but the emotions were too strong.

Before long the clock read four-thirty and Daniel knew that it was time for him to go. At some point during the night Jordan had managed to drift to sleep. He kissed her on the cheek and whispered goodbye before grabbing his bag and walking out the door. There was no telling when he’d see her again.

As quietly as he could he snuck out the front door and fired up the red sedan. As he began his drive toward the yacht club, he reached into his bag which was resting in the passenger seat next to him and pulled out his Glock. He loaded it and slipped into the back of his waistband. Something about holding it again gave him a rush, and he began to focus in on his objective.

Daniel got to Harbor Springs just as a bit of pink was beginning to form on the eastern horizon. He parked in the currently empty parking lot and jogged down to the employee entrance of the club. Daniel hadn’t been there long enough for them to trust him with a key, but Carlos had. Using the key he had taken off of Carlos’s keychain before leaving the house, Daniel unlocked the door and quickly scurried inside. Once inside he hustled down a plain, narrow back hallway until he got to the main office on the left. Inside he could see the combination safe that held the keys to all of the boats in the marina. He unlocked the office and went to the safe. He hoped Carlos wouldn’t get in too much trouble for having his key stolen.

Daniel then went over to the safe. The club manager and the dock manager were supposed to be the only two who knew the combination, but Jessie had spied the combination over the dock manager’s shoulder one day. After that it was only a matter of minutes before every dockhand in the marina knew the combination. The only people who weren’t in on the joke were the dock manager and the club manager.

Daniel was relieved to find that Jessie had accurately deciphered the combination and that it hadn’t changed. The safe popped open and he grabbed the key labeled “Boone.” He then closed and relocked the office door and the club door, leaving the key under a nearby rock. He wasn’t sure why he had done that, but he had no need for the key anymore and it seemed appropriate. Once the key was properly hidden, he ran over to the docks. It didn’t take long for him to find the Boones’ yacht. It was unsurprisingly named the “Divine Right.”

Daniel snuck onto the yacht and tried to get an understanding of the layout. He had not been put in charge of servicing the Divine Right so he was it was his first time on board. From its size he guessed that it held a crew of at least three, all of which would more than likely be sleeping on board. More if there were any service staff members, which from what Daniel knew about the Birthright there probably were.

On the main level of the yacht was a large living area, stocked with a full bar, billiard table, dinner table, card table, a wide array of seating options, and of course a media center. Just outside the door was also a six-person hot tub. The walls were made entirely of tinted windows and the lights were turned off so it was hard to make out many details.

Along the starboard side of the boat Daniel noticed a metal set of stairs that led up to the second level. The helm was almost certainly up top, and from what Daniel knew about other yachts the living quarters were most likely down below, but he was careful to be quiet just in case there were some staff quarters above.

Quickly and quietly he untied the yacht from the docks before climbing the stairs to the second level. He made his way toward the bow of the boat, but found the door to the cockpit to be locked. The key he had stolen from the office was for the ignition only and did not fit into the door’s keyhole, so he promptly kicked it in with relative ease.

Once inside he ran to the helm and stuck the key in the ignition switch. He first made sure to choke the engines, and as he pushed the key in and turned he heard the twin six-hundred horsepower engines crank. He pushed forward on the throttle and off he went.

It was difficult at first to try and maneuver the massive boat out of the crowded marina, but once he got her pointed toward open water it handled with relative ease.

It did not take long before he heard one of the crewmembers—undoubtedly awaken by all the sudden noise and movement—come barreling toward the helm.

Daniel set the boat on a course for open water and ran to the door. He jumped up and grabbed onto the door framing, bringing his legs up and swinging them forward. It was just by pure luck that he timed the move perfectly and sent the man tumbling over the rail and into the water below. They were still close enough to shore that the man would be able to swim his way in safely.

Down the steps he could see another crew member making his way out onto the deck. Daniel sprinted back to the helm to make sure they stayed on course then took off for the stairs. The crewman was halfway up when he got there. Daniel leapt off the top step and dropkicked the crewman, sending him flying backward. Daniel fell hard onto the metal staircase and cursed himself as he switched off the pain.

He saw his opponent start to get back up and jumped down to join him on the deck. As he did he saw a third crewman coming at him through the lounge area. Daniel shoved the first crewman onto the deck as hard as he could and turned just in time to block a superman punch from the new attacker. After blocking the punch he hit the crewman hard in the gut with a ferocious uppercut. The man doubled over from the impact of the blow and Daniel slammed his knee into his chest.

As the second crewman fell to the deck Daniel turned his attention back to the other one, who was now running right at him. The attacker threw a wild haymaker which Daniel was able to duck easily. He then wrapped his right arm around the crewman’s chest and carried him backward, slamming him back first into the metal railing.

Daniel then reached down into a compartment beside him and pulled out an orange life vest, wrapping it around the crewman’s head. Once the life vest was in place Daniel proceeded to kick out the man’s legs and flip him over the side rail.

He looked up to notice the yacht starting to veer slightly off course, something that would need to be corrected soon, but the last crewman was now struggling to get to his feet. Each inhalation appeared to be a struggle.

“Really?” Daniel asked mockingly, knowing that the man stood no chance in his condition.

Daniel picked up another life vest and stepped toward the man. He tried to punch, but Daniel caught the man’s right arm and held it down firmly as he wrapped the vest over his head. The crewman tried to struggle, but breathing was hard enough. Daniel then grabbed onto the waist of the man’s pants and the back collar of his shirt and carefully lifted him up over his head. Daniel carried him over to the edge of the boat and threw him out into the bay.

Turning to head back to the cockpit, Daniel noticed two slender young women standing in the lounge looking terrified. One held a shotgun in her hand.

Daniel dropped his head and pulled out his pistol, holding it up for the girls to see. “Give me the gun,” he said as he stepped toward them.

The girl immediately dropped the gun onto the floor and Daniel recoiled for a brief second, fearing it might accidentally go off. When he was satisfied that it would not he reached down to pick up the weapon. As he inspected it, he found that it wasn’t even loaded. He rolled his eyes and ordered the two women to sit down on a couch. “I’ll let you off in a few minutes.”

Seeing that the boat was now pointed toward the shore, Daniel sprinted back to the helm with the shotgun and corrected course. He cranked the engines up to full speed. The sun was now starting to peak its head over the trees behind him. It would not take long before they would be out of the bay and into open water.

As he neared the mouth of Little Traverse Bay he sent a text message to Jessie who responded with his longitude and latitude. Looking at the GPS unit, he needed only to make a small correction to arrive at the correct location. Just a couple minutes later he saw both of Jessie’s father’s boats floating out in the open water.

Daniel backed down on the motors as he approached the nineteen year-old and his friend.