The Adamas Blueprint (26 page)

“First, I want to know if Kevin’s all right.”

Lobec nodded for Kevin to speak.

“Except for a couple of bruises,” he said, “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Considering the circumstances, I’d rather be doing what I was doing the night my parents died.” She looked at the river, hoping to give an impression of sadness to Lobec and Bern. Then she looked back at Kevin.

His eyes flicked twice to the river. He nodded almost imperceptibly. “I think I know what you mean,” he said.

Good, he got the message. Now they had to find the right time. Maybe they could make it a few yards down the bridge before they attempted her plan.

“Miss Jensen. The contents of the bag?”

Still holding the bag out as far as she could, Erica unwrapped the Kayaking pack inside the bag, out of Lobec’s sight. She withdrew the Adamas Blueprint and flipped a few of the pages to show him the writing.

“And the videotape? You have that as well?” said Lobec.

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She replaced the notebook and took out the 8mm videotape. He seemed satisfied. She stuffed it back in the kayaking pack and velcroed it shut. Her arm was again outstretched over the water.

“I suppose you expect me to trust that those are the originals and that no copies have been made.”

“Just like I have to trust you to let us go once you have them. Now let Kevin go or I’ll drop the bag in the water and no one will ever see the Adamas Blueprint again, especially Tarnwell.”

“I don’t care,” Lobec said.

She was taken aback by the statement. Kevin furrowed his brow. By the look on his face, even Bern seemed puzzled.

“I’m serious,” Erica said. “I’m going to drop it.”

“I certainly hope you’re serious,” Lobec said. “Go ahead. Drop it.” Then he turned and shot Richard Bern.

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CHAPTER 35

Kevin had been ready to act ever since he realized what Erica was planning. When Lobec said, “Drop it,” Kevin knew that was the time. He twisted and swung his arms at Lobec.

He brought his arms up and into the side of Lobec’s head, which was just above Kevin’s arm level. At the same time, he heard Lobec’s gun fire, but he didn’t let that slow him down. The full force of Kevin’s blow snapped Lobec’s neck sideways and he staggered away.

Kevin ran to the side of the bridge while Lobec was stunned. Erica was already standing on the concrete railing. He shouted, “Go!”

Erica jumped.

Kevin didn’t bother climbing onto the railing. He dove over it, praying that the river was deep enough for him to make the running dive.

As he fell, Kevin could just see Erica entering the water in a perfect pike position. Kevin had no control and spun end over end. He tried to stabilize his trajectory in the two seconds of freefall he had, aiming his feet at the water. Then the soles of his feet slammed into the murky Potomac.

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He sank for what seemed like forever despite his attempts to stop. Finally, his direction reversed. The impact had almost knocked the wind out of him, and his lungs were already crying for fresh air. He kicked furiously.

Just when he thought he was never going to breathe again, he caught a glimmer of light and kicked harder. He broke the surface and gasped, the crisp morning air filling his lungs.

Kevin looked around for signs of Erica. He didn’t see her. He took a deep breath, about to dive back under and begin a search when he heard, “Kevin, over here.”

He spun around. The impact of water must have jarred his contacts loose because all he saw was an indistinct blur of a head bobbing in the water. She had already swum twenty yards to the next bridge pylon. She waved for him to swim in her direction and disappeared behind it. He tried to swim freestyle, but the shackles on his hands made that impossible. The best he could manage was a lame breaststroke.

Kevin paddled as quickly as he could to get past the next pylon and under the bridge. As he came around the pylon, he looked for Erica’s face, but instead he saw a large object come into view. It bobbed on the surface of the water next to the concrete wall of the pylon. On top of the bobbing object, a figure moved. As he got closer, he saw letters painted on its side. He squinted.

Lady Luck
. It was a boat.

“There’s a ladder on the left,” Erica called from the deck. “Hurry. They could be here any minute.”

Kevin sputtered through the water. “I’m swimming as fast as I can. The handcuffs aren’t helping.”

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He gripped the top rung of the ladder with both hands and lifted his feet to the bottom rung.

Erica grabbed his hands and pulled, heaving him up so that he lay on the deck with his feet dangling over the back. From this position Kevin was able to sit up. Although he couldn’t make out any details, the boat looked to be about a 16-footer.

“What can I do?” he said, trying to catch his breath.

“Here. Untie this mooring while I start her up.”

“Show me where it is.,” he said, rubbing his eyelids. “I think I lost my contacts in the jump.”

Erica escorted him to the tie-down. He got to work while she cranked the engine.

Unfortunately, Erica must not have been in the Boy Scouts like he had. Instead of a slip knot, she had used a granny, and the constant tug of the river had tightened the bond.

“Do you have a knife?” he said.

The engine roared to life. “No!” she yelled over the sound of the motor. “I didn’t think to...Wait a minute. Yes!” She went over to a bag under the cowling. “Your Swiss army knife. I picked it up with the other stuff in the lab.”

She handed it to him, and he quickly sliced through the nylon cord. Free from the restraint,
Lady Luck
began to float away from the pylon.

“Clear!” Kevin yelled.

Erica gunned the engine, and the boat shot forward, its bow rising high above the water’s surface. Within seconds, they were cruising South on the Potomac at 25 knots.

“Where are we going?” Kevin said.

“Bayshore marina. That’s where I rented this. The truck’s parked there. I bought you some dry clothes. They’re in the bag. So’s your gun.”

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“Good thinking. How far?”

“The marina’s about fifteen minutes from here. We should have plenty of time to get to the Capitol.”

The Capitol. Their meeting with Congressman Sutter. Kevin looked at his watch. It was 7:15. She was right. They still had time. The meeting wasn’t until 8:00.

“Jumping off the bridge,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m impressed.”

“I’m just glad you understood the reference to my diving meet. I didn’t want Lobec to even get a hint that we’d try that.”

“When did you get the idea?” Something itched in his left eye. He rubbed his eyelid to dislodge it.

“Two days ago, when I got the phone call. I didn’t have much time to think. When I lived here six years ago, I biked to work every day. I came from the Virginia side, over the Arlington Bridge, and around the Mall. I always saw boats on the river. I didn’t know if it was deep enough to jump until yesterday when I checked the navigation charts at the marina. They said it’s up to ninety feet deep in the middle. It was a chance.”

“I’ll take jumping into a river over getting shot any day.” There was definitely something caught in Kevin’s left eye. He tried harder to work it out.

To the left, a white rounded shape rose above some trees. He’d never been to DC before, but Kevin recognized the Jefferson Memorial’s domed top from photographs. An engine roared above them. Kevin looked up to see a jet. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like it had just taken off.

It banked to the left and headed up the Potomac.

“National Airport,” Erica said, pointing to her right.

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“All I can see are blinking lights.”

“About a half-mile ahead is the end of the runway. Looks like the bleachers are still there.”

“Bleachers?”

“Yeah. The jogging path goes right by the airport. Someone set up bleachers just on the other side of the fence surrounding the airport. A lot of people take breaks and watch the planes taking off. Three more are ready to go.” Erica paused. “Why did Lobec do it?”

Kevin looked at her. “You mean shoot Bern?” She nodded. “He probably wanted Adamas for himself. Once he got all of us out of the way, he could disappear and sell it to the highest bidder. Of course, after he applied for the patent. It would be no good without the patent protection.”

“Who was the guy in charge? The Texan?”

“Yeah, Clayton Tarnwell. He owns a mining and chemical company. Tarnwell would probably go after him, but this guy Lobec is smart. He would have gotten away.”

Kevin massaged his eyelid, working the object down from the top of the eyeball. When he realized what it was, he turned and ducked to get out of the wind. Slowly, carefully, he worked it down until it was over his cornea. He blinked several times to clear his vision.

“Got it!”

“Got what?” Erica said in a confused voice.

“My contact. The left one didn’t come out after all. It just got pushed up under the top eyelid.” Kevin looked around at the boat. For the first time, he could see the inside of the fiberglass hull in detail. The bow was open and lined on either side with bench seats. An aisle MORRISON/THE ADAMAS BLUEPRINT

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split the main console, which had a bucket seat behind it on either side. More bench seats lined the aft section. A 100 hp Mercury outboard thrashed a spray of water into the air.

When his eyes reached the top of the ladder fastened to the back of the boat, he stopped.

Erica had been focusing on piloting the boat since they left the bridge, and Kevin’s eyesight had been too poor to notice before. But now that he had his corrected vision back, it was stomach-wrenchingly obvious.

One hand curled over the back of the boat, knuckles fiercely gripping the hull. Then a grimacing face rose above the hand. David Lobec’s eyes locked with Kevin’s. Kevin could only stare in disbelief as Lobec smiled and continued to pull himself up.

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CHAPTER 36

After he had been hit in the head by Hamilton back on the Arlington Memorial Bridge, Lobec had been dazed for only a second, but it had been enough for the two of them to jump over the side of the bridge without Lobec firing a shot. It was uncharacteristic of Lobec to get distracted, but he had taken undeniable pleasure in shooting the insufferable Bern. The temporary lapse had been enough for the resourceful Hamilton.

Lobec had recovered quickly from the blow and run over to see Hamilton splash to the surface, his girlfriend already taking cover under the bridge at the next pylon west. Unfortunately, some of the passing cars stopped upon seeing what happened, and their passengers got out to investigate, leaving no chance for Lobec to take them out from above. Jensen and Hamilton disappeared under the bridge.

For the benefit of the bystanders, Lobec pointed at Bern and yelled, “My God! That man shot him and jumped off the bridge!” Then he began running.

If there had been men stationed at the ends of the bridge, they could have intercepted Jensen and Hamilton. But he had lied to Tarnwell. Extra men wouldn’t have fit into Lobec’s plans. Just before he had left for the rendezvous, he had told them to stay at the mansion.

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Lobec ran toward Virginia, pausing at the next pylon to see if he could find them. That’s when he heard the boat’s motor fire up and realized they would get away unless he did something.

He knew that there were only a few small docks north of the bridge, so he took a chance that they were headed south.

Lobec tucked the SIG Sauer he’d used to shoot Bern into the waistband of his shorts and sprinted through the slow-moving traffic, crossing the six lanes in seconds. Without stopping, he leaped off the opposite side of the bridge. When he surfaced, the boat was roaring out from under the bridge three feet in front of him. He lunged forward and barely grabbed the aft ladder as the boat skimmed by. He gritted his teeth as the force of the jolt dislocated his left shoulder, nearly ripping his arm from its socket. He couldn’t be sure, but it appeared that neither Hamilton nor his girlfriend had seen him.

It had taken all of his concentration to keep his legs from being tossed by the waves into the exposed propeller. After a minute, though, he was able to raise himself enough to get a foothold on the ladder. Then the climb had gotten easy. He had not been surprised to see Hamilton watching as his head rose above the boat’s edge. He even smiled at seeing Hamilton’s shocked face, although the surprise had come earlier than he had hoped it would.

Hamilton’s inaction lasted only a fraction of a second. Cursing, he began fumbling with a bag lying next to him. The girl turned around and screamed when she saw Lobec.

“Shake him loose!” Hamilton yelled.

Lobec was not all the way into the boat and had to hold on tightly to keep from being thrown into the water as Jensen tossed the boat side to side.

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Hamilton found what he was looking for, withdrawing a Glock pistol from the bag. He chambered a round. Then he yelled in the girl’s direction.

“Okay. Stop the boat.” Hamilton held the Glock with both hands. They were still chained together by the handcuffs.

Jensen pushed the throttle to STOP and turned to face Lobec.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” Hamilton said.

Lobec was still only halfway into the boat and could not draw the SIG Sauer in his waistband because his right hand was holding him onto the ladder and his left was useless. He couldn’t raise his arm enough to grab the pistol let alone fire it accurately.

With the Glock trained on him by the marksman Lobec knew Hamilton to be, Lobec slowly eased his legs over the side of the boat without trying to draw.

“That’s far enough,” Hamilton said. “Now with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand grab only the butt of the pistol in your shorts and drop it on the deck.”

At a range of three meters, Hamilton would not miss if Lobec tried to draw the awkward pistol and silencer combination. He did as he was told and dropped it to the deck.

“Good. Now slide it over here with your right foot.”

“Or what,” Lobec said. “Or you will shoot me?”

“You killed my father. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off.” Kevin had to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of jet engines powering up at the end of National’s runway.

“Kevin, don’t,” Erica said.

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“He will not, Miss Jensen. And I have a very good reason for you not to kill me. You’ll never know what this is all about. Besides, I am an unarmed man. I know for a fact that you have never shot anyone in your life. And you won’t shoot me.” He moved his left leg forward.

Even with his dislocated shoulder, Lobec merely had to get close enough to disarm Hamilton. At most, two arm’s lengths away would do it.

With the quickness of a cat, Hamilton shifted the gun and shot Lobec in the left calf. Lobec stumbled, for the first time surprised by Hamilton, but he caught himself before falling, balancing on the other leg. He didn’t look down. The pain was no worse than other gunshot injuries he’d endured, probably little more than a flesh wound.

“Are you convinced now?” Kevin pointed the pistol at Lobec’s head.

“Quite.” With his right foot, Lobec tapped the SIG Sauer, which slid along the floor to Hamilton’s feet.

“All right then,” Hamilton said as he slowly dipped to the deck to pick up the SIG, never once taking his eyes off Lobec. He put the pistol in his waistband. “I decided I wanted to hear what you have to say. Now sit down on that cushion.” Hamilton pointed at the back of the boat with his head. “And remember to keep your hands in the air.”

An interesting predicament
, Lobec thought as he sat with a squish on the cushioned ledge.

To be at the mercy of his captors, most likely to be turned in to the authorities, was a situation he had never before faced. But despite his injuries, his hand-to-hand skills were still formidable. To use them, he had to get them off guard. And presently, he had only one way to do that. Tell them the truth.

* * *

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“Are you crazy?” Erica said.

“It’s only a minor wound,” Kevin said, seeing that Lobec’s expression hadn’t wavered. “He’ll be all right.”

Which was true, but for the moment Lobec was a mess. Blood was streaming down his leg and pooling onto the floor of the boat.. His left arm dangled awkwardly at his side. It looked dislocated.

“I can’t believe you shot him.”

“He wouldn’t have stopped if I hadn’t. After two days with this guy, I’m sure of it.”

Lobec spoke. “You are probably wondering why I shot Mr. Bern.”

“We know why,” said Kevin. “Because you’re a greedy son of a bitch like Tarnwell. You wanted Adamas, and you weren’t willing to share.”

“Then why did he tell me to throw the bag into the river?” Erica said.

“What?”

“When I told him to let you go or I’d throw the bag in the river, he said that he didn’t care.

He practically told me to throw it into the Potomac.”

“He was bluffing you.”

“On the contrary, Mr. Hamilton. She is right. My intent was to have her drop the bag in the river.”

“Oh really?” Kevin said sarcastically. “And why did you shoot Bern? So you could let us go?”

“Mr. Bern’s death was tragically unavoidable in the protection of my country’s national security.”

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“Oh that’s just great,” Kevin said. “You work for the government? It’s just like you guys to wave the flag around whenever you do something wrong and pretend you’re doing it for God and country.”

“What does the Adamas process have to do with American national security?” Erica said. “If anything, it should be good for it, considering all the possibilities Kevin’s be telling me about the process.”

Without changing expression, Lobec said something that splashed over Kevin like a bucket of ice water.

“Who said I was American?” In that one short phrase, Lobec’s cadence and accent changed noticeably. Kevin couldn’t place it, but it was definitely not an American accent.

“Please allow me to introduce myself yet again. My real name is Nils Van Dyke.”

“What is that?” Erica said. “A Dutch accent?”

“Very good, Erica. Not exactly, but you’re close. I’m from the Republic of South Africa.”

The words came quickly now, not the measured rhythm Lobec had used with the American accent. “My one flaw has always been my inability to master accents. I could do an American accent, but it required me to speak in a stilted manner. Unfortunate, since it drew attention to me.

Not something I relish in my line of work.”

“Which is?” Kevin said.

“I thought that would be obvious by now. I’m a spy.”

Erica looked at Kevin, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off Van Dyke. The pistol was still pointed straight at his head. A pool of blood was slowly expanding at Van Dyke’s feet.

“You’re a spy working for Clayton Tarnwell?” Kevin’s voice was dubious.

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“As you both probably know, South Africa is rich in mineral resources. In fact, it’s one of our main sources of wealth. It obviously makes sense to observe the world’s most powerful country to see what is happening in the mining field, both politically and industrially. My position in Tarnwell’s company allows me to do just that. Of course, he thinks I’m a mercenary for hire, bowing to his every wish because he manipulated my release from a Mexican prison and now holds the lives of my brother and his family as hostage.”

“Let me guess,” Kevin said. “There is no brother.”

“Oh, I have a brother, but not one in California, which is where Tarnwell thinks he lives. If Tarnwell does retaliate for my actions, it will be against a family that, except for a few fabricated records in my phone bill, doesn’t exist. If Michael Ward wasn’t lying, that videotape would have given
me
something to use against
Tarnwell
.”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t watched it?”

“We watched it,” Erica said. “The only thing we saw was the first experiment, the one that got this all started.”

“Then Ward
was
lying.” Van Dyke seemed surprised. “It doesn’t matter. Tarnwell’s easy enough to manipulate without it. However, my most important mission is almost over. I may not even need Tarnwell any more. Not if I can stop Adamas.”

“So you never were helping Tarnwell?”

“Oh, my missions helped him tangentially, but that wasn’t my intent. In fact, this mission will almost surely ruin him. Tarnwell has all of his money riding on a merger with Forrestal Chemical.

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If he doesn’t have Adamas by tomorrow, his company won’t be worth enough to pay the interest on his loans.”

“If you really are a spy,” Kevin said, “then why are you telling us all this? I thought you guys took poison pills before talking.”

“I’m telling you because I want to appeal to you. My country is in a very fragile state right now. It will take years to recover from apartheid, years that could stretch into decades if our country is suddenly plunged into economic ruin. And this Adamas process will do just that. It could devastate our economy, maybe even provoke a civil war. Whatever you think of me, I am a patriot first. I can’t let my country be ruined, and I’m sure you don’t want it to be.”

Kevin chuckled. “You expect us to believe that load of crap?”

“It’s the truth.”

“The truth! Van Dyke is the third name you’ve given me. Lord knows how many other ones you have. You killed my father, Bern, Ward, Stein. Now you want us to believe that all you want is peace and harmony for your country? Pardon me for thinking this is a bunch of bullshit.

Erica start the boat. We’re taking this guy to the police. Let them figure out whether he’s telling the truth.”

“I must point out that I’m merely trying to protect you. Tarnwell has thirty men still looking for you. They’ll find you, just as I...found...” Van Dyke’s voice trailed off, and his face began turning white.

“We need to stop the bleeding,” she said. “He’s going into shock.” She started toward him.

Kevin put his left hand out to stop her. “Wait until we get to the marina. It’ll only be a few minutes.”

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“He may not have that much time.” She struggled against his arm, and Kevin turned his head to face her.

“Erica, I’m telling you, this guy is dangerous. If he...”

Suddenly, Kevin’s left arm exploded in pain. The impact of Van Dyke’s foot knocked the gun from his hand. The Glock ricocheted off the port side of the boat. Before he could react, Van Dyke slammed him backward against the console.

In the next instant, Kevin could feel a hand pawing at his midsection. He realized what was happening and wrapped both hands around Van Dyke’s wrist just as he felt the SIG Sauer being drawn from his waistband. The safety was on, but if they wrestled much longer, Van Dyke might be able to flick it off. Kevin didn’t like the idea of a gun going off in his pants.

Erica, who had almost fallen overboard when Kevin glanced off her, regained her balance and came up behind Van Dyke. Using a modified Aikido move, she hammered both arms into his neck. Van Dyke released his grip and the SIG clattered to the deck. In a single twisting motion, he swung in a 180 degree arc and threw his fist at Erica. She ducked to avoid a direct blow, but Van Dyke managed to catch the top of her head. It was enough to send her reeling toward the bow.

Kevin stooped to pick up the fallen SIG. As his fingers brushed the grip, Van Dyke threw his knee into Kevin’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. Then Kevin felt himself being tossed to the back of the boat.

While he struggled to breathe, Kevin saw the Glock lying underneath a life vest in front of him. He scrambled over to it. In a prone position, Kevin raised the pistol and turned to point it at Van Dyke.