Operation Norfolk (14 page)

Finally Hawker pulled himself under the fence. But no sooner had he gotten to one knee with the detonator in his hand, when he felt a tremendous impact hit him high in the left shoulder. The pain stunned him for a moment, and he realized he had been hit. The slugs had knocked him several yards. Amazingly, the detonator lay nearby.

He crawled toward the detonator, feeling something hot on his back, wondering how he could feel anything at all when his entire body had gone numb. He grasped the detonator in his one good hand and rolled over on his back to see that the dazzling light was still a couple hundred yards away. It was right beside the arsenal storage now, but coming ever nearer. Hawker had to use his chin to force open the spring-locked cover, and he fumbled for a moment trying to find the toggle switch before hitting it. There was a split-second of nothing followed by a stupendous explosion.

Everything seemed to go off at once, the plastic explosives on the houses and storage warehouses, the thermite bombs and plastic explosives in the arsenal setting off all the munitions and rockets—an earth-shaking, deafening, blinding explosion that threw a fireworks display into the night sky.

And in the initial blinding white light, Hawker watched the tank flip heavily up into the air and burst into flames as it hit the ground.

Dizzy, he tried to get to his feet. He stumbled and fell. Then someone was beside him, taking him by the right arm, urging him along. It was Sha. Behind her, looking very small, was Sarah Billings.

His voice sounding strange and very far away, Hawker said, “What are you two doing here? Get up the mountain! Get out of here!”

But the woman got her shoulder under his arm, forcing him to his feet, urging him along. And then he was actually moving on his two good legs, jogging along on instinct, following the two females blindly.

Later he would remember almost nothing about the trip up the mountain, except that they had stopped once so Sha could tape something to his shoulder, something she said would slow the bleeding. But now they moved in total darkness, through caves, over rocks, the whole thing a blur as he went along like a man on drugs.

Somehow—he would never know for sure how the girl and Sha did it—they got him to the beach and into the inflatable boat before he passed out. He awoke only once, aware of dark waves rolling toward his face, then a feeling of being lifted as they swept beneath the boat. Sarah seemed to be talking into something—the radio? Yes, the radio. Yelling something about a helicopter she needed, about where the helicopter should meet them.

Hawker let his head slide backward as she continued to yell into the radio and saw something lifting and rolling on the dark near horizion. He tried to focus on it.

An island?

Yes, it was an island.

Maybe it was the one where they had spent those few days—the island on which Sha had built the jungle hut. Yes, that was it, the place Sha longed to return to so that she could be with him, a man and a woman, alone, away from all the ugliness that had come close to destroying her life.

Watching the island rise and fall, getting ever closer, James Hawker let his eyes close, a faint smile on his face. Whether he was dreaming or dying and approaching heaven, he couldn't say.

About the Author

Randy Wayne White was born in Ashland, Ohio, in 1950. Best known for his series featuring retired NSA agent Doc Ford, he has published over twenty crime fiction and nonfiction adventure books. White began writing fiction while working as a fishing guide in Florida, where most of his books are set. His earlier writings include the Hawker series, which he published under the pen name Carl Ramm. White has received several awards for his fiction, and his novels have been featured on the
New York Times
bestseller list. He was a monthly columnist for
Outside
magazine and has contributed to several other publications, as well as lectured throughout the United States and travelled extensively. White currently lives on Pine Island in South Florida, and remains an active member of the community through his involvement with local civic affairs as well as the restaurant Doc Ford's Sanibel Rum Bar and Grill.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1987 by Dell Publishing Co., Inc.

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2460-0

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

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