Killing Chase (20 page)

By the time we weighed
anchor a few minutes after noon, and headed for Oregon Inlet and the deeper waters of the Atlantic, the day was already a solid eight and a half on a scale of one to ten. As my father and Sergei’s sub jockeys made run after run in underwater training on
Gemini
, above the surface it was playtime on the
Anchor Management.
The Beach was opened, jet skis were lowered into the water, and the grills were fired up. The smell of grilled burgers and hotdogs filled the air as the staff was given a couple of hours of downtime to relax and enjoy all
Anchor
had to offer.

Anna was tanning on the Beach, and I had an idea. I dove in the water on the port side of the ship and swam around to her side. She lay on her stomach with her bikini top undone, and I splashed her, thinking she would sit up and expose herself to me, but instead, she calmly clasped the bikini straps back together and looked in my direction. With an evil grin, she dove over the top of me into the water. As I waited for her to surface, she pulled my swim trunks clean off me. Before she could swim away with them, I grabbed at her ankle and managed to snag a foot. I pulled her to me, and she brought my swim trunks out of the water and held them above her as if she were initiating a game of keep-away.

“You can have them back on one condition,” she said as she broke into a big smile.

“And that is?”

“Hot tub, tonight, under the stars. Just the two of us,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry; Dmitri and I are arm wrestling tonight and then watching Rocky IV in the movie room.”

She handed my trunks to me under the water and then without warning gently took my balls in her hand.

“Maybe you should rethink your plans,” she said, gently applying pressure to her grip.

Definitely Sergei’s daughter. She gets what she wants.
“Sounds like a deal I shouldn’t refuse.”

“I should think not.” Her sultry eyes dared me to refuse her. I pulled her to me and kissed her as we both held on to the portable ladder.

“So that is a yes?”

“That’s a yes, Anna. You make a very convincing argument.”

She released the Hampton jewels and, as she climbed the ladder to the terrace, shook her perfect little Russian butt in my face and said, “I promise you it will be worth your while.”

I slipped my trunks back on and swam to the other side to, uh, ahem, cool down from our little encounter. As I climbed out, I came face to face with Sergei.

“Mr. Durov.”

“You seem to have taken a liking to my employee.”

The non-gentleman part of me wanted to tell him that I was going to have his daughter six ways from Sunday, tonight.

“Yes, Dmitri and I are fast becoming friends,” I deadpanned. He chuckled.

“I’m sure Anna appreciates your sense of humor. Tell me, did you enjoy your ride on the sub today?”

“I did until I sensed that my father was finally coming to grips with his mortality.”

He considered my statement, brought a mottled hand to his chin and looked out over the waters of the sound. “Yes, it is a terrible thing to know you are dying. But truthfully, aren’t we all?” Then he turned to me. “Some just faster than others.” His dead, gray eyes said more to me than his words. He turned to go and then looked back.

“Be good to Anna; she’s like a daughter to me.”

That may have been the most honest thing I would ever hear him say to me.

***

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” my father said as he closed the door to his suite and pointed me toward the loveseat. He looked exhausted. It was late afternoon, and we’d passed through Oregon Inlet and were now steaming north-northwest, fifteen miles east of Corolla.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. You’ve had a long day and you’re no spring chicken.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” He turned his whole body towards me so he wouldn’t have to keep moving his neck.

“Dad, let’s turn her around and head home. You don’t need to be doing this, running yourself ragged to sell a damn yacht. You’ve got nothing left to prove.”

“It’s in my blood, Chase. I can’t go home, sit around, and wait to die. That’s not me. Never has been.”

“So let’s go home and you teach me to fly. We only have a finite amount of time left. Tell Sergei you aren’t up to this. If he’s your friend, he will understand,” I pleaded. I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t.

“Did Bailey put you up to this?” he asked pointedly.

“No. She doesn’t know I’m doing this.”

“Is something going on that you aren’t telling me? Do you not want to work for the company and learn the business? You’ve been coming in early and showing a great deal of initiative. I thought you were enjoying it.”

“I do enjoy it, but I value our time more. You don’t have to make a decision now, but just consider it. Okay?”

He swallowed hard. “Okay . . . I’ll think about it.” He’d aged ten years in the two weeks since my release.

I left him to rest and headed back to my room. Before I said a word to the detective, I picked up the phone and ordered him a steak, baked potato, and corn on the cob, with apple pie for dessert.

“Bless you, son,” Reigert said. “One more damn granola bar and I would’ve lost it.”

“You get plenty of rest today?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Good. After your meal arrives, I’m sacking out for a couple of hours until dinner.” I sat down on the couch and rubbed my eyes.

“Heard your conversation. I’m sorry about your father.”

“Thanks. All my life he’s been absent, doing his thing, building his business. Now that he wants to spend more time with me, he’s dying. Life, huh?”

“We are not in control, Chase.”

Boy, was he right.

“To the realization of dreams,”
Sergei said as he stood and held his glass aloft in a toast. The other seven of us seated around the dining room table raised our glasses as well, including my father who looked somewhat rested. Sergei sat down, and I noticed him glance inconspicuously at the expensive Rolex on his wrist. He seemed fidgety. Dmitri, seated to Sergei’s left, promptly got up and left the table.

“I’m afraid the sea does not agree with Dmitri,” he said. “Please do not attempt to harm me while he is throwing up. It would embarrass him greatly.” This drew some laughs. Appearing nightly on the salon deck, the one-liners of Sergei Durov—comedy to die for. However, the seas were only running two to three feet at most. I had my doubts about the big Russian’s queasy stomach.

***

Dmitri walked as far aft as possible on the salon deck, leaned against the teak railing, and stared off into
Anchor’s
wake until he could see only blackness. His right paw extracted a satellite phone from the inner pocket of his rumpled, blue blazer, and he began punching digits as
Anchor
slowly came to a stop.

***

One hundred yards behind
Anchor, Calypso
had come to periscope depth and matched the bigger ship’s slowing speed. Inside the small submarine, three men dressed in black secured their gear as Alain maintained the speed and distance. Steyr machine pistols and 9 mm Rugers were the weapons of choice, not that they would be using them. They expected the boarding and takedown of the ship to go smoothly, what with Sergei and Dmitri on board. They’d run through the drill numerous times, pored over ship schematics, and committed every nook and cranny of the mega yacht to memory. Speed was the key. They were ready to be out of the cramped sub. Four men in the mini, along with the package and extra batteries, made leg room sparse.

“One hundred yards, one and a half knots,” Alain said to the former Russian spetsnaz operatives. “We surface in two minutes.”

Each man in the lethal trio looked the other two over to insure nothing was out of place. Bear, Lion and Hawk were the code names they’d go by tonight. It would be a quick swim to the stern of the
Anchor Management
. From there, each man would head to their predetermined locations on the ship, securing crew with flex cuffs. The most important task was to secure the bridge and communications room before a distress call could be made.

***

“Seems like we’ve reached our destination for the training exercise,” my father said to Sergei as we finished our blueberry cheesecake. “The captain will turn on the dynamic positioning system, and we should be able to begin in about twenty minutes.

“Dynamic positioning system?” I said.

“The water out here is too deep to drop anchor, so we have a system onboard that uses our propellers and thrusters to maintain a fixed point in the water. We’d never be able to dock
Gemini
without it. Think computerized anchor, Chase.”

He then looked at Sergei and said, “If it’s okay with you, Sergei, I think we’ll turn
Anchor
around tonight after the training exercise and head back to Foggy Harbor.” He glanced at me. “I’ve come to the realization that family is more important than business at this stage of my life. Would that be all right with you?”

“I have no problem with that, Hank. You need to spend as much time as possible with them,” Sergei said nonchalantly.

Alarm bells started going off in my head.

***

Calypso
surfaced in the dark waters, and Alain immediately opened the hatch. The sat phone chirped a minute later.

“Perfect timing. We’re in position and ready to board,” Alain said to Russia’s version of The Hulk.

“It’s a go,” said Dmitri. “I will head down to lower the ladder for the men. Send them on and then wait five before you begin your approach to the stern. As soon as Bear arrives at the bridge, I’ll be back to tie you in and retrieve the package. The tender is ready for the men’s exfil once
Anchor
has continued her journey up the Eastern seaboard,” Dmitri said.  

“They will be happy to hear that.
Calypso
out.” Alain clicked off the call and turned to the men. “It’s a go,” he said simply. One by one, the men, beginning with Bear, climbed the ladder and entered the cold Atlantic waters. Ahead, the mega yacht was lit up like a million swarming fireflies. With steady strokes, they neared her stern in four minutes.

***

Dmitri stood outside the bridge and, from his blazer pocket, removed an FNP-45. He quickly screwed in a silencer and then quietly opened the door. Luckily, all three officers were on the bridge, and they stood over brightly lit computer displays, completely unaware of him. It would be so easy to just shoot them, he thought, but orders were orders.

“Gentlemen,” he said in his thick accent, “please step away from the console and slowly turn towards me.”

“Is this a joke?” the captain said, as the three officers turned and exchanged confused looks.

“I can assure you, Captain, that this is no joke.” Dmitri pulled three flex cuffs from inside his coat pocket and placed them on the bridge console. “I can also assure you that you will not be harmed if you follow my instructions.”

***

“Do you have somewhere you need to be, Mr. Durov?”

“What do you mean, Chase?” he said to me curiously.

I pointed to his arm. “You keep looking at your watch.” The table grew silent.

“I am just eager to get started on the night training,” An amused grin came over his face.

“Chase, what’s the matter with you?” My father glared at me.

“I was just making an observation, Dad.”
Decision time.
I stood up. “Maybe I’ll go look for Dmitri, see if he’s okay. I know how bad seasickness can be. I think it’s one of the reasons I never took to the family business,” I said, dabbing my chin with my napkin.

“That would be a bad idea, Chase,” Sergei said, as he produced a small, black handgun from inside his jacket and leveled it at my chest. “We both knew this little dance had to end someday.”

***

Bear was out of the water first; he bounded up the portside stairs, machine pistol in hand. Thirty seconds later, he entered the bridge and, without a word to Dmitri, began to flex cuff the three officers, all while Dmitri covered him. With that complete, Bear entered the small communications room behind the bridge and disabled the VHF radio and the ship-to-shore telephone system.
Anchor
was cut off.

***

Lion was seven seconds behind Bear and, once on the boat, immediately made the short trip down to the engine room, where he easily overtook the two engineers. He had each man flex cuff the other, and then he led them forward to Sergei’s unlocked suite. He bound them tightly to two chairs and quickly went back to the engine room, found the airlock hatch for the moon pool, and opened it. This part of the ship was about to get busy.

***

“Sergei, what the hell are you doing?” my dumbfounded father asked. Immediately and without a word, Mikel and Oleg got up and left the table.

“Hank, I am afraid I’m commandeering your ship, as well as
Gemini
. Rest assured that I will return her safe and secure, and your people will not be harmed . . . unless they attempt to get in my way.”

“Mr. Durov, what is going on?” Anna asked nervously.

“Anna, your father plans on terrorizing New York City,” I said. “He’s still stuck in the Cold War. Frankly, I think he’s jumped the gun a bit too soon.”

This seemed to stun her. “You know he is my father?”

“He bugged your house, Anna,” Sergei spat. “Or rather, the FBI had him bug your house. Isn’t that right, Chase? Anna dear, the only reason he’s paid you any attention is to get information on me. He’s been using you.”

“What makes you think you can get anywhere near New York City?” I said. As much as I wanted to tell Anna that her father was wrong about me using her, now wasn’t the time.

“Why do you assume New York City is my target? Do you know where we are?” Sergei smiled as he waved the pistol back and forth.

My father figured it out first. “The entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Washington. The two men you brought aboard aren’t here just to train. They’re here to . . . my God, are you mad?” he said as he fully grasped Sergei’s intent.

“Hank, save your sanctimonious bullshit for someone else. Your country bankrupted us. Many of the men under my command lost their jobs and could not provide for their families. They became alcoholics and drug addicts. Homeless. They were looked down upon. Called names. This is as much for them as it is for me,” he snarled, spittle evident at the corners of his mouth.

“Tell me, did you have Viktoria killed?” I asked.

His demeanor changed, a smile spreading over his face as he pondered my question.

“She was becoming a nuisance, much like you. A miraculous shot, wouldn’t you say?”

“You have your own mini subs you use for research. Why us?” I needed to buy some time.

“Your country will not allow my ships to get close enough to explore.” Again, Sergei looked at his watch. “Even now as my sub,
Calypso,
ties up to your ship, her batteries are low. Thus, the need to get inside the hundred-mile mark. Thank you for your unwitting assistance, Hank. You will go down in the history books as the American who helped a Russian destroy Washington. How’s that for a legacy?”

“You’re putting a small nuke on Gemini,” I said.

He just smiled his arrogant smile at me.

Please Lord, let Reigart hear this.

“There were thirty V-14 suitcase nukes produced in the early 1980s at Comerov, or thirty-one, depending on who is talked to. I happened to talk to the right people. People who also hate what America did to us. We’ve had it for so long, patiently waiting for this moment,” he reminisced.

“Perhaps instead of killing innocent people, you should consider giving these men you commanded some of the billions of dollars you’ve made,” my father said.

Sergei was getting ready to respond when suddenly a man dressed in black appeared in the doorway, machine pistol at the ready.

“Hawk, so good of you to join us. Would you kindly flex cuff my daughter, take her to her room, and tie her up. Be gentle with her. Anna dear, I’m sorry it’s come to this. I asked you to stay home.”

She’d been crying softly, but as she stood, she looked at Sergei defiantly. “So you would give up everything you worked for, everything you built to right a perceived wrong? To what end? The death of thousands? Why must you be so selfish and thin-skinned? To think, I was proud when I found out you were my father. Now I see that you are just a bitter old fool.” As Hawk led her away, she turned to Sergei one last time, a scared look on her face.

“Don’t hurt them,” she begged her father.

“I have no intention of hurting them, my dear. Goodbye, Anna.”

“Rot in hell,” she said simply. Then she was gone, dragged away kicking and screaming by the man called Hawk.

Sergei arrogantly looked at my father. “Kids,” he shrugged.

Bailey hadn’t said a word the entire time. I looked at her, and she had her face pointed toward the floor, as if she were trying to become invisible.

“Hank, dinner was wonderful, but I’m afraid we have to wrap this up. Schedules to keep, you know,” Sergei said with another wave of his pistol. “All three of you stand and walk single file out of the dining room. We’re going to take the starboard stairs down to the beach deck.”

***

Mikel and Oleg secured
Gemini
’s hatch and turned on the mini sub. Two extra batteries were transferred from
Calypso
for the run up the Chesapeake, as was extra water and food. Tied down in the back of the small vessel was the V-14. Their destination was a small dock on the western shore of the Chesapeake, in the city of Deale, Maryland. Forty-five minutes from the center of DC. If all went well, they would arrive sometime tomorrow night. After the package was transferred, the two men would sink
Gemini
, and enter a safe house near the dock, where passports, clothes, and two pre-purchased airline tickets would be waiting for them. Mikel keyed the radio: “Release
Gemini
.”

Lion obliged and immediately the small sub dipped as her tanks began to fill with water. Mikel turned her northwest and headed for the Chesapeake.

***

“It’s a nice night to lower the Beach, don’t you think, Hank?” Sergei punched in the code, and the wall began to lower outward. Once it was fully lowered, Dmitri motioned for us to walk out on the terrace, as his men in black converged on the beach deck from different areas of the ship.

“The ship is secure and ready to resume course, albeit at a slower speed. The package is on its way,” Bear proudly announced to Sergei.

“Excellent work. Just like we planned it,” he said, smiling at us, or more specifically, Bailey. “Get the tender out of dry dock and be ready to leave as soon as she starts moving.”

“So what now, Sergei? Are you just going to kill us?” I asked. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

His eyes danced, and he had an almost gleeful smile on his arrogant, Slavic face. The sonofabitch was enjoying this.

“Oh no, not me. This episode comes with a twist. I try to stay out of family business. Ms. Masters, I believe it’s your time.”

My father and I both watched in disbelief as Bailey calmly walked up to Sergei and took the gun from his outstretched hands. Tears streamed down her face as she turned to us and raised the pistol.