Hunter's Games (30 page)

“Okay, so what do you intend doing that we can’t?”

I turn to Clark. “I need a favor,” I say.

“Name it,” he replies without hesitating.

“I need a gun and a speedboat.”

Wallis raises his eyebrows and looks at Chambers, who doesn’t look impressed but remains poker-faced and silent. Josh shakes his head and smiles. Clark doesn’t look particularly fazed by the request either, although he’s had experience of helping me out before. I look at them all one by one.

“Pellaggio’s got at least one Stinger missile and God knows how many more RPG’s,” I explain. “Any approach by air will end badly, as we’ve already seen.”

I look at Chambers, who clenches her jaw and momentarily glazes over. I suspect she’s having a flashback to the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday.

“I can’t exactly swim there,” I continue. “But if I can get in a speedboat, I can loop round in a wide arc and hopefully stay out of sight. Even if I’m spotted, I’ll be harder to hit than a helicopter, and he won’t risk wasting too much ammunition on me. By the time I’m close enough to hit with bullets, it’ll be too late for them anyway. Plus, I know there’s all kinds of stealth technology nowadays… I’m sure you can come up with something that might help?”

Chambers and Wallis look at each other. They know I’m right, even if they don’t want to admit it. Clark stands up.

“I’ll make preparations at once,” he says. “GlobaTech will be happy to help in any way they can.”

He walks purposefully out of the room.

“Josh,” I say. “You’re going to stay here and be my eyes and ears, yeah?”

“Business as usual, Bossman,” he says without a second thought.

“I’ll show you where you can work from,” Wallis says to him. “I’m gonna sit in on Agent Green's interrogation, so I’ll take you on my way there.”

He leaves the room and Josh follows, leaving me alone with Chambers.

“Grace—” I begin, but she cuts me short.

“Adrian, it doesn’t matter. You have nothing to apologize for. I just don’t like hearing about what you do for a living and what you’ve done in the past. It’s easy to put it out of your mind when you’re actively fighting on our side, but it’s still hard to picture you being that person.”

I smile and look at her for a moment. “I wasn’t going to apologize,” I say. “I was gonna tell you to get your head in the game, because tonight is where all this ends. I can’t guarantee the safety of everyone on that ship, so I need you to handle that while I stop Pellaggio.”

She’s visibly taken aback, but soon smiles at my directness.

“I believe you,” she says. “And I
can
guarantee the safety of that ship and everyone aboard.”

I nod and walk toward the door, but she steps in the way, blocking my exit. We’re standing inches apart from each other. She’s looking at me, her eyes searching mine for a sign I want what she does. She moves her face closer to mine and steps up on her tiptoes.

My heart’s beating so fast, I’m worried it might burst through my ribcage. Not because of nerves or excitement. There are no butterflies like two young lovers realizing their mutual attraction for the first time. Right now, I’m absolutely terrified! She wants me to kiss her, and part of me wants to oblige. But I can’t betray the memory of my wife. I’m not ready to put her to rest. Not just yet.

I take a deep breath and a step back—a subtle gesture that I don’t wish to meet her advances. She immediately senses my body language and backs off, too.

“I’m sorry,” we both say simultaneously. We laugh, awkwardly.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I just... I shouldn’t have tried to...”

“Hey, I’m sorry too,” I reply. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. I’m just not ready to...”

“It’s okay, really. Let’s just forget about it, alright?”

She smiles, but it looks forced. I think she’s either hurt, embarrassed or both.

I nod, but I feel awful. “Yeah, sure,” I say, smiling to offer a little comfort. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

It’s my turn smile without looking awkward. She turns and leaves the conference room. I stand alone for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath in and exhaling heavily.

“Christ...” I mutter to myself, before following her across the office.

16:21

The last few hours passed slowly. I spent most of the time pacing aimlessly around the office, as Josh and Wallis monitored Alcatraz Island and came up with a bunch of scenarios for me to figure out how to deal with without getting myself killed. Chambers wasn’t around much, as she was liaising with people on board the Jeremiah and trying to convince them to search the ship for explosive devices. As expected, it was proving harder to do than we’d hoped. I think she was right—there’s no way anyone will agree to postponing the celebrations later tonight. The best we can hope for is that the Secret Service realizes we’re not trying to interfere and actually listens to us.

I’ve not said much to anyone. I’ve eaten a little, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I keep thinking about Agent Chambers… Grace, and our moment in the conference room earlier.

Am I mad?

I mean, she’s an attractive woman.
Very
attractive. And she likes me, despite what I do for a living. I doubt I’ll find many women who are so accepting of the fact I’m a professional assassin.

But every time I think about her, I get mad at myself because I should be thinking about Danny Pellaggio. He’s on Alcatraz right now with Ivan Gregovski and an arsenal of weaponry that includes Stinger missiles—one of which he intends putting in a ship that has the Secretary of Defense on it.

You’d think I’d be prioritizing a little better…

I’m in the larger of the two office areas, which is deserted now, as many of the agents are already en route to the Jeremiah. Josh and Wallis are at their computer terminal with satellite and drone feeds of Alcatraz displayed on their screens.

“How’s it going?” I ask as I walk over to them.

Josh is lost in the computers, so Wallis replies.

“We’ve got thermal imaging up and running,” he says. “We’ve got eyes on eight bodies.”

“Pellaggio, Gregovski and six for practice,” I say, nodding.

“We’ve been over every inch of the island and ran every simulation we can think of—bottom line, Adrian, you’re not getting on there via a speedboat. You’ll be seen and shot at.”

“Josh?”

“He’s right,” he says without looking up from his keyboard. “It ain’t happening.”

“There’s got to be a way,” I say, feeling myself getting frustrated. “If I don’t get to them before the fireworks start tonight, it’s game over.”

“Maybe I can help with that,” says a voice behind us.

I turn and see Clark walking toward us, carrying two large black sports bags, one in each hand. He’s smiling from ear to ear. He drops the bags at my feet.

“Oh, Bobby…” I say, looking at them. “You sure know how to treat a guy!”

He laughs and picks up one of the bags, resting it on a nearby table. He unzips it and holds it open. Wallis and Josh walk over, curious.

“This…” he explains with a little too much pride and ceremony. “…is the latest in climbing technology. It’s a prototype I’ve… ah,
borrowed
from our Research Facility.”

He takes out a large grappling gun, maybe four feet long. It looks like a small rocket launcher, with an imposing four-pronged metal claw poking out of one end.

“Now, I’ll concede it’s a little noisy when you fire it,” he continues. “But, honestly, I don’t think anyone will notice over the sound of the waves. You simply aim and fire—the claw will penetrate almost anything. The cable that’s attached to it is a strengthened nylon polymer and will tie round a special body harness that’s also in the bag for you. You shouldn’t have any trouble scaling the side of the island with this.”

“Jesus…” says Josh quietly, clearly impressed.

“That’s brilliant, Bob—really. But these guys are saying a speedboat isn’t going to work… I can’t climb it if I can’t get to it.”

He smiles again and packs the grappling gun away, zipping the bag closed, and picking it up.

“Grab that other bag and follow me,” he says. “I’ve got that covered too.”

I frown, slightly confused, but pick up the bag and follow him as he walks off.

“What’s in the one Adrian’s carrying?” Wallis asks Josh behind me.

“Oh, you don’t wanna know,” he says laughing. “You know, what with you being a federal agent and all…”

“Right…”

We all follow Clark out of the office, down the corridor and into the elevator. We take it down to the first floor and step out into the lobby as the doors ding open. He walks outside and we all look at each other, getting more confused by the second.

We follow him, stepping out into the late afternoon sun. Clark is standing in the parking lot, the bag on the floor next to him, in front of a sports car. It’s nice—a convertible. A Lotus, I think.

“Here you go,” he says.

“Nice wheels,” I say with a shrug. “I think you might’ve misunderstood what I need though.”

Josh walks over to the vehicle and crouches down beside it, running his hand over the wheel arches and the chassis. Clark watches him as he stands and makes his way around the car, inspecting it with his educated eye. Wallis is next to me, looking as confused as I do.

After a minute, Josh moves next to Clark and stares at us, one hand over his mouth in genuine shock. He looks at him.

“Is this…?”

Clark nods and smiles.

Josh claps his hands and, I swear to God, he jumps and clicks his heels, laughing.

“You look like you’ve just won the state lottery—what’s wrong with you?” I ask.

“Adrian, my loveable, un-educated friend,
this
is an amphibious sports car.”

I raise an eyebrow. “It’s a what now?”

“It’s an underwater car.”

I’m trying to understand how those two words can appear next to each other in a sentence, but I don’t have the mental capacity for it.

“An underwater car? That’s a thing now?” I ask.

Clark pats the hood like a proud father. “It runs off an electric motor that’s powered by six batteries. It’s capable of seventy-five miles an hour and can submerge to depths of up to three hundred feet.”

“So it’s a submarine?” I ask.

Clark nods.

“Well,” I continue. “Ain’t that something…”

“I hope this helps,” he says, extending his hand.

“This is incredible, Bob, thank you,” I reply, shaking it.

“Any time, Adrian,” he replies. “And now, I’m going to do something I learnt to do long ago—stay out of your way while you go kill people.”

He shakes hands with the others.

“Josh. Agent Wallis.”

He disappears back inside the office.

Wallis pats my shoulder. “Well, looks like you’re all set,” he says. “I’m going to be on board the Jeremiah with Agent Chambers. Good luck, Adrian.”

“Thanks. You too.”

He walks off, and as I watch him go, Agent Chambers comes out toward us. They exchange a quick word as they pass, then he carries on inside, and she approaches us.

“Nice wheels,” she says.

“It’s a submarine,” I say, trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about.

Josh smirks as she looks confused.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” he says, reaching into his pocket and taking out an earpiece. “Adrian, take this. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

I take it from him and smile. “Thanks man. See you on the other side.”

“Bet your ass.”

We bump fists, and he walks off, leaving me standing next to the car with Chambers in front of me.

“So, you’re all set?” she asks.

I look at the two black bags at my feet and the car behind me. “I reckon so, yeah.”

“I’ll do everything I can on the Jeremiah. Just stop Pellaggio, okay? Whatever it takes.”

“I fully intend to. You be careful—if there are bombs on board, you need to be ready to get people off that ship if things go wrong at my end.”

“I will,” she says, nodding. “But you’ll stop him. I know it.”

I smile and we hold each other’s gaze for a moment. Then I pick up the bags and drop them on the back seat, walk around the hood and open the driver’s door.

“Is this really a submarine?” she asks, skeptically.

“Apparently,” I reply.

“Huh…”

I climb inside and start the engine. I look at her one last time then drive off toward the pier.

23.

16:35

MY PHONE RINGS. It’s Josh. I put the earpiece in and answer the call.

“Where are you up to, Bossman?” he asks as I pick up.