Deadly Echoes (36 page)

“We need to stay near the ship. We'll have to watch the detonation via the
da Vinci's
cameras. Once the glacier calves, it will take three minutes for the wave to reach the
North Star,
far faster than we can fly. Our job is to offer an aerial point of view for Captain Flemming.”

“Very good then. The
da Vinci
is ten minutes out; Michael and his crew won't need long to get into position. Let's set up a hover at five hundred feet and find the angle that suits you best.”

“Michael and his crew?” Lauren asked. “Donovan's not flying this mission?”

“I guess not,” Janie replied. “Michael seemed surprised when I asked him the same question. It seems no one has seen Mr. Nash since I dropped him in Anchorage.”

Lauren was livid, she felt duped, and powerless. Donovan had left her to do his lying, and now he couldn't be bothered to show up for work. Had he found Erica? Were they watching this together on his laptop in some hotel?

Janie quickly keyed her microphone. “Eco-Watch zero four is lifting off tanker
North Star.
We'll be circling below five hundred feet, over.”

Lauren opened her laptop, not surprised that her hands were shaking. She booted up the computer, using more force in her keystrokes than was necessary, but it was the only outlet for her rage she had at her disposal. Moments later, she was linked up via encrypted satellite feed so she could see exactly what the
da Vinci
was seeing. The synthetic-aperture radar image was already being transmitted. It showed the tanker with the helicopter just lifting
off the deck. As Janie climbed, Lauren could see both tractor tugs idling a safe distance off the starboard side. A slack line was attached from one tug to the stern of the tanker. The other tug was connected to the bow. Each tug had over ten thousand horse power and was capable of delivering over two hundred thousand pounds of pull. Combined with the
North Star's
thirty thousand horsepower it was hoped that not only would the tugs be able to halt the rotation caused by the wave, but also a combined fifty thousand horsepower would bring the entire ship dead in the water within the two miles of containment booms that encircled the tanker.

The wind was still out of the south, as were the incoming seas. Both wind and waves were right into the
North Star's
stern, which was good. Any force that could slow down the tanker was welcome. Janie circled the ship, and Lauren made a quick radio check with Captain Flemming.

“I think I'd like to hover just off the starboard quarter of the bow,” Lauren said. “If we point the helicopter north, up the inlet, we'll see the wave coming, and the ship and tugs will be in full view below us. Once the
North Star
starts to move, I'd like us to stay with the ship and remain in the same relative position.”

“Will do,” Janie pivoted the chopper until Lauren nodded her approval.

“Too bad we can't see the glacier from here,” Buck said. “That'd be worth seeing.”

“You can watch it here.” Lauren positioned her laptop so all three of them could see what happened when the explosives went off. “How far out is the
da Vinci?”

“They're inside the no-fly zone setting up at a thousand feet,” Janie replied. “When they're ready, and all the cameras are rolling, they'll give the word.”

Buck leaned over the seat to look at the computer screen. Janie's eyes darted from the instrument panel to the computer and then back again. Overhead, Lauren saw the
da Vinci
fly past them toward the glacier. She still couldn't believe that Donovan wasn't aboard. The radio chatter between the tugs and the tanker died out,
as well as communication between the tanker and the Coast Guard ships. The detonation itself would be done via remote control from the back of the
da Vinci.

“Eco-Watch zero one is in position, all telemetry up and running,” Michael broadcast.

“Eco-Watch zero four in position,” Janie added.

“This is Coast Guard cutter
William Flores.
All parties are safe and accounted for. The area is secure for detonation.”

Lauren looked to the north. The glacier itself was obscured by the terrain, but the view from the
da Vinci
was crisp and clean. She could feel her pulse quicken as the next broadcast broke the silence on the frequency.

“Here we go then,” Michael said. “In five, four, three, two, one—we have detonation.”

On the computer screen, the first explosions threw up a geyser of snow and ice hundreds of feet into the air, followed by all two hundred fifty-two explosions in a carefully orchestrated sequence. Debris peppered the ocean in front of the glacier and thousands of small chunks of ice fell into the frigid water. A cloud of smoke and vaporized snow hung over the glacier and even above the beating blades of the helicopter, Lauren heard the massive explosion as it echoed off the surrounding hills.

“Wow!” Buck exclaimed.

Lauren frowned. She understood there would be a short delay after the charges went off, but so far nothing had happened.

All three of them stared at the computer screen waiting for the glacier to react in some way, but it sat motionless, as if it had shrugged off all of man's attempts to impose his will on the million-year-old river of ice. At first a small sinkhole formed, then it grew larger and a fissure opened.

“Oh, no,” Lauren said as the crevice began to race the width of the glacier.

“What is it?” Buck asked.

“It's too much,” Lauren said as the last of the friction gave way and gravity pulled a sixty-foot section of glacier into the ocean.
The resulting explosion of water hid the beginning of a wave that formed underwater. Below the surface, millions of square yards of water were instantly displaced by the ice, and the shockwave that formed began to race the only direction it could, south toward the
North Star.
Lauren keyed her microphone. “All hands, the wave is going to be twice the size we anticipated. I repeat, the wave is going to be almost a hundred feet high when it reaches the tanker.”

“Oh, shit!” Janie yelled as she snapped her head around and then desperately tried to turn the helicopter.

Lauren caught the movement outside the same time Janie did. There was no time to avoid the hundreds of startled ducks frantically winging away from the deafening roar of the explosion.

Lauren winced as the birds slammed against the helicopter. Dozens of collisions peppered the fuselage, each as loud as a gunshot. With each hit, the Plexiglas spider-webbed, but held together. Bells erupted, and Lauren could feel the vibrations in the airframe change. Red lights flashed on the panel, and the dull roar from the turbine engine began winding down.

“We've lost the engine,” Janie yelled. “We're going down. Brace for impact!”

Putting Amanda Sullivan behind him, Donovan walked into Signature Flight Support at John Wayne Airport. He discovered the BMW X5 that he and Erica had borrowed still parked in the lot of the executive terminal. He'd immediately called William's phone and Garrick's damaged voice instructed him to go to the Stratton house, alone. After the short drive, Donovan pulled into John Stratton's garage and parked the BMW. He had no choice but to face Garrick one-on-one. As he slid out of the SUV, the weight of Erica's pistol in his hand was reassuring.

Donovan opened the door that led into the house and found a body lying facedown in the hallway. A pool of blood had formed around the head. One of William's bodyguards. In the instant his eyes had been drawn to the floor, Nikolett appeared behind him and pressed the barrel of a pistol against the skin of his neck.

“Drop the gun. Put your hands up and slowly walk toward the kitchen.”

Donovan stepped around the corpse, and Nikolett prodded him down the hallway. As they walked through the opulent living room Donovan saw another body on the floor, William's other bodyguard. Garrick and Nikolett's entry must have been swift and brutal. Donovan remembered they'd been here once before and knew the layout of house. They probably had their own set of keys. William's bodyguards hadn't stood a chance.

“In the den. Garrick is waiting for you.”

Donovan entered the den and found William sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. His wrists appeared to be tied behind his back, his face swollen and bloody. Standing over him was
Garrick Pearce, the man Donovan had sworn to kill. Garrick looked gaunt, almost hollow. His eyes were unmoving orbs. He could blink, but as Erica had explained, he had to turn his head if he wanted to look at something. Donovan could see the scar tissue from acid burns on his face and neck and hands. Garrick looked twenty years older than he was.

“Robert, you made good time. William and I were just talking about old times.”

“Takes a real man to hit someone tied in a chair, but then you always were kind of a pussy.”

Garrick's expression didn't change. It couldn't, but his anger was obvious as he stepped forward and swung at Donovan's jaw.

Donovan turned his head, the blow grazing his cheek. In one swift motion he swung and nailed Garrick in the mouth and nose with his fist. Blood exploded from Garrick's face and he staggered away. Donovan's smile was short lived as Nikolett delivered a savage blow to his lower back, collapsing him to the carpet.

Garrick held tissues to his face and stared blankly at Donovan. “I'll give you that one. Now I'm going to ask you what I've been asking William. I've been going over his phone log. He had an incoming call from an unknown number just before we arrived. He then called Stephanie. Why? Where is she?”

“She's in Europe.” Donovan tried to match the lie he thought William would have told. A small nod from his mentor told him he'd guessed correctly.

“Bullshit!” Garrick yelled. “Where is she?”

“Why are you doing this, Garrick? Why all the killing?”

“It's a war.”

“You weren't at war with the clinic in Germany. They helped you regain your sight. Why kill them?”

“Tel Aviv wanted to shut the place down. We took the job as payment for services rendered. That was strictly business.”

“What is it you think you've accomplished by spilling a million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound?” Donovan continued. “You and I both know Meredith would be horrified.”

“Meredith would love what I've done. Commercial fishing boats are under siege all over the world, being recalled by their owners. Fishermen are dying from improvised explosive devices planted in their gill and drift nets. We've created a frenzy. Two ships from Japan's whaling fleet have already been attacked and sunk. Norway and Iceland have reported damaging attacks as well. Have you read about the vigilantes? All over the world people are hunting down and killing poachers. As for Alaska, when the ship finally does rupture, there will have been time for the entire world to catch up to the fact that Eco-Watch was responsible. The media will have had hours and hours to run the video I made for them. Have you seen it yet?”

“Yes.”

“In the end, there will never be any drilling in ANWR, and for that, I'm so very happy. I think Meredith would be too. You, on the other hand, will probably be arrested, and good luck with all those Senate investigations and hearings. I hear they're a bitch, especially when they discover who you really are. Eco-Watch is on life support and the plug is about to be pulled.”

“You're right. You've brought about the end to Eco-Watch. There's probably nothing I can do to stop that now, but the minute Eco-Watch is gone, the fear you've created will end. You'll have changed nothing, certainly nothing lasting, and that's why Meredith hated your tactics. Blood for headlines, and then, ultimately, failure.”

“The beauty of my plan is that once Eco-Watch is gone, I'm going to tell the world who you are. The world will never forget Eco-Watch, because they'll never forget about the ruthless billionaire Robert Huntington who killed Meredith Barnes, and then faked his death to escape his crimes.”

“You always believed that the end justifies the means. That's what Meredith hated about you, why she condemned you.”

“She didn't hate me. You lured her away from me with your wealth, so you could kill her. Meredith hated you. I can tell you from experience that there's a certain clarity that forms when
you're locked up. She experienced that in her final days when she was held prisoner. She saw you for who you really were.”

“We were engaged,” Donovan said. “You never knew that, did you? I'd asked her to marry me, and she said yes. I wasn't her murderer. I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“You're making that up,” Garrick snapped. “There was no way she was ever going to marry you.”

“The picture you left on the bridge of the
North Star
was taken when we told William we were engaged. You can see the ring.”

“She didn't wear a ring. You weren't engaged. The media would have been all over that announcement.”

“She didn't wear it in public for that very reason. She didn't want to pull the focus away from the Costa Rican summit, which was only six weeks away. We were going to wait until afterward to make our announcement.”

“Where's the picture?”

“You stole them, didn't you?” Donovan slowly pulled the photo out of his wallet and handed it over. “We were in Washington. We'd just had dinner with William. If you look close, you can see the ring.”

Garrick struggled with his damaged eyes, but when he angrily flipped the picture to the floor, Donovan knew he'd seen the diamond. “Garrick, I didn't kill her. I loved her. I still love her, and just like you, I try to honor her memory and all she stood for each and every day. We're not all that much different, you and I. Look, you have money now. Use it for things that would make Meredith proud of you. It'll never bring her back, but it keeps her memory alive. Live a life that's worthy of being linked to hers.”