Targets Entangled (29 page)

“What happened here?” Captain Hensel demanded, surveying the people around him before resting his eyes on Matt, who was now moaning and trying to sit up. Gunny was holding him down, explaining that the wound to his head was bleeding profusely. “Starr?”

“Daegan and Doc, please do as I instructed.” Starr leveled them a gaze and before Ferrin could address the captain’s inquiry, the two men had maneuvered her outside of the stateroom. “Matthew Bell chased Ferrin down the corridor and…”

“Let’s go,” Daegan said softly, placing his hand on her lower back and preventing Ferrin from hearing the rest of the conversation. “Starr has everything under control and I don’t want you around Bell when he starts to come around.”

Word was getting around the ship and those crewmembers that Daegan, Doc, and Ferrin passed in the corridor were staring and doing their best to gauge what was happening. They were smart enough not to say anything or ask as Daegan led the way, his imposing form preventing any conversation. Once they were in the officer’s wardroom Ferrin finally spoke.

“I told you Matt Bell was the one responsible.” Ferrin sat down, feeling a little lightheaded now that the adrenaline had left her depleted. “I could see it in his eyes yesterday.”

Doc knelt in front of Ferrin, taking her right wrist in his hand and pressing two fingers against her pulse. His eyes searched her face, but he must have thought she was all right for he nodded his head after thirty seconds. It was odd, but the only person she wanted touching her at the moment was Daegan, who had crossed the small area and was pouring hot water over a tea bag in a ceramic mug. She didn’t want tea. She didn’t want anything except to hear what Matt had to say for himself.

“He didn’t touch you?” Doc asked, taking a seat next to her. “Hurt you in any way?

“Not really. He chased me and tried to grab me from behind.” Ferrin wrapped her arms around her middle, feeling slightly chilled. Daegan was coming toward her with a cup half-filled with steaming tea, stirring a spoon. He handed it to her and then kicked Doc out of the seat, making his friend walk around the table for another chair. Daegan took his place and then leaned forward, placing his warm hand on her knee. “I ran the minute I saw him. I remembered you had a knife in your desk and my only thought was reaching it.”

“What happened then?” Daegan tightened his fingers and Ferrin understood she wasn’t the only dealing with the aftermath of what had happened. She was feeling a little warmer now and covered his hand with her own. “I saw the lamp on the floor and considering the knife didn’t have blood on it, I figure it’s safe to say you didn’t use it.”

“He managed to grab my arm just inside the room and I didn’t have time to go for the knife.” Ferrin squeezed his fingers as the terrified emotions tried to make their way back. She didn’t consider herself a weak woman, but damn if the thought of dying hadn’t shaken her to her core. “I picked up the first thing I saw that I could use as a weapon and swung it with all my might.”

“You did what you had to do,” Doc said, before they all turned to see who was coming through the hatch. Lieutenant Irvine walked in, his permanent frown in place leaving Ferrin unable to guess what he might say about the situation. “What’s the verdict?”

“Mr. Bell was taken to the infirmary and is currently receiving stitches.” Lieutenant Irvine addressed Ferrin, as if the other two men weren’t in the room. Daegan straightened in his chair, which meant his hand slipped from underneath hers and left her feeling somewhat bereft. She wrapped both hands around the warm ceramic cup to prevent Lieutenant Irvine from seeing the trembling in her fingers. She was former Navy and expected to be treated as such. She squared her shoulders and waited for the news that they were calling in Agent Joel to arrest Matthew Bell and that this complete train-wreck of a mission could now be guaranteed smooth sailing ahead. “He has a massive concussion from the blow to his head. Unfortunately, he’s already claiming that he did nothing more than try to talk with you.”

Ferrin wasn’t sure she heard correctly and very slowly set her tea on the surface in front of her. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and lacing her fingers together while ignoring the fact Daegan muttered a few cuss words under his breath. She was relatively sure Doc said some of the same phrases, but she was beyond caring at this point.

“Lieutenant Irvine, Matthew Bell is out and out lying,” Ferrin stated, making sure that he heard her loud and clear. “That man saw me in the corridor and when I turned to run the other way, he chased me down until he’d cornered me in Daegan’s stateroom where I had no alternative but to defend myself when he grabbed me from behind.”

“I can understand why you would think that,” Lieutenant Irvine replied, still positioned at the end of the table. His expression softened for the first time since she’d been questioned by him. “I’ll interrogate him further once he’s through with being sutured. As of right now he’s saying that he didn’t mean to scare you and that when you ran from him, he was afraid you would think the worst. He followed you and you attacked him before he could explain himself.”

“Attacked him?” Daegan inquired in a very low, threatening manner. It was enough to catch Doc’s attention, who stood and slightly shook his head in warning. Ferrin didn’t want Daegan coming to her defense if it would cause additional trouble. Lieutenant Irvine didn’t seem too concerned that Daegan was close to getting the answers himself. “I suggest you go back to Matthew Bell and get the full story before you say something that will have consequences.”

“I’ll do my job, Mr. Murphy,” Lieutenant Irvine stated matter-of-factly, turning on his heel and walking to the hatch as if he dealt with men like Daegan every day. Ferrin cringed inwardly at his parting words. “In the meantime, maybe you should concentrate on yours.”

Daegan was up and out of his seat before Ferrin could stop him. Thankfully, Doc stepped in front of him before he could reach Lieutenant Irvine as he stepped into the corridor. The hatch closed the three of them inside and she raised her hands to her face in anger, frustration, and downright fear that Lieutenant Irvine might be right.

“Now isn’t the time to start something,” Doc said, his hand on Daegan’s shoulder. “He’s not the most affable guy, but it’s not his job to be.”

“His job is to find out what the hell is happening on this ship,” Daegan countered, backing up and taking a deep breath. He looked over at Ferrin, his blue eyes filled with a rage that she understood all too well. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know.” Ferrin wasn’t sure what to think anymore. What she wanted to do was go and confront Matt, but she would have to follow protocol. She would be patient as long as it didn’t take too long to get the answers she needed. She didn’t like being unsure of herself and she didn’t like facing the fact that she might have overreacted. “What if Lieutenant Irvine is right? What if I made a mistake that could have cost a man his life?”

‡

D
aegan hated leaving
Ferrin like this, but he had no choice after Starr had come to tell them that she didn’t think Matt was the one they were looking for. The plan they were about to set in place needed to happen as soon as possible and he for one was on board with it. Ferrin was shaken at the news that Irvine and Starr didn’t think that Matt was the responsible party and while apologetic that she’d hit him so hard on the head, Ferrin was still seething that he’d run after her to begin with.

“Starr mentioned that Roger is taking over your shift, but I don’t want you walking around this ship alone.” Daegan had pulled her into a corner against the far bulkhead so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Nina was cleared, so see if she’s available to keep you company.”

“I want to go speak with Matt.” Ferrin slipped her hands out of his, glancing sideways to where Starr and Gunny were waiting for him. Daegan didn’t like what she said, so he reached for her again, holding tight when she tried to pull away a second time. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on? What was Starr talking about when she said it was time?”

“Only go to the infirmary if Nina or Lieutenant Irvine is with you,” Daegan cautioned, not wanting to be worrying about who she was with or where she might be on the ship while he was in position on the winch. He needed his full concentration and he was half tempted to take her with him so he’d know that she was safe. “Remember our conversation? Follow any orders that you are given by the captain.”

Daegan could see that he was finally getting through to Ferrin on the importance of what he was saying. She searched his gaze, although he wasn’t sure what she was looking for. He could well understand her need to speak with Matt and Daegan figured by the time she did that, the captain would be making his announcement that all crewmembers that were not on duty needed to report to the weather deck. The captain would also include the falsified reason and the team had to hope that the offender’s erratic behavior triggered by a potential arrest would give him or her away. It was the only course of action that could be taken.

“Fine.” Ferrin squeezed his hand in reassurance, still looking quite peeved over what Matt had done to her. “I’ll go to Nina’s cabin now and have her go with me to the infirmary. I know she isn’t working this shift so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Daegan didn’t care that Gunny and Starr were still by the hatch waiting for him to join them. He slid a hand up Ferrin’s arm until he was able to cup the back of her neck and pulled her toward him so that he could capture her lips. There was nothing more eye opening than life-threatening moments one after another for fate to make her point. He pulled back and then made sure Ferrin’s attention was solely on him.

“All the way, Ferrin.”

“What?” Ferrin whispered, holding on to both his wrists while he now cradled her face. “The last thing we should do is base decisions on heightened emotions and—”

“Stop,” Daegan ordered, even though he knew it was in her nature to have everything in its place. He wasn’t an inanimate object that she could stow in its proper slot. He was flesh and blood. He was a man who couldn’t be tamed and honestly, he didn’t think she wanted that. He placed one more kiss on her soft, parted lips. “Don’t think. Just feel. It’s all the way, Ferrin. You know it and I know it.”

“Daegan, we need to get moving now.”

He kissed Ferrin one more time and then pulled on her hand for her to follow them out into the passageway. Starr and Gunny started to walk one way and Daegan turned to Ferrin, pulling her into his arms. This plan had to work because he couldn’t stand to see Ferrin get caught up into this maniac’s web one more minute.

“Go straight to Nina’s cabin and stay with her the remainder of the day.”

With that, Daegan released her and turned on his boot heel to follow Starr and Gunny up to the weather deck where the rest of the team was waiting for them. If he turned back, he wasn’t so sure he could leave her to her own devices. He would have felt a lot better had she been allowed in on this strategy they put into place.

Within minutes they were up on deck and Doc gave a slight nod to indicate he’d done what Daegan had asked before his teammate had left the wardroom. There were crewmembers on the weather and flight deck, although the helicopter had flown out as part of the scheme they’d put together. He had to wait for the coast to be clear before making his way up to the top of the winch housing where his sniper rifle was secured in a leather scabbard, thanks to Doc. Daegan settled into the position he’d chosen the other night, undetectable from below. He was twelve feet above the deck, sandwiched between the overhead flight deck and the top of the housing for a twenty-ton heavy-duty motorized winch that moved the collapsible hangar back and forth into position over the flight deck above him.

Taking the headset that the team would be using to communicate with, Daegan secured it over his head and ensured that the mic was positioned to where it would pick up his every whisper. He slowly drew the fully assembled M40A6 from the rugged leather field scabbard he used to protect his rifle from the hardships. A precision instrument had to endure the harsh environments the team often worked in.

Once everything was to his satisfaction, Daegan arranged himself as comfortably as he could, knowing that he could be this way for a while. They had been lucky to get him into position early without being seen. There was just too much chance of a crewmember arriving late for formation and seeing him climb up the back of the winch housing. He turned his hat around as he tucked his baby into the crook of his arm and rested his cheek against the cool modular cheek rest as he looked through his Schmidt & Bender 3-12x50mm Police Marksman II LP scope. He was able to see the whiskers on Diesel, as the dog appeared to look straight at him, his brown eyes inquisitive. If all went well, once the majority of the crewmembers were aboard the weather deck Daegan would be able to keep tabs on each and every one of them—their facial expressions, where their eyes were trained, and where they placed their hands.

“In position,” Daegan stated through the open mic.