Seized (Hostage Rescue Team Series, #7) (18 page)

The rest of the team was already waiting in the room when they walked in. Sawyer asked Bauer what the story was, but the former SEAL didn’t know. It had to be related to the Aziz arrests though, and it had to be big. Anticipation hung heavy in the air while they waited.

Sawyer found himself holding his breath when Rycroft strode into the room a moment later, followed by DeLuca, Celida and Travers. It could have been his imagination, but it seemed to Sawyer like they all looked at him and Ethan before taking up positions at the front of the room. It set him even more on edge but he shelved his concern. He needed to keep his head in the game, since it looked like they were about to have another mission.

Rycroft stood at the front of the room and got right to it. “Just got a major break in the investigation. Turns out Aziz was definitely acting on orders from someone back in Saudi Arabia, although we don’t know who that is yet. What we do know, is the cell’s target.” He looked at DeLuca.

“Signal intercepts verify that the cell we’ve been tracking has been in close contact with another cell working out of Russia. The good news is, for right now we’re fairly certain we’re not dealing with chemical weapons,” their commander said. “The bad news is, we still don’t know who the cell leader is, the attack is imminent and the suspected target is a civilian ship already at sea off the U.S. coast.”

His gaze shifted first to Ethan, then Sawyer.

Sawyer’s muscles tightened as dread slithered through him. The back of his neck began to prickle in warning a moment before DeLuca said the words Sawyer had been dreading.

“Because of the intel pointing to a Russian link, it looks like the target is likely going to be a cruise ship currently off the coast of Alaska.”

––––––––

A
t three minutes before midnight, Wira received the signal he’d been waiting for. A text message saying “May Allah be with you” from the
Mawla
. He slipped out of his bunk and quietly alerted Ali via radio to signal the others, then headed up the stairs on his way to the nav bridge.

The countdown had begun.

Nerves and excitement stirred in his gut. His pulse thudded in his ears along with his booted footsteps as he ascended the carpeted stairs. Three of his men were waiting for him when he reached the lower promenade deck. They nodded at him and followed up the forward staircase without a word. Ali and one other team member were waiting for them on the lido deck.

“Is the captain in his quarters?” Wira asked Ali quietly. There were hardly any passengers around at this hour, which was why they’d chosen it.

“Yes. Everything’s as it should be.”

Perfect. And he had more than a dozen others placed throughout the ship, armed, ready and waiting. As soon as the attack began, the other teams would take out the key crewmembers who might pose a threat, and help lock down the ship. They’d gone over the plan many times in meetings prior to boarding the ship in Seattle. Each man knew his assignment, knew what precautions to take and what contingencies to use if a problem arose.

Inside the stairwell Wira paused in the surveillance video blind spot their man up on the bridge had created a few minutes ago for them. They’d only have another minute or two before the camera turned back on again. Plenty of time to gear up and get into position.

One of the men stood guard at the bottom of the stairs and one stood above, in case any passengers or other crewmembers came along. Wira signaled to Ali, who began handing out weapons from a bag he’d stowed in a compartment behind a fire extinguisher set into the wall.

They all pulled black balaclavas over their faces and checked their weapons: a military-style knife, two Glock pistols and an AR-17, all fully loaded. Canisters of tear gas, gas masks. Then they donned night vision goggles as well.

Ali hid the bag and set the fire extinguisher back into place, covering the hidden compartment. Then Wira took the radio from his belt and contacted their man on the bridge to ensure everything appeared normal to the other crewmembers. “All clear here. Signing off for the night.”

“Roger. Have a good one.”

Wira replaced the radio on his belt and nodded at Ali.

Thirty seconds.

They split into two groups of three, with Wira leading one group and Ali leading the other. The younger man took the lead and started carefully up the stairs toward the bridge while Wira and his men stayed a few steps behind. Once Ali’s team breached the bridge, Wira and his men would take the captain.

Ten seconds.

They pulled their goggles into position. Three seconds later, right on cue the lights went out.

Wira raised a hand then swept it sharply downward, signaling Ali to make the assault.

Their rubber-soled boots were nearly silent on the last set of carpeted stairs. Wira’s palms were slick and his mouth was dry. Ali waited just long enough for his men to stack up behind him at the door to the bridge, then unlocked it and shoved it open with a clang. Two sharp explosions sounded from the stun grenades Ali had thrown into the room.

Men were shouting but quickly fell silent as rapid gunshots rang out, telling Wira their assault had been unexpected and met with little resistance. He rushed past the entrance to the bridge and made it to the captain’s quarters just as the cabin door flung open. Van Slater stood there in pants and bare feet with a pistol in his hand, his face a mask of shock through the green glow of the night vision goggles as Wira lunged for him.

Van Slater shouted and twisted to the side but Wira had the advantage of surprise and the cover of darkness. He grabbed the gun and tackled him to the ground, used the butt of the pistol to stun him with a blow to the side of the head. Van Slater grunted and slumped forward, but was still conscious.

“What...do you...want?” he gasped out.

He firmed his hold. “Your ship.” They were taking him prisoner rather than killing him purely for leverage purposes. Keeping him alive might buy them time, and maybe resources from authorities. If he proved a problem later on, they’d kill him too.

Van Slater tried in vain to twist free, straining to see him in the darkness. “Who the hell...are you?”

“The new captain,” Wira snarled back, shoving the man’s wrists higher up between his shoulder blades.

Emergency lights began to flicker on around them but Wira wasn’t worried. Even if Van Slater recognized him through the balaclava, it didn’t matter anymore. He was now a prisoner in his own ship.

Wira pinned Van Slater to the floor while one of Wira’s men bound his hands behind him and then his ankles. For good measure they gagged him before securing him to his bunk and barring his door shut from the outside.

Breathing hard, triumph and elation pumping through him, Wira stalked into the bridge. Ali and the others stood over top of the officers’ bodies. They would move the captain down to a holding area shortly and post armed guards outside the room to ensure he didn’t escape.

News of the siege should reach authorities in the next few minutes, along with their published manifesto. That would aim a spotlight on his brother’s plight, a light which would only grow brighter as the hours passed.

Families and loved ones of the passengers and crew aboard would put substantial pressure on their governments to act. Wira’s team had already proven their resolve by killing the officers and some of the crew. Once they began killing passengers over the next sixteen hours, the pressure on foreign governments to act would increase dramatically.

And then, with a little help from their Russian sympathizers, he’d be on his way to find Leo. Even if he died in the attempt, the media coverage would ensure someone looked into the case, expose the U.S. and its secret “black” CIA holding facilities that dotted Eastern Europe.

Ignoring the bodies and blood on the floor, Wira grabbed his radio and checked to make sure he was on the right frequency before addressing the rest of his team scattered throughout the ship. “Bridge secured. Bagas, report.”

“Officers secured,” the man announced proudly. “Engine room also secured. We have a few passengers in here as well, all locked down. The ship is ours, sir.”

Excellent
. Wira turned to Ali. “Sound the general alarm and steer us north-northwest.”

Ali rushed to do as he said. Time to get the few passengers still up and about back to their staterooms so Wira could enact the next phase of the plan without interference.

****

C
armela settled under the down comforter on the cushy bed with a sigh and reached for the remote, intending to search for a movie.

She was three channels into her surfing when the sound of the keycard in the lock made her look toward the door. It opened and her mother stepped inside the cabin, surprise on her face. “Oh, you’re still up.”

“Yeah. Have a good time?” Carmela was way too wired to sleep, still elated over Sawyer’s change of heart.

“Had a
great
time. Even made seventy bucks.” She shot Carmela a supremely self-satisfied smile before setting her purse on the small writing desk set against the wall opposite the beds. “And how was your night?”

“Good. Relaxing.” And yet incredibly exciting, too.

“Hmmm,” her mother murmured, and began taking off her jewelry. “Did you talk to Sawyer, by chance?”

The question made her instantly suspicious. “I did.” She kept her reply nonchalant and left out the via Skype part.

“And? What did he have to say?”

“Not much. I told him about our day, asked how things were going there. He said his shoulder’s healing up well.”

Her mother paused and met her eyes in the large mirror above the desk. “Nothing else?”

“Nope.”

She set down her earrings and turned to face Carmela with an arched brow. “You seriously think you can fool your own mother like that?
Tomar el pelo? No seas pendejo
.” She sounded insulted.

Don’t be a dumbass? Carmela pretended not to understand what she was talking about, began randomly flipping through the channels to find something that might catch her interest. Until they officially became a couple, what happened between her and Sawyer was her private business and she didn’t want even her own mother to know about it. “Fool you about what?”

Her mom snorted. “Carmela Cruz, you’re not fooling anybody, especially not me. I know there’s something going on between you two.”

Nope. Not admitting to that. If she did, her mom would start fantasizing about a wedding and the pitter patter of little grandchild feet. “
Mami
, there’s nothing—”

“Ah! Don’t you dare lie right to my face. I know there’s something.” Not to be deterred, her mother marched forward and planted herself on the side of Carmela’s bed so she couldn’t ignore her. “Well? Tell me!” She smacked Carmela’s shoulder in frustration.

“Ow!” She rubbed at her arm, glared at her mother.

“Come on, just tell me!” Her mother’s eyes gleamed with excitement. And vodka.

“Mom, there’s nothing to tell.” Sawyer would hate it if her mom knew what had happened between them.

“Don’t insult my intelligence, young lady. I’m not blind, and I know what I see when I look at you two together. You don’t think I noticed the way you two were dancing together the other night?”

Carmela shot her a quelling look. “Which you instigated.”

Her mom didn’t look the least bit guilty. Or apologetic, for that matter. “Or how you’ve been texting each other like lovesick teenagers this whole trip?”

“Not the whole trip, and Sawyer and I have been texting back and forth for over a year now. It’s nothing new. Also, I texted Ethan just as much the past few days, in case you didn’t notice.” She’d done it purposely, to help avoid suspicion.
Good work, Einstein.

Her mother shook her head stubbornly and folded her arms across her chest. “I know what I saw, and I know what I know. And when I know, I
know
.”

Carmela rolled her eyes. Her mother was freaking relentless. Like a bulldozer on steroids when she wanted something. Carmela needed to downplay this in case things with Sawyer didn’t work out the way she wanted them to. “We both have feelings for each other, but he’s got...issues he has to work through before he’s going to be ready for a relationship with me.”

She frowned. “What, you mean because of Trina?”

“Yes. And because he’s worried he’ll lose you and Ethan too, if we started dating and it didn’t work out. So like I said, there’s nothing to tell.” Okay, she felt bad even saying that little white lie, but she wanted to let things develop on their own, without more added pressure on Sawyer from Mama Cruz.

Her mother narrowed her eyes. “
Ay, bendito
, that’s ridiculous. That boy knows I love him to pieces. I don’t believe he’d think something like that.”

“Well he does. Just leave it alone, okay? Don’t be putting any pressure on him about this. I need him to want me because of
me
, not because he feels obligated to jump into a relationship with me.”

Her mother looked annoyed now. “Of course I wouldn’t pressure him about it. I just can’t believe he’s afraid of all that.”

“Well he is, so he has to make up his own mind when he’s ready—”

Her words were cut off when a series of loud beeps emitted from the speakers in the room, making her jump. The ship’s alarm.

She sat straight up, her heart knocking against her ribs as she listened, trying to remember what that particular sequence of beeps meant. Just an alert? Go back to your room and get ready to evacuate? She glanced at her mom, who’d gone completely still. Had they hit something? She hadn’t felt anything.

“Attention all passengers,” a male voice announced. “Please return to your staterooms immediately and change into warm clothing. Gather your lifejackets and ship’s ID cards and await further instructions. Please remain in your staterooms.”

Carmela and her mom stared at each other for a second, then they both jumped up and headed for the cabinet where their life jackets were kept.

“Is there a fire, do you think?” her mom asked.