Chapter 13
It didn’t take long for his mother to get ready. He took that short space of time to strategize with Jake.
Speaking quietly out back as the sun lay low in the evening sky, Dane said, “You and I will play decoys. We’ll make sure the Mongols thugs watching the house follow us to the ferry.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
“You’ll dress up. We’ll take the Jag. I’ll make a show of putting my mother’s bags in the trunk.”
“You’re sure there’s someone watching?”
“He’s in the driveway across the street and two doors down. You didn’t spot him? There’s been a rental car sitting there for two days and there’s no one in that house.”
“Here’s to knowing your neighbors.”
“And every move they make. I know them and their schedules better than they do.”
“How does your mother get to the ferry?”
“She doesn’t. I sent Sam to borrow a friend’s boat. He’ll be back after we leave—Shana will tell him when our tail follows and he’ll bring the boat into the dock. They’ll meet us at Woods Hole.”
“Is the boat seaworthy at night?”
“It’s more like a forty-foot yacht than a boat.”
“Nice friend.”
“That’s another story for another time. Let’s just say I did some work for him and he’s now a fan.”
“What happens when our tail catches up with us on the ferry?”
“We have it out, but I think we can manage to put them off until we can get off the boat. I’ve arranged with the ferry for us to use one of the inflatable boats after we get out of sight of the island.”
“Complicated plan.”
“Called for.” He swiped a hand across the sweat on his forehead. The air was cool, but that didn’t matter.
“I’d rather keep it simple, but Dag is crazy and smart.”
“And determined. Don’t forget that.”
Dane slapped his friend’s back.
“No one is more determined than I am.”
Dane pulled the Jag onto the ferry in the deep cargo hold where dozens of cars were parked tight together for the journey. Jake looked around and after they were packed in and the tail from the Mongols was nowhere in sight, he ripped the wig off his head.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“My bet is he’ll have Dag, and whoever else they can gather, walk on and come down here to find us.” He felt underneath his seat and pulled an extra Glock out and handed it to Jake.
“We’ll be waiting for them at the far end of the hold where we can see the stairwell.”
“It’s the only entry point?”
Dane nodded and opened his door, slipping out. Jake followed and they both stayed low.
“Once we see them heading toward the Jag, we’ll go upstairs.
Chances are they’ll have someone waiting for us, but we’ll be ready for that.
While you take the stairs, I’ll take a service elevator up.
I have the code. It’s locked and inaccessible so Dag’s gang won’t be using it.
I’ll come around to the top of the stairs and give you the all clear.
” He slipped a set of earbuds from his pocket and handed them to Jake.
“Maybe I should have kept the wig on.” He took the earbuds, switched them to live, and inserted them.
“The wig won’t help you. There’s a big fat target on your back. Almost as big as the target on mine.”
They reached the end of the cargo area where the door would slide open when they reached their destination to offload the vehicles. They found an angle that let them keep an eye on the stairwell about forty feet away and settled in.
Practiced at lying in wait, Dane anticipated this one would be painful.
He struggled to keep his heart rate calm, using every Zen trick he’d ever learned.
But before five minutes had passed in a silence buzzing with energy, he heard the clatter of boots on heavy metal steps echoing from the stairwell.
“Go time,” Jake said.
They both took lower positions and listened and watched as two men made their way into the garage-like hull and in the direction of the Jag. Their voices were low, but if Dane and his mother had been in the car, he would have heard and seen the thugs coming from the start.
Dane nodded as Jake and his friend silently and swiftly passed around the front of the row of cars and wound to the stairwell. Dane watched, training his Glock on the two men who’d slowed down and were now three cars away from the Jag. Jake hit the stairs and disappeared.
After one more check on the two men, Dane turned and headed for the alcove holding the elevator, punched in the code, and then waited.
Time ticked. He heard the men shouting. Heard a commotion.
Heard some passengers from other cars and a few horns beeping.
The elevator doors remained closed. He sucked in a long breath of rusty salted air and forced the snake-like tension from his shoulders, rolling them.
Then he heard the heavy unmistakable clang of boots on the metal stairs.
“Shit.” As he was about to run after them the elevator doors slid open. He jumped in and pressed the button.
After the longest one-floor elevator ride of his life, he got out, keeping his gun down and hidden between him and the wall.
He fast-walked around the corner to the door at the top of the stairwell.
It was in an alcove and out of sight of the rest of the passengers on this lower level who were mostly seated.
But he heard the commotion before he saw what was going on.
A sickening crack, the sound of a gun across the head, froze his blood and shoved him into fighting mode where he thrived on instinct and razor-sharp thinking.
The man standing outside the stairwell door was about to push it open when Dane hit him on the side of the head with his Glock.
He fell to the floor and Dane dragged him out of the way into the furthest corner of the alcove.
Someone banged against the door from the other side. Dane raised his gun, hid himself behind the door and opened it.
Jake fell through the door, his head bloody near his eyebrow.
But Dane shifted his attention to the two men with him.
The first man came through the door and Jake hit him across the back of the head with his gun.
Then he shifted position, standing in front of the door, and shoved his gun into the second man’s ear.
“Hands where I can see them.”
The man complied and Jake slid to the floor, leaning up against the doorjamb. A twinge of worry in the form of an adrenaline bubble surged through Dane, but he needed to take care of this Mongol thug before he could tend to Jake.
The man made a move but Dane was quicker. Dane twisted the gun from the man’s hand as he tried bringing it up. Then he smashed the man’s head against the metal door jamb to knock him down but not out.
“Where is Dag?”
The man growled and sneered, but said nothing intelligible.
Dane aimed his gun at the man’s groin. This was the guy he’d knocked out at the bottom of the stairs back at the abandoned house. Dane smiled.
“Tell me.”
“You won’t shoot.”
Dane shot, purposely hitting the floor between the man’s legs. The sound was explosive and caused a stir of concern beyond the alcove. He heard a beat of silence and then the buzz of people. He knew someone was on the way and he had to act fast.
“Tell me.”
“He’s on his way to get your mother—on that boat.”
“You had a man watching from the harbor.”
He nodded and looked past Dane’s shoulder.
“Drop your weapon,” From behind Dane, a man spoke in the strong official voice of law enforcement.