Targets Entangled (26 page)

Starting off slowly, Ferrin forced her legs to move toward her destination. Daegan’s stateroom was on the opposite side of the ship, so she had a short way to go. She’d glanced back a few times but each instance revealed nothing. She relaxed with each step and had made it roughly thirty-five feet from where the ladderwell was located when a sense of uneasiness washed through her. She turned just in time to see someone step into the corridor behind of her.

Ferrin almost tripped over her own feet as she hesitated on running back the way she’d come or confronting the person. Large hands grabbed her arms and she jerked back, her instant reaction having her hands in front of her as she’d been taught in her training. She’d been so busy trying to figure out who was following her that her attention hadn’t been on what was coming up in front of her.

“Whoa there,” Matt said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “Are you okay?”

Ferrin sighed with relief at the sight of Matthew Bell and quickly whipped around to see if the shadow was still at the other end of the corridor. It was empty. No one was there and yet she was positive that she’d seen someone step out of the ladderwell. A slight hint of vertigo set in as the blood rushed through her ears and the adrenaline slowly left her body.

“Ferrin?”

“Sorry,” Ferrin answered breathlessly and cringed at how she sounded. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I didn’t mean to run into you like that.”

“No worries.” Matt’s furrowed brow indicated that he didn’t quite believe her. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”

Ferrin gave him her best reassuring smile, although she wasn’t sure how good it came across. She looked behind her one more time and tried to contain her runaway thoughts. Maybe someone had come down and they’d gone in the other direction. She brushed away some loose strands that had escaped her hairband and a thought occurred to her before she could explain away her odd behavior. Tami had probably known the person who had killed her. As a matter of fact, Matt
had
been in the hallway when Ferrin had discovered her body. Had he killed her?

“What are you doing down here?” Ferrin asked, doing her best to make her question sound legitimate. Had Matt been the one responsible? She backed up a step and prayed he didn’t notice. “Did someone order room service in the COC?”

Ferrin had tried to crack a joke, but Matt still stood in front of her regarding her cautiously as if she were losing her mind. Hell, maybe she was. He didn’t come toward her or try to hurt her in anyway. She could only imagine what she looked like and she definitely knew how ridiculous she sounded. If Matt was on duty then why was he down near the team’s quarters? If he wasn’t on duty, then who would he have been visiting?

“The watch officer asked for some food to be delivered after what had taken place today and I offered to bring it down to him since I was getting off duty anyway.” Matt looked over her shoulder before then meeting her gaze, as if trying to figure out why she was acting in such a bizarre fashion. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“Yes. Of course.” Ferrin forced another smile as she stepped around him. “Who wouldn’t be jumpy with all that’s going on?”

“True,” Matt acknowledged, turning slightly to watch her walk away. Ferrin waved, keeping to her path and attempting to look like a rational person. “Enjoy your evening.”

Ferrin made it to Daegan’s stateroom and entered as quickly as she could before she made things worse. The room was still and silent. She still couldn’t shake that something malevolent had been either following her or standing in front of her in the form of Matt. He hadn’t done anything to her that would be considered threatening and yet she wasn’t sure she believed his reason for being down on this level. If he had been the one to kill Tami and he thought that Ferrin knew it, would he have let her go just now?

She wasn’t sure, but the one thing she did know was that she didn’t want to be alone right now. She quickly changed her clothes into jeans and a Navy T-shirt. She then pulled the band out of her hair so she could brush the long strands and then brought her hair over one shoulder, winding the tie around the bundle so that it hung loose. She’d given herself a headache trying to figure out if she’d just imagined the ominous impression she’d experienced earlier. Before leaving the stateroom, she weighed the options on whether she’d need her glasses but decided against it. She opened the hatch and couldn’t contain a short scream when Nina stood there about to knock.

“Shit, you scared the hell out of me,” Ferrin cried out, taking a step back and putting a hand to her heart.

“Sorry,” Nina laughed, shaking her head at Ferrin’s reaction. She didn’t find it so funny after what she’d been through, but kept that to herself. “I was hoping you’d want to go to the mess hall with me.”

“Sure. I was about to come to your cabin and ask you the same thing.”

Ferrin closed the hatch and then let Nina lead the way to the mess hall. Numerous times Ferrin looked over her shoulder to see if anyone would make an appearance and several crewmembers did. The shift change had gotten out of the way and a lot of them were either heading back and forth from their cabins or joining Nina and Ferrin on their way to the galley.

“Some guy’s waving to you,” Nina announced as they stood at the entrance looking around for a place to sit. The aroma of food wafted in the air and reminded Ferrin that she hadn’t had a bite to eat since she’d had a breakfast bar at her desk. “And it sure as hell isn’t Daegan.”

Ferrin felt the tension ease out of her shoulders at the words that were meant to make her laugh, but she couldn’t bring herself to fully relax. She rolled her shoulders to shake the feeling of someone watching her, but it didn’t work. She casually looked around to see where it was coming from but she couldn’t pinpoint anyone studying her intently. She followed Nina’s hand gesture toward Jerry, who’d given one last wave before he sat down amid his group of friends.

“That’s Jerry, my tech,” Ferrin explained, weaving past the people that had stopped in front of them. She made her way to the food line, her appetite fading with each step. She wished Daegan were here so she could share with him this underlying fear that was overpowering her. She tried her best to act normal and continued with the conversation. “I figured it might be busy in here so I had him save us a couple of seats.”

“Can you blame the crew for being antsy?” Nina asked, reaching for a tray. “It’s as if this mission was doomed from the start. Now we’re shooting at people.”

Ferrin didn’t like how Nina viewed this assignment, especially considering that this was their job. They were hired to assist the team in their operations and honestly, who knew how long this operation would take? She didn’t want to think what else could go wrong. The outlook of the crewmembers wasn’t helping any either and another shiver went up her spine. She looked around the room for whoever might be watching her but no one stood out. It wasn’t until she’d reached the end of the line and turned that she brought her step up short. Matt was sitting next to Jerry, watching her with hooded eyes. Was it because of her odd behavior earlier or was she right about him being the one who killed Tami?

‡

“D
o you believe
him?”

The inquiry came from Doc, who settled against the safety wire on the weather deck. Evening had fallen and the sky was alit with thousands of stars that reappeared after the helicopter had lifted off over their heads and veered toward starboard, heading on an eighty degree course almost due east toward Nelson Mandela International Airport on Santiago Island, Republic of Cabo Verde. The wind was cool as it blew across the ocean and the smell of the salt air was strong. The team didn’t appear to be in a hurry to go back inside. They were left with more questions than answers.

“We have no reason to doubt him,” Gunny replied before he crossed his arms and settled in for what was sure to be another brainstorming session. Daegan was sick and tired of them being at the mercy of some criminal. “They were used as lackeys and nothing more, obviously blind to what they were truly facing.”

After over six hours of interrogations, it came to light that one entity via email hired the pirates to attack
The Promised Land
. Money had been wired into Moha Hassan Zakaria’s account and more would have been transferred had the attack been successful. Red Starr HRT was being targeted and after all that had led up to this point—this was the proof they’d needed. All that was necessary now was to find out who was doing the targeting and why.

“They’ll be transported to Cabo Verde where their federal authorities will take over.” It was easy to see that Starr had wanted to be on the helicopter as well, but she didn’t feel comfortable leaving the ship when that was where their primary target still resided. “In the meantime we need to find out what bank and account the money came from and where those emails originated.”

“I’ll bet my part of my brother’s bar back home that those messages came from Panama,” Daegan said, knowing full well that Callum would have had a heart attack at the mere thought of such a wager. “We’re all in agreement that everything up to this point has been to delay us from reaching our mission AOR. This man or woman that we’re dealing with is too smart to have sent out communications like that from our systems aboard ship.”

“Agreed and I’ve already spoken with Chief Jackson to verify that.” The sounds emanating from the churning wake surrounded them as the twin screws continued to propel them forward, but Starr’s voice cut over them just enough to keep the discussion contained between them. There were other people on the weather deck, but the crewmembers were too far away to hear anything. “I think it’s safe to say we’ve all had enough of this cat and mouse game. We’ll set everything in motion tomorrow, same time as we originally agreed upon.”

“If all this is taking place to stop us from completing our mission, maybe we’re looking in the wrong direction,” Gunny said, widening his stance as the ship buoyed over the untamed waves. “This contract we’ve acquired wasn’t technically awarded to us so much as you having arranged for it. We already know that the government wants this mission kept quiet due to their involvement with Krasken-Mobile.”

“Are you suggesting this sabotage is coming from our government?” Starr asked as she faced the wind, her long hair having come out of its twist the moment they hit the weather deck. “I have people in position who are watching our six and I’ve already been in contact with them regarding these incidents. My contacts in the State Department would have immediately contacted me had they found anything.”

“It doesn’t matter at this point why,” Daegan pointed out, feeling more comfortable talking on the weather deck where no one could overhear their conversation. He didn’t doubt that Diesel had heard someone on the opposite bulkhead of the team ready room that one morning. “We’ll know who it is and end whatever scheme this criminal was trying to carry out if all goes well.”

“We’ll wait for the crew to start their second shift tomorrow and then I’ll have Captain Hensel make an announcement that Agent Joel is making an appearance within the hour to make an arrest. He’ll instruct all off-shift personnel to report to the weather deck for an all hands formation, which is where Daegan, Stick, and I will be in place to monitor any odd behavior. Trigger and Diesel will be going through the corridors while Gunny and Doc will be stationed at strategic locations by the ladderwells to observe the comings and goings of any remaining personnel.”

“Were you able to personally meet those crewmembers you referenced this morning?” Doc asked.

“I haven’t had time to take a piss, Doc,” Starr stated, initiating a few laughs to break up the tension. “I’ll start through the list tomorrow after I finish speaking with the department supervisors. I will alert them to the fact that an arrest is imminent and that if the person responsible happens to be on duty, there could be a possible threat situation.”

Daegan was pleased with the fact that Ferrin would be off duty when all of this occurred. He’d be able to have her in his sights up on the weather deck in formation during the entire time, ensuring her safety. He would have felt more comfortable had he been in a position to use his scope and that got him thinking. Even though it was dark, he looked around the weather deck and the overhead that served as the flight deck. The helicopter pad now sat empty. He would be more comfortable viewing the threat area through a scope and he wondered if there was a possibility of that happening.

Daegan quickly made his way around the weather deck to access what the best positions might be to observe the formation that would form the following day and where he thought would be the most advantageous position should this guy cut loose. He didn’t have his rifle with him, but his Sig Sauer P20 Elite pistol would do the job if he were positioned clearly. He imagined nearly a hundred personnel in ranks on three sides facing the slightly elevated hatch cover where the captain usually stood during past formations.