Dark Abyss (14 page)

Anna came upright jerkily. “Paul!” she gasped faintly.

He glanced around and placed a hand on her elbow. “We need to get moving. He’s waiting.”

Anna gulped, trying to get her mind into gear. All she could think about, however was the chip lying not three feet from where they were standing and the fact that she didn’t want her father to have it. “I don’t understand,” she managed to say finally.

Paul pulled on her arm to get her going and began walking her briskly toward the back of her house. “He’ll explain. It isn’t safe for you to stay here anymore. They’ll have you under surveillance.”

“Who?” Anna asked uneasily.

“The damned mutants!” Paul said testily. “You didn’t think they would just let you go, did you? They’ve had you under watch since they released you.”

It took all Anna could do to keep from glancing in the direction of the sub. It occurred to her, though, that Paul and her father clearly knew she’d been taken in for questioning which meant she didn’t have to pretend they hadn’t. “They cleared me and let me go. Why would they watch me?”

“Because they know of your connection to Miles Cavendish,” he said tightly.

“They wouldn’t have picked you up otherwise.”

Did that mean they did or they didn’t know that she’d offered to turn him over to them, she wondered uneasily? Where were her watchmen? “But there really isn’t a connection!” she objected in dismay.

“He’s your father!”

Anna stared at him uneasily. “Besides that, I mean.”

“That’s enough,” he said grimly. “They’ve already tried to assassinate him several times. They’ll use you to get to him if they can.”

That was a lie! They couldn’t possibly have done any such thing when they didn’t even know what he looked like until she’d given them the image!

It occurred to her forcefully, though, that they did want to get her father. Maybe they hadn’t come because they were waiting to see if Paul would lead them to him? For several moments she felt lightheaded at the prospect, but even as Paul helped her into the boat he’d moored at the back of her property she realized that it might be their only chance to stop him.

And he needed to be stopped.

And if she somehow managed to help maybe it would redeem her in Simon’s eyes?

Abandoning her first impulse, which was to leap from the boat while Paul was occupied with untying it and starting the engine, she settled uneasily on the seat and glanced around a little hopefully. They would be following her, she assured herself.

They wouldn’t have left! Not without telling her they were pulling out. She knew they wouldn’t!

It didn’t occur to her that Paul had caught everyone by surprise, not just her.

Neither Simon nor Ian had heard his approach because she’d left the house and was beyond the range of the electronic devices. They hadn’t spotted him until he was upon her because they were watching her place the reader in the paddler. They’d abandoned the sub because they knew they could cover the distance faster swimming than they could starting up the sub and sailing it to her house and then leaping out of it. And they hadn’t reached her to stop Paul because they were five minutes away and he’d walked her from the front yard to the back and pulled away in less than three minutes.

Paul cut through the channel between the houses and rounded Anna’s house when the two of them were still little more than halfway between the sub and Anna’s place. He spotted them in the water just about the time Anna did.

Uttering a snarl, he pushed the boat to full speed and headed directly for them.

For a split second, Anna was too stunned to react. The scream of terror that tore its way from her chest thawed her. She leapt to her feet and made a grab for the wheel, trying to wrestle it from his grip. The boat careened wildly from side to side, nearly pitching Anna out, but she was too intent on trying to turn the wheel to feel the fear she might have otherwise.

Abruptly, Paul ceased trying to pry her fingers loose and backhanded her hard enough she lost her grip and flew backwards, nearly toppling over the side of the boat.

She caught herself instinctively before it even occurred to her that she should’ve seized the opportunity and gone out of the boat. By the time she realized it, though, Paul had grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded furiously, shaking her. “It was the mutants!”

Anna gaped at him, trying to force her shocked brain into functioning, trying to gather the wits for survival. “It was?” she gasped.

“I missed them! Sit down and try to stay out of the way!”

He flung her toward the seat beside him even as he said it. Anna stumbled, caught herself, and looked back. To her disappointment, she saw that it was too dark to see anything. She couldn’t do anything but take Paul’s word for it that he’d missed them.

She didn’t
know
he had.

Her teeth began to chatter in reaction as she settled weakly in the seat Paul had shoved her into. It didn’t help that he was going so fast that the air blowing over her felt like arctic air. She didn’t know what to do, but one look at the water racing past the hull was enough to convince her she didn’t want to jump. They were already too far out for her to have any chance of swimming back even if he didn’t turn around and come back for her … and she was afraid he would.

And then it would be impossible to convince him she wasn’t trying to escape. As much difficulty as she was having putting logical thought together, she realized her best hope, now, was to convince Paul that she was going willingly.

“You cold?”

Anna looked at Paul when he spoke and finally nodded jerkily.

“Look in that locker toward the stern. There should be some blankets. That’ll have to do until we reach the rendezvous point.”

Anna half fell out of the seat. Righting herself with an effort, she made her way carefully toward the back, trying to keep her feet under her. The boat was bucking so hard, though, as it slammed into the waves that she sprawled out before she reached the locker, rolling and skidding the rest of the way. She was shaking with terror, not just cold and shock, when she finally managed to catch a hold of the locker and pry it up.

The wind nearly ripped the blanket from her grasp when she pulled it out, but she managed to keep her grip on it.

Deciding not to try to make it to the front of the boat again, she settled with her back against the low stern wall and struggled to get the blanket around her. She thought at first when Paul began to slow the boat that he’d seen her dilemma and slowed to help her. When she glanced toward him, though, she saw he had something in his hand. Her heart skipped several beats when it occurred to her that it was handgun. She was completely unprepared for the sudden explosion behind them. It took her several moments to realize it
was behind them. Her heart had squeezed so painfully with fear, she clutched her chest, certain she’d been shot
.

It was the ball of fire that drew her around to look. She gaped at the blossoming cloud of fire and smoke that lit up the area like midday without comprehension, with utter disbelief.

“Mutant terrorists just blew up your house and destroyed your research.”

Anna whipped her head around when Paul spoke. The light from the fire, even so far away, made his expression of grim satisfaction perfectly clear to her. Dumbfounded, she watched him toss the device he’d been pointing at her—no, her house—into the sea.

“Bundle up. We’ve got a good ways to go.”

She’d been
sitting
on a bomb, Anna thought blankly? How long had she been walking around her house without a care in the world while there was a bomb under her just waiting for the right signal to go off?

* * * *

Simon and Ian tumbled out of the emergency tubes and raced toward the console.

Simon strode to the communicator while Ian started the engines. “Watch Center! Watch Center! Priority one!”

“Watch Center! What’s the priority one?”

Simon hesitated. “Terrorist suspect, Paul Warner, has snatched Dr. Blake. Heading ..,” he paused and leaned over to check the radar. “Due south, making around 40 knots. I want every man you can round up. We’re in pursuit!”

The explosion rocked the sub so hard and so unexpectedly it threw Simon and Ian across the deck, slamming them into the walls as if they were ping pong balls.

“Simon! Simon! Do you read? What the hell was that?”

Simon managed to get to his feet and turned to search for the source of the explosion. “What the hell? They blew up her house!” he muttered in shock.

“Simon! Ian? What’s going on? Do you read?”

Moving to the communicator, Simon spoke into it again. “They blew up her house. Water City PD will be swarming all over us inside of five. Simon out!” He turned to Ian. “Get this thing moving!”

He staggered back when Ian abruptly shot forward and began diving. Catching his balance, he lurched toward the front again and fell into a seat, pulling his restraints on and fastening them. “How much of a lead does he have?”

Ian stared hard at the radar for a moment. “Fifteen minutes and gaining steadily. He’s going to break up if he keeps that speed
.

Simon swallowed a little sickly. “Let’s hope not.”

“He knows he missed us and we’ll be on his tail,” Ian said grimly. “He’s going to try to lose us.”

He’d missed them because Anna had risked her life fighting him for control of the wheel. He couldn’t remember the last time anything had scared him that badly—or enraged him so much. He was going to break the son-of-a-bitch in half for hitting her when he got his hands on him! “Level out or he won’t have to worry about it!” he growled, watching the depth gauge.

“The bastard!” Ian growled after a few moments. “How the hell did the son-of-a-bitch manage to get the jump on us?”

“He knew we were there,” Simon said after considering it for a moment. “He wouldn’t have risked pulling the boat in on the other side, in plain view of all of her neighbors, if he hadn’t.”

“I don’t understand why she left the house! We would’ve known he was there if she hadn’t left the house.”

That had been bothering him, too. “She put something in the paddler,” he said abruptly. “She was carrying something when she came out. I didn’t see it when he grabbed her, did you?”

“Her research!” Ian said abruptly. “That’s what that crazy dance was all about. She said, ‘I did it.’. That was what she was talking about.”

“I’m still baffled,” Simon growled. “Didn’t she say she was genetically engineering plants? They blew up her house because of her plants?”

Ian frowned. “Maybe and maybe not. If they knew we were there, they could’ve had an entirely different reason for blowing it up—us. If we’d been found floating near the scene, what do you suppose the cops would’ve thought?”

Simon stared at him in disbelief. “That
we’re terrorists?”

“Can you think of a better way to turn sentiment completely against us? Possibly even start a war.”

“Jesus!” Simon muttered. “Where do you think he’s heading?”

“Home to papa,” Ian said tightly.

* * * *

Caleb had contemplated murdering Simon throughout the nightmarish trip down the coast to the tiny island where they were currently moored. He didn’t even make any attempt to contain his wrath when he finally boarded the sub. “You planned it, didn’t you!” he growled. “You let that cold-blooded bastard get his hands on her just so you could get to him!”

“Hold it!” Ian bellowed, leaping between the two men before they could launch themselves at one another. “If you’re looking for some-fucking-body to blame, check out the god damned mirror! We didn’t plan this! Simon didn’t plan it! They knew we were there and they outmaneuvered us because they did. And they knew because you didn’t fucking follow orders and Anna came out looking for you!”

Caleb recoiled as if he’d punched him. He stared at Ian in stunned disbelief for several moments as that sank in and then looked around for a place to sit. Landing heavily on the floor when he discovered there was nothing closer, he clasped his head in his hands.

“Forget it!” Simon said harshly. “The important thing is to get her back before anything happens to her.”

Caleb dropped his hands to his knees and looked up at him. “He wouldn’t hurt her,” he said hoarsely.

Ian and Simon exchanged a look, but Simon saw no sense in telling him Paul hadn’t been exactly gentle with her. It wouldn’t help matters and, in any case, Paul was his. “We don’t know. I don’t want her in there when we go in, though. I want to try to extract her before the shooting starts.”

Caleb nodded and glanced guiltily at Joshua, but Joshua refused to meet his gaze.

“We’ll go in,” Caleb volunteered.

“We’ll all go in,” Simon said grimly. “We need to reconnoiter before we launch any kind of assault anyway. Top priority is locating Anna and getting her out if we can.

If it looks like we can’t, we’ll have to try to plan the assault so that we can reach her as quickly as possible and remove her from the line of fire.”

Ian hesitated, but he knew it needed to be said. “There is a possibility that he’s using her to bait a trap for us.”

Even Simon looked like he wanted to take his head off at that comment.

“I didn’t say she was willing. She was fighting like hell when she was kidnapped.

I’m saying that might be what the bastard wanted her for from the beginning. Or she might’ve given herself away—and there’s a good chance she did when she was fighting Paul. He might have decided to seize the day.”

Simon digested that for several moments. “We won’t know until we get in there.”