The Blood King Conspiracy (Matt Drake 2) (23 page)

The chopper steadied. Men jumped out onto the ropes. The assault was on.

*****

Drake hit the deck and moved swiftly away, sensing rather than hearing Mai and Alicia landing and free-roping swiftly above him. He’d landed on the Helipad, glad to feel hard wood under his feet and running for the cover of one of the nearby tenders - a reasonable-sized boat used for ferrying people and goods to and from the mainland.

As he approached a head popped up from behind the prow. Drake double tapped without breaking stride and watched the man fall away. Another foe appeared from behind the tender. Drake fired again, sending him reeling against the ship’s rail and his weapon flying overboard.

Mai and Alicia were now right behind him.

They skidded up to the base of the tender and surveyed the Lido - top - deck. The mishmash U.S. military force had already landed about thirty men on board, half at the bow and half at the stern, who were taking covering positions to help speed up the arrival of their fellow troops. The Blood King’s men were stowed away in every available nook and cranny, being largely pinned down due to the excellent covering fire of the support choppers.

Drake pointed ahead to the double set of smoked-glass doors that led inside. “We need to get in to get down.”  He fired a shot that bounced off the heavy panes. “Thought so.”

Mai shrugged. “It also means they can’t fire out. Let’s take a closer look.”

Running in tandem, each covering the other, Drake led the two women towards the glass frontage. Three marines were already lurking to one side.

“We’re blind here,” one of them grated. “Can’t see a thing through that shit.”

“Blow it,” Alicia said with a quick raise of her eyebrows.

There was a moment’s thought, then one of the marines grinned. “Never refuse a lady,” he said, glancing at the rest.

“You’d best stand back.”

*****

Hayden and Kinimaka landed with a small force of men on the sun deck. As Hayden set foot on the sole - the decking - a bullet skimmed past the heel of her shoe. She pivoted quickly, firing from the hip. An enemy combatant with rope-like hair and a dirty face ducked and came immediately up to fire.

Kinimaka shot him as he descended. The heavy thump as he landed made even these heavy windows rattle. They were attached to a force of Delta men, all with Tweeters and hi-tech comms. Hayden heard a double-click in her ear - the signal to move forward - and then one of the soldiers took a shot to the arm.

Bullets zinged around them.

Three of the Blood King’s men popped up from the vast gym that was the centrepiece of the sun deck and opened fire. Two were immediately gunned down, the quick reactions of the Delta team paying off. The third crawled behind a group of step-machines.

“No good,” said Hayden pressing forward. “We have to get below. Boudreau will be below.”

She fired a shot that skimmed the deck and made sparks fly from the well-greased machinery. Their assailant jerked his head up in shock.

A weapon barked.

Delta-one clicked three times, paused and then sent a double-click.

Enemy down. Move forward.

*****

Hayden stayed behind the Delta team with Kinimaka backing her up. They threaded the heavy metal of the gym and skirted the bubbling Jacuzzi. A man lay dead in there, face down. One of the Delta boys double-tapped him to be sure. His bubbling grunt of pain gave them an early warning of just how far these mercenaries were prepared to go for their megalomaniac boss.

Down a set of spiral stairs and they were facing an open doorway that led into the heart of the bridge deck. Once inside the Delta team fanned out, weapons held steady. A few of the Blood King’s men lay dead on the inner carpet.

Hayden stared around a plush living room. A glistening wet bar held sway in one corner, holding an array of every kind of bottle she could imagine. Through the inner door and they crept past a row of bedrooms, clearing them out as they went. A SEAL team had already been this way, but the Delta soldiers were leaving nothing to chance. Hayden darted glances from room to room. The decor was obscenely lavish.

Gunfire erupted above them. The Blood King’s men, it seemed, were still buried away in some part of the upper cabins.

Beyond the guest cabins they came to the cinema. Hayden stared in amazement. Nineteen plush leather seats were arranged in rows around a wide cinema screen.

Kinimaka’s jaw dropped. “Is this guy for real?”

“Forward,” Hayden said. The sounds of combat now came from in front of them as well as above them. “Our men were murdered because this asshole wanted to
make sure,
Mano. Sure as your name means ‘passionate lover’ we’re gonna get a slice of him.”

“And Boudreau too.” Kinimaka voice sizzled with hate.

“He’s going out in chunks.”

Beyond the cinema the oversize cabin area opened up into a circular room surrounded by glass windows. Even the ceiling was made of glass. The room’s centrepiece was an enormous swirling Jacuzzi, surrounded by life-like palm trees and easy-chairs that even Kinimaka would drown in.

The sound of the bubbling Jacuzzi filled the small space. The group moved forward. A mini bar stood to one end of the room. A walk in cupboard at another. One of the Delta soldiers ran up the Jacuzzi steps to check it out . . .

. . . and fell back dead, clattering back down the pristine wooden treads, a ragged hole blasted through his forehead.

At the same time a hidden maintenance door burst open beneath the Jacuzzi and a stream of men almost tumbled out. Funny it might have been, if they weren’t brandishing every kind of weapon from a serrated blade to a fully-automatic machine-gun.

And right before Hayden, bursting up from inside the Jacuzzi with water tumbling off him in torrents rose the lethal madman, Ed Boudreau.

His scream of blood-lust sent daggers through her heart.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Kennedy Moore stood on the deck of the USS Lake Erie, gazing across the rolling expanse of turquoise water that separated their ship from the
Stormbringer.
A stiff breeze took her long black hair and made it flicker around her face.

Ben was beside her. “Wow,” he said, entranced for a moment. “You look like that woman from the movie - John Carter. The princess.”

“Is that good?” Kennedy’s thoughts were miles away.

Ben glanced around as if looking for Drake’s back up. “I’ll say,” then he went quiet. “Missing him?”

“Huh? Yes, of course.”

“Me too. And Hayden.”

“They didn’t
have
to go.” Kennedy sounded angry.

“Hayden did. Boudreau murdered most of her men. Her friends.”

“I guess so.”

Ben’s mobile rang. His attention diverted immediately and he turned away. “Karin? Hey, what’s up?”

Kennedy took the few minutes of privacy to drift away. The last week or so, since leaving York, had flashed by in a blur. If she was being truly honest with herself the last
year
had flashed by in a blur. She felt the skin at the corner of her eyes tighten as she envisioned Kaleb yet again, the haunter of her dreams, as dead as he was ever going to be but still very much alive in her mind.

And in the minds of his victim’s families.

A couple of them had kept in touch, probably through sympathy. Others hated her. The rest just didn’t care. Maybe they had moved on.

She
needed to move on. The death of Kaleb should have given her some closure. Instead it closed only one door, leaving many others ajar. Her brief time with Drake had eased those worries. There had even been times when she could forget. But recently, it seemed, the darkness behind the doors was calling, beckoning to her with blood-soaked fingers.

Ben ended his call. “Karin wants to help,” he said with a worried look. “I’ve talked her out of it. For now.”

Kennedy, regardless of her mental state, couldn’t hide the sudden grin.
“Just a small town girl . . . livin’ in a lonely world . . .”

Ben glared and looked bemused, but then actually burst out laughing. “You old bastards and your Dinorock,” he cackled. “I might actually give you that one.”

“She took the midnight train . . .”

Kennedy heard footsteps approaching quickly. Harrison came into view. “The assaults heading down below decks at a fast rate. Shouldn’t take too long now.”

Kennedy knitted her brow. “You really believe that?”

She didn’t see the men coming up behind Harrison. The men with their guns drawn.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Drake ran down another level to find himself facing a long corridor. A SEAL team were sweeping ahead, firing shots in quick bursts as they cleaned out each room. Drake quickly caught them up, Alicia and Mai close behind.

Stately bedrooms stood to left and right, lavish with gold and oak furnishings. A heavy burst of gunfire sounded ahead, and then two of the SEAL team went down. Drake filled the gap, kneeling and getting off two bursts into a throng of mercenaries who had just appeared ahead.

Behind him, Mai hit the floor, firing between legs. Alicia whistled in mock amazement.

Men were littering the floor up ahead and had stopped being replaced by others. The SEAL team leader saw two more of his own men go down and indicated a retreat into some of the state-bedrooms. Drake slipped in behind him, listening to his words as he thumbed his throat mic.

“Need more numbers down here. Think we’ve found Kovalenko. Repeat, think we’ve found Kovalenko.”

*****

At that moment a grating voice rang out. “Stop! Stop firing!”

For a moment there was silence. The SEAL team shared a guarded look. Then, the same gravel-filled voice came again: “I am an honourable man! Lay down your weapons. Come fight me. Man to man.”

A voice like that sent shivers down your spine. The SEAL team leader eyed Drake. “That the Blood King?”

Drake started, having drifted off for a second and wishing he’d said more of a goodbye to Kennedy. A quick hug and a peck and a
“Laters,”
hardly constituted a loving departure.

He shrugged. “Think so.”

“Throw your weapons down,” the SEAL team leader said. “Lay flat on the ground.”

“You know that will never happen, little
American.”
The sneer in Kovalenko’s voice was apparent. “I watch you even now. Yes, I watch you.”

Drake cast about. Mai pointed to a little camera mounted above the far window. “Kovalenko likes to keep an eye on his guests.”

“And you,” the voice grew even more menacing, “you are Matt Drake. Mai Kitano. Alicia Myles. I have been informed of your little group,” a breath, “. . . and it’s attempts to undo me.”

Drake swallowed heavily despite himself. This didn’t sound good.

“You try to thwart me at every turn. You think you beat me? In the end, it will do you no good, little man. I always win.”

Alicia leaned in. “This prick knows too much.”

“I know everything, Miss Myles. And that’s another needle through your heart. My resources are very good and . . . very
close.”

Drake trusted everyone in their group with this, even Alicia, everyone except . . . there was one outsider.

“Are you thinking? Are you wracking your brains? No mind. I would not recommend that you survive this day. The rest of your life will be nothing but pain.”

“You won’t exactly be swanning around in luxury yourself, Blood King,” Drake said a little awkwardly.

“Then let me say this. In return for your zealous explorations and in return for your eagerness to accept
this
mission to capture me I have issued a Blood Vendetta.”

There was a pause. A terrible moment of heart-stopping dread.

“ . . . on every member of your little team. And on every single member of their families. A bounty on all of you, I say! Now
that
comes straight from the Blood King’s mouth. It has been broadcast through all my channels. The Blood Vendetta has begun.”

Drake thought of Kovalenko’s words.
My resources are very close.
And another comment slotted in alongside that one.
Your eagerness to accept this mission.

How many people knew he’d wanted aboard?

He knew who the insider was. And that person was now taking care of both Ben and Kennedy on board the USS Lake Erie.

“NO!”

He leapt into the corridor, gun blazing.

*****

Kennedy Moore saw the mortal fear shining out of Harrison’s eyes and knew her life was in deadly danger. All obsessive thoughts of Kaleb and his victims fled her mind a she half turned and saw sunlight glinting off the half-drawn weapons of three men coming up right behind Harrison.

Her world span. The Blood King could even reach them here?

No matter. She grabbed Harrison by the shoulders and hurled him towards them, screaming with all the breath in her lungs. Then she grabbed a shocked and sputtering Ben and ran for the nearest cover. 

Thinking
Damn it all, damn it all, why didn’t I say a proper goodbye to Matt? What am I doing, putting all my compartmentalised shit before the love of this man?

There was no time. Harrison had stumbled among her foes, but they were military servicemen. They soon threw him off and gave chase. Her only chance was to let them fire and hope to God they missed. She had no weapon. Her only chance was to draw attention. Her constant screaming was causing soldiers and sailors to take notice and turn from the railings and their jobs.

The great gun turret stood before her. She ran headlong towards it and threw Ben to the floor a split second later.

The first shot rang out.

A bullet slammed between her shoulder blades.

She pitched forward, now seeing good men running towards her, shouting warning at her assailants. She saw Ben scooting around the enormous base of the turret and wished him luck and safety.