The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) (24 page)

“I’m still on the bridge,” Blaine answered. “What’s wrong?”

“It looks like that eighth guy exists after all.”

“Figures,” Blaine said. “What do you want us to do?”

“I’m heading back to the island with Maddie, then I’m sending her back over with Roy. Until then, I want you to lock the bridge door. Don’t open it for anyone until we have more men onboard to take this boat apart floor by floor.”

“Roger that.”

Lara looked into the deck behind them. The windows weren’t tinted enough to hide the rooms on the other side, but she had discovered for herself that the
Trident
was deceptively larger in person than it appeared on the outside. There were too many rooms, too many hallways, and too many corners to hide in.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she whispered softly to herself.

*

Gage, the “captain”
of the
Trident,
looked healthy for a man who had just been shot in the kneecap with his own gun less than twenty-four hours ago. He sat on one of the beds they had repurposed from the unused hotel rooms and put into the makeshift infirmary. He was still wearing the same clothes from last night, though one of his pant legs had been cut away to treat his wound.

Zoe looked over from the counter where she was scribbling on a notepad when Lara knocked on the open door. Benny, who sat guard across from Gage, looked up before quickly turning off the PlayStation Vita portable gaming console in his hands. One of the benefits of the island was the electronic devices. They didn’t have the Internet anymore, of course, but laptops and computers (and the games on them) were still useable.

Lara pretended she didn’t see Benny scrambling to put the PS Vita away and said to Zoe, “How is he, doc?”

“See for yourself,” Zoe said. She swiveled around in her stool. “Stan’s making him one of those leg braces like Benny’s. Once he has that, our fair captain should be up and marauding again in a few days. He’ll just be a lot more gimpy, that’s all.”

If Gage was insulted by being called a “marauder,” he didn’t show it. Not that he had any right to take offense. The word was appropriate, given what he and the friends had planned to do to Song Island. In the few minutes she’d talked to the man, Gage hadn’t lied to her once. Or, at least, she hadn’t caught him in an obvious falsehood yet. In fact, the man seemed at home with what he was and what he had done. She hadn’t expected that, and a part of her was actually impressed with his frankness.

She sat down on a chair at the foot of his bed. “The eighth man. Does he have a name?”

“I thought you didn’t believe he existed,” Gage said. “You didn’t care about his name back when I told you and that Chinese guy about him.”

“Korean,” Benny said.

“What?” Gage said.

“Keo’s half-Korean, asshole.”

“Same difference.”

“Answer the question,” Lara said.

“Boris,” Gage said, turning back to her. “His name’s Boris.”

“Is he Russian?”

Gage smirked. “Nah. It’s just what we call him.”

“Why?”

“Did you find him yet?”

“No. But we will. Tell me about Boris.”

“What’s to tell? He was a crewman on the
Trident
before I even signed up. After we, er, took over, he decided to stay onboard. He knows that boat better than everyone, including me.”

“You gave him a choice to stay or leave?”

“Of course I did,” Gage said, sounding almost offended. “Everyone who stayed did so because they wanted to. I didn’t have to force anyone.”

“What happened to the owners of the boat?” Zoe asked.

Gage looked past Lara at the doctor. “We took the boat,” he said, as if that should explain everything.

“How did you take the boat?”

“How do you
think
we took the boat? They didn’t exactly want to give it up. So we took it.”

“What will Boris do next?” Lara asked.

“What do you mean?” Gage said, shifting back to her.

“Will he try to get off the boat? Like the other two did last night?”

“I have no idea. It’s not like we’re joined at the hip. I captained the boat, and he worked the decks.”

“He sweep the poop deck?” Benny grinned.

Lara ignored him and said to Gage, “Is he dangerous?”

Gage shrugged. “It’s a dangerous world. Who isn’t, these days?”

Lara stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if the man was holding something back. Gage was in his late thirties, with a hardened face that had seen a lot of sunlight over its lifetime. She could imagine this man nonchalantly shooting the
Trident
’s previous owner and assuming command simply because he could. She’d guess that anyone who traveled with him would be capable of that same level of violence.

She nodded and stood up. “Okay.”

“What about me?” Gage asked.

“What about you?”

“What happens to me now?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Right now, you’re still valuable because I might need someone to pilot the boat. But that doesn’t mean I’ll hesitate to throw you into the water if you endanger my people in any way. I’m betting that with time, I can teach someone to push all those buttons on the bridge.”

“Yeah, but there are so, so many buttons,” Gage said, grinning at her. When he didn’t get the reaction he was expecting, he lost the stupid grin and frowned instead. “Look, truth is, I was a captain before all of this, and I can be your captain, too. I mean, I’m not above taking orders. I did it for most of my life. I can do it again.”

“Good to know.” She glanced at Benny, who sat up straighter. “Keep an eye on him. If he does anything that’s even the least bit threatening toward you or Zoe, you have my permission to shoot him in the other kneecap.” She looked back at Gage. “Who needs legs to push some buttons, right?”

Gage swallowed.

“Gotcha,” Benny said.

Lara walked back to the door, where Zoe was waiting for her. Lara was glad to see the doctor up and moving around. She might have been a third-year medical student back when the world still made sense, but Zoe was the real deal. Lara had a feeling they would need her in the days to come.

Lara nodded at the hallway outside. Zoe understood and followed her out, and Lara closed the door behind them.

“Any word from Will?” Zoe asked.

“He’s on his way back now. He’ll radio in when he’s closer.”

“Good. For a moment there, I thought he might be in trouble. Then I remember who I’m worrying about.”

“Will can take care of himself. It’s us I’m worried about.” She looked back at the door. “You have to be careful around him. Gage. He’s dangerous.”

“I know. That’s what Benny’s here for, right?”

“Benny’s just a kid.”

Zoe smiled at her.

“What?” Lara said.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Jesus, you’re just a kid, too. All of you guys, except for Mae and Kendra, are just kids.”

Lara smiled. Zoe had a point there. “I guess I haven’t felt like a kid in a long time.”

“I know. Everyone grows up fast these days. You have to.”

We all adapt and grow, or not at all. Adapt or perish.

“Just remember not to relax too much around Gage,” Lara said. “He’s not our friend.”

“Oh, trust me, I know. I just spent an hour with that guy.”

“Good. I gotta get back to the boat and look for Boris.”

Lara turned to go, when Zoe said, “Hey.” When Lara stopped and looked back, Zoe said, “I’m glad Will’s fine, and that he’s coming home.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They exchanged an awkward smile before Zoe went back into the infirmary.

Lara continued up the hall. She unclipped her radio and keyed it. “Blaine, come in.”

“You headed back?” Blaine answered.

“I have to collect a few more bodies to help with the search. Anything happen while I was away?”

“Nothing exciting. Any word on our mystery man?”

“His name’s Boris.”

“Boris? What is he, some kind of Russian?”

“Apparently that’s just what they call him.”

“Hunh.”

“That’s what I said.”

*

She was halfway
back to the beach when a slight echo, like a warm and wet
popping
sound, from far away drifted across the island. It sounded like it was coming all the way from the other side of the lake.

“Anyone hear that?” Maddie asked through the radio. “I’m pretty sure that was a gunshot.”

“Did it come from the yacht?” Lara asked, alarmed.

“Definitely not the yacht,” Blaine said through the radio. “I’m on the bridge, and it doesn’t sound close.”

“Okay, stay where you are, Blaine,” Lara said. “Maddie…”

“We can take off as soon as you show up,” Maddie said.

Lara smiled to herself and started jogging down the pathway that connected the hotel grounds to the beach.

We’re like a well-oiled machine. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but we’re definitely getting pretty good at this.

She said into the radio as she ran, “Everyone hold your positions. I repeat: hold your positions.”

Two more shots rang out, followed by a long silence, before two more
popping
noises echoed across the water. It had to have come from the other side of the lake. She remembered hearing the ferocious gunfire between Will and some of Kate’s collaborators months ago from the nearby marina, and those had sounded much louder.

She was halfway back to the beach when there was a long series of gunshots. These came faster and furious, the
pop-pop-pop
signaling the unmistakable exchange of automatic rifle fire between two sides.

What was going on out there? It couldn’t have been Will. He would have radioed as he got closer. Plus, the shooting seemed to be coming from the other side of the lake. Will had no reason to venture that far out, especially when a simple radio call would bring a boat to him.

Maddie was waiting for her on the pier, looking out at the lake with binoculars as Lara walked up behind her. “Anything?”

Maddie shook her head. “It’s too far south. The only reason we can hear it is because we’re downwind.”

“So it’s probably not meant for us.”

“I don’t think so, no.” She looked over. “What should we do?”

Lara didn’t answer right away. What should they do? If the shooting was coming from the other side of the lake, it was closer to the Gulf of Mexico than the island. Was what was happening out there worth finding out? What if it was some kind of elaborate trap to lure them out? The last thing she wanted was to send someone out there and have them be picked off by snipers along the shoreline.

What would Will do?

“Lara?” Maddie said. “What should we do?”

“I don’t—” The loud
boom!
of a shotgun blast cut her off.

This one was much closer to home.

The Trident.

Even as that revelation hit her, there was a second
boom!
and moments later, the
pop-pop-pop
of automatic gunfire. It sounded like they were coming from the upper parts of the boat.

The bridge.

*

“Well, that was
anticlimactic,” Maddie said. “That’s him?”

“I guess,” Blaine said.