Chapter 34 #2
Adrik opened a door to what looked like a safe room alongside a queen-sized bed.
It might protect him from bullets if they took on more fire, but he’d drown if the boat went under, wouldn’t he?
“Give it to her,” he said with reluctance, and the guard handed over her 9mm, then joined Adrik in the steel trap. Maybe he’d pull a Houdini and escape.
“I’ll be back.” She shut the door to the safe room, then hurried out of the stateroom and advanced back to the salon.
“Delta One, Delta One, do you copy?”
On the second step out of the salon, she halted with relief. “Copy. This is Delta One.”
“Thank fuck.” It was Wyatt.
“I think you already know, but we’re taking heavy fire,” she replied. “And pretty sure part of the boat is in flames.”
“The boys are about to dive to get to you,” Wyatt informed her. “Can you get the yacht to completely stop so they can board?”
“If you can get the battery of bullets to cool off.” Her gaze swung in the direction of the deck.
“Roger that. Air support is prepared to engage now.”
“Is she okay?” She heard A.J.’s voice in the background, the sound of terror and relief breaking through his tone upon learning she was on comms with Wyatt.
“She’s alive,” Wyatt told A.J.
Ana kept her body pinned to the steps as she listened and waited for what she needed—a machine gun from overhead. The FBI helo.
A roaring blast followed, and the boat was rocked hard by what she assumed was an explosion. Maybe the Russians were down for good.
“Delta . . . do . . . copy?”
She adjusted her comm in her ear. “I’m good,” she answered, breathless and prepared to go up top.
“You’re clear to move on deck. There were two Russian vessels. Both have been immobilized,” Wyatt said. “All guards on the deck of your boat appear to be down. Grigory is behind the helm. What’s the status below deck?”
“Adrik is in a safe room with his guard. I don’t think there is anyone else down here with me.”
“Roger,” Wyatt replied. “Be careful.”
Once on deck, she nearly slipped in a pool of blood. Oh, God.
She peered into the night sky just as the helo was turning away, and when she returned her focus to the river, there were two medium-sized yachts on fire thirty yards away.
She did a three-sixty to search for the FBI boat where Wyatt was located, but the Princess abruptly slowed, throwing her off-balance. As Ana regained her footing, she glanced toward the helm.
Grigory, shit.
And he spotted her, too. He raised his firearm her way, and she snapped off a round while throwing her weight to the left to duck for cover from his shot.
When the yacht took a sharp turn to the right, she slid across the deck and careened into a still body. The yacht was accelerating, which wasn’t the damn plan.
She pushed upright to see Grigory slumped over the wheel, and they were heading straight into the two burning boats.
There was no time to do anything else but jump.
“This is Delta One.” With wobbly legs, she clutched the side railing, trying not to fall backward. “Disembarking!” she yelled just as the yacht collided with the others.
She leaped into the air, glimpsing someone in a dive suit coming up out of the water in front of her as another crackling, explosive sound filled the air, and a whoosh of heat licked her back.
Ana went in feet first, the cold water a shock as it enveloped her entire body.
She was underwater a matter of seconds before strong arms encircled her and lifted her head and shoulders above water.
A.J. kept one arm around her while ripping his mask and snorkel off. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. Are you okay? Your head is bleeding.” His brows pulled together. “I was scared I lost you,” he added, his voice throaty with emotion.
“You’ll never lose me,” she promised. “Never.”
This wasn’t at all like their first kiss in the pond. They were in a river in Hungary kicking their legs to stay above water, but . . . they were alive and together, and so, she set a quick kiss to his lips before she broke the news to him they’d need to go back on that burning boat.
Wyatt wrapped a red blanket around Ana’s shoulders as she sat on the deck of the speedboat and eyed the three burning yachts fifty feet away. The fires had drawn crowds along the already busy riverbanks on each side of the Danube.
The FBI had to radio local law enforcement and alert them to stand down until they had the situation fully under control. And with any luck, they’d help push back the onlookers before the team docked.
A.J., Chris, Roman, and Finn were on board the Princess searching for survivors.
Wyatt said Roman and Finn had ended up “commandeering” a small, glass-enclosed tourist vessel, probably scaring the shit out of the passengers before they kicked them out.
But they’d arrived just in time for the “fireworks show” with the Russian yachts.
The buildings along the Danube were beautifully lit up, from Parliament to the Buda Castle, and then there was the illuminated chain-link bridge off in the distance from where she sat, but no one would be interested in landmarks when there was a spectacle on the river that would make national headlines.
Owen and Asher were now out of the tunnels. They located what they assumed was once Adrik Volkov’s home, but from the looks of it, he hadn’t lived there in fifteen years, a decision that probably kept him alive so long.
Bravo Two and Three were now with Harper in their mobile unit, parked in a lot off to the side of the main strip by the river, as they tried to pinpoint which FBI agent had fed the two Russian teams their location.
Kyle? Was it possible that her buttoned-up, by-the-book ex was taking money from the Russians?
She refused to entertain the idea, but she slouched at the memory that Porter had betrayed her, so why not the man she married?
She’d gotten multiple psych degrees to prevent anyone from ever taking advantage of her again, and she’d tragically failed.
Chills erupted over her skin despite the blanket as she watched the yacht burn, and every minute it appeared to slip a touch lower in the water.
Ana’s pulse wasn’t going to slow down until A.J. and the others were off the boat and with, at least, Adrik Volkov.
“With any luck, Adrik will still be alive,” Wyatt spoke up, standing in front of her with his long gun pointed on the yacht, eye behind the scope.
“He’s going to blame himself for working with the Feds.” Her attention briefly skirted to the two FBI agents near the helm of the speedboat. She was on the starboard side, sitting on a couch, huddled in the cozy blanket, when she should have been on that yacht with the team.
A.J. had refused to put her in more danger, and Wyatt had agreed to stay on board with her to make sure she didn’t “do anything crazy.” Plus, they hadn’t ruled out the two agents on board as clean.
“Mendez demanded we work with the FBI.” Wyatt’s tone remained matter-of-fact. “We knew there was a chance someone may be on the Russians’ payroll,” he added in a lower voice, so the two agents didn’t hear them.
“But you know A.J.,” she said softly. “He’ll say he never should have taken the risk.” She clutched the blanket even tighter. “I didn’t expect two boats of armed gunmen to show up, though, or I wouldn’t have risked your team.”
He lowered his long gun for a moment and caught her eyes.
“This is what we do. You’re okay, and that’s all that matters.
Now, if something had happened to you, well, A.J.
would probably burn down the city.” He started to raise his gun but hesitated.
“But if the man does play the blame game, I’ll knock some bloody sense into him,” he added, his British accent deepening.
Of course, what happened tonight was more her fault than anyone else’s. She chose to go after the Volkovs tonight even though the translated ledger was safe in the storage area beneath her stairs back in D.C.
Leaving an operation unfinished made her crazy.
Plus, it was time to end what began long ago once and for all.
Thankfully, no one on the team had gotten hurt, so maybe Wyatt was right.
Everything will be okay. Logically it made sense, but she couldn’t help but feel they were waiting for the other shoe to drop just as she caught sight of the dark-haired agent behind the wheel breaking leather.
He was drawing his gun, and shit, from the looks of it, about to take out Wyatt.
Ana abruptly stood, going for her holster but finding it empty. Her mouth rounded in warning to Wyatt, but then a snap! sounded through the air.
The agent was hit in the arm, and he cursed and let go of his gun.
It all happened so fast, and Ana stared in shock as Wyatt and the other Fed quickly rushed the agent to the ground.
Ana twisted to find A.J. in the water, one hand gripping the boat, his rifle in the other. Thank God for his military-grade weapons ammo that allowed him to shoot a weapon after being submerged in water.
“Talk about timing,” she whispered and hurried to the side of the boat to help A.J. on board.
“You were the one to tip off the Russians?” Wyatt hissed behind her toward the dirty agent.
Ana barely heard the rest of the conversation, too relieved A.J. was safe and now with her. The rest of his team were on their way in a Zodiac inflatable boat, and to her relief, Adrik was linked up—cuffed and on board.
A.J. tossed his mask and snorkel, stowed his weapon, and pulled Ana tight into his arms.
“Grigory and Dominick not make it?” she asked, her face pressed to his slick wetsuit.
“No,” he said into her ear. “And Adrik and his guard attempted to escape. We had to take the guard out.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. And your team,” she said as tears gathered in her eyes.
“And you.” He pulled back to hold her face, eyes meeting her eyes. “If anything had happened to you—”
“But it didn’t.” She lifted her chin. “It’s over, though. It’s finally over.” She had no doubt Winters would be taken down at some point, and then all she wanted was to move on, and with A.J.