Chapter 40
It took about half an hour to get to Whistler Cay. We came in against the wind to minimize our sonic footprint. Jack killed the engine, and we paddled in for a stealth approach. With a shallow draft, the zodiac was perfect for navigating the swampy channels.
Mangrove roots plunged into the water like fingers—an intricate weave along the shore. When the wind blew just right, it whistled through the trees. Sometimes, it made eerie growls.
I unpacked the drone from its case and launched it from the deck. From an app on my phone, I could pilot the drone, the camera feeding to my screen. I gave Isabella access to my device. With a wireless earbud and an encrypted app, we had secure comms.
“Almighty, do you copy?”
“I copy Bravo One. I have control.”
The drone buzzed high into the night sky to recon the island.
We kept paddling through the channel, my head on a swivel. The sounds of the night filled the air. Mosquitoes swarmed. The bloodsuckers were out in force.
We paddled through the darkness until the channel ran dry. At low tide, the draft was shallow, and the canal turned into mudflats.
The storm clouds had rolled in, and a light rain began to fall.
JD and I gathered our weapons, slipped out of the zodiac, and staked it to the shore.
Isabella crackled in my ear. “Bravo One, I have a visual on the target. Northwest of your current position.”
I pulled the phone from my pocket and looked at the camera feed. The drone’s IR optics displayed two luminescent figures. “Copy.”
JD and I crept through the muck to the tree line. We slipped into the forest and took cautious steps through the underbrush, trying not to make a sound.
The high-resolution optics of the infrared drone camera gave a clear picture of the situation. Oren had tied Taryn to a tree at the far edge of a clearing. He pranced around her in a werewolf costume, howling at the moon. His growls echoed through the forest as JD and I advanced.
We picked up the pace and rushed to the edge of the clearing. Across the meadow, Oren savored the moment before the kill. He stalked and taunted his prey in a ritualistic fashion.
JD and I took a position behind some trees. With my rifle shouldered, I lined up the beast in the reticle of my sights. With this back to me, Oren stood in front of Taryn, taunting her with sharp titanium claws that glimmered in the moonlight, which poked through the clouds.
I had to admit the menacing figure looked realistic. He’d crafted a hell of a suit. The composite, spring-loaded stilts gave him speed and agility. He towered over Taryn at 8 feet tall.
I didn't want to risk hitting the delicate professor. I shouted across the meadow, "Coconut County! Step away from Taryn, Oren!”
He spun around to face us, snarled, and held his menacing claws wide.
I could probably take the shot clean, but I didn't want to risk it.
Oren darted away, racing toward the tree line.
The prosthetic attachments helped him run faster than a human.
I can understand why the eyewitness reports were a little out of whack.
If someone asked me what I saw, I would have no other way to describe it but a werewolf or some type of creature.
It didn't look fake, and the prosthetics created movement patterns that differed from the standard gait of a human.
JD and I raced across the high grass of the meadow that swayed with the breeze.
The storm clouds drifted in front of the moon, obscuring it completely and darkening the island.
We reached Taryn, her eyes round with fear. Her chest heaved for breath. Adrenaline and nerves had slicked her skin with sweat.
With the tactical knife from my waistband, I cut the rope that bound her wrists behind the tree, then removed the gag from her mouth.
Without hesitation, she flung her arms around me. "I take it you got my message.”
The thump of her heartbeat resonated through me as she held tight.
The rain grew heavier.
I told Jack to stay with her. "I’m going to go get that son-of-a-bitch.”
Taryn and I broke apart.
“Be careful,” she said. “He’s completely out of his mind. He believes he can become a werewolf.”
I shouldered my rifle and advanced to the tree line where the werewolf had disappeared. I lowered my IR optics from my tactical helmet and scanned the area.
The thick forest and underbrush could obscure his heat signature, but he’d have a hard time hiding. It didn't take long to pick up the white-hot edges of his frame as he hid behind a tree and a clump of bushes.
I marched straight towards him with caution. "I can see you, Oren. Let's make this easy on everyone. Surrender and come out peacefully.”
He took off running through the trees, his white-hot figure leaving a ghostly trail.
Then I lost him for a moment as he ducked into a depression in the terrain.
If he was smart, he’d head for one of the channels and slip into the water, cooling himself off to dissipate his heat signature.
There were plenty of ways to conceal oneself in a jungle environment.
Mud insulates and blocks IR, and there was plenty of it after the recent rains.
I stepped through the underbrush with caution and advanced in the direction of his last known position. With my rifle shouldered, the barrel led the way. My boots crunched over twigs and leaves.
The rain filtered through the canopy of leaves and dripped down, tapping against my helmet. Lightning flashed in the distance, whiting out the IR optics for an instant. The auto gain compensation adjusted. The afterimage persisted for a moment.
It took a second for my eyes to readjust—the flash had disrupted my natural night vision.
A boom of thunder followed, rumbling the ground and shaking the trees.
I took a few more steps, and the optics glitched. Digital distortion filled my field of view.
An instant later, the optics returned to normal.
These things were military grade, but the seals could have been failing. For the price of these things, I would have expected them to hold up better.
I kept my head on a swivel. A few more steps into the forest, and another flash of lightning lit up the sky, whiting out my vision again.
To hell with it. I lifted the optics and did this the old-fashioned way. I didn't want to risk a whiteout at an inopportune moment.
Gusts of wind swayed the trees, and leaves fell. The island whistled as the wind spoke.
I kept advancing, stepping over fallen branches, moving with caution. I didn't think Oren was armed, but I wasn't taking any chances.
Another flash of lightning filled the sky, followed by a booming rumble of thunder.
These constant flashes were killing my natural night vision. With the cloud cover, the island had grown pitch black.
At least the mosquitoes went away.
I figured Oren had tried to escape toward the canals where he had probably moored his boat.
The thick foliage reminded me of the jungle. JD and I had plenty of recent jungle adventures.
I whispered over comms, "Almighty, do you have a visual on the suspect?”
"That's a negative, Bravo One. I've lost control of the drone. I don't know if it's the weather or the cell connection."
I shouted into the forest, "Oren, just give yourself up. We're going to catch up with you sooner or later. Might as well make it easy on everyone. Don't cause yourself any more trouble.”
Craggy branches clawed at me as I pushed through the thick underbrush. At times, it was so dense I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of my face. A rat’s nest of hardwoods, vines, grass, and swamp shrubs.
I crouched low and moved through a clump of branches and leaves that blanketed the path.
As I emerged on the other side, the beast struck.
Oren leapt from the brush, swiping at me with those titanium claws like razor blades.