Chapter 20 #2
"Max," she yelled back, a wave of relief running through her as he came toward her.
He looked into her eyes, then wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against his chest. She breathed him in, feeling the safety of his embrace, but she couldn't linger there as much as she wanted to. "Are you hurt?" she asked.
"No. You?"
"I'm fine."
They turned to look at the house, which was engulfed in flames. And there, by the side door, was David. He wasn't moving.
But when she got to his side, she dropped to her knees and saw his eyes were open, flickering, his hand against his chest, his whole body shaking as a sharp, jagged piece of metal was coming out of his chest.
"Call 911," she told Max, but he was already on his phone, calling it in. "You're going to be okay, David. Help is coming."
"I just wanted someone to pay," he gasped. "Just the bad people, the ones who didn't care about the loss of life, who didn't know that my daughter was about to have her seventh birthday, and my wife thought she was pregnant."
The pain and grief in his gaze were difficult to see.
"I understand," she told him, even though she didn't. Because he'd tried to kill those people and had hurt others in the process.
But she needed him to calm down, to hang in there.
He still had the information they needed.
But his breath was coming in strangled gasps.
"Better this way," he stuttered. "Now I'll see them again."
"David, hold on," she ordered. "Where is the next explosion going to be? Tell me so I can stop it, so you can make up for what you did."
"Too late," he said, the last word barely getting off his tongue before his breath stopped and his eyes turned glassy and unseeing.
He was gone, and they still didn't have the answers they needed. Someone had made sure of that.
It was more than an hour later and a little after six o'clock when they finally drove back to the city in grim silence.
After communicating what had happened to the various agencies that had shown up, including her own, Kara had driven away from the scene of yet another explosion, another blast that had rocked the world and taken a life.
"Does this make sense?" she asked Max. "Why kill Hartford in such an explosive way?"
"It's a good way to destroy evidence. They might have gotten lucky and killed us, too."
"I didn't see a car. Maybe the bomb was on a timer."
"Probably, or they would have set it off before we could get out of the house." She glanced over at him and saw him wince as he shifted positions. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I fell on my shoulder."
"Sorry. I have to say I'm getting damn tired of being thrown into the air and landing hard on the ground, not to mention my ears are still ringing."
"I feel the same way."
She drew a breath and let it out, thinking about David's last words. "David really loved his wife and child."
"Doesn't excuse what he did."
"I know. He wanted to hurt other people in exactly the same way his family was killed, and the way he ended up being killed. It's a terribly sad irony."
"I'm more concerned with what's coming next," Max said. "David mentioned Costa was his first lead. Costa is dead, so he can't help us. Alex Novik was the one who got David onto the site where he connected with Caleb. We need to find him."
"He hasn't been at the club in days."
"Where does he live?"
"Midtown. We alerted the team there to notify us when he came back to his apartment, but that hasn't happened."
"Maybe he's dead, too," Max said grimly.
"I hope not." She paused as her phone buzzed. "This is Tyler." She punched a button and said, "Hello?"
"Just heard what happened," Tyler said. "How are you and Malone?"
"We're fine. What's up?"
"I think Alex Novik may be at the Bayside Marina. His ex-girlfriend has a boat called the Isabelle. I'd go there myself, but I'm in Newark. If you're closer…"
"We are. We can check it out. What are you doing in Newark?"
"I had a meeting with a guy who worked on Sergei Novik's security team a few years back.
He told me Sergei is clean, that his brother is the bad seed, as Sergei put it.
He only invested in the Crimson Club to get his brother into a more legitimate business, although it hasn't turned out that way.
My friend got in touch with Sergei and told him that Alex was in trouble and it would be better if the FBI found him before anyone else. He suggested we check the boat."
"We're on our way," she said as Max typed the marina into the navigation screen. "We should be there in about thirty minutes. Good work, Tyler."
"Let me know what happens."
She ended the call and glanced at Max. "I hope Alex Novik is still alive. It would be nice to get some good luck for a change."
"I agree."
"So, Tyler was helpful," she added.
"Yeah, we'll see."
"You're great at holding a grudge, aren't you?"
"I have a long memory," he admitted. "But I'm willing to give Tyler the benefit of the doubt. As you pointed out earlier, I really don't know what happened back in the day. And it also doesn't matter anymore, although it involves some of the same people."
"I would imagine that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by Ali Qadir. You're not the only one, Max."
"I never thought I was. But most people don't have the power to stop him. If I can find him, I will stop him."
His vow sent a shiver down her spine, and she didn't want to ask any more questions because she wasn't sure she wanted to hear his answers.
The Bayside Marina sat on a protected inlet in the Bronx, a mid-sized facility that catered to weekend boaters and fishing enthusiasts rather than luxury yacht owners.
As they pulled into the gravel parking lot, Kara could see maybe fifty boats of various sizes tied up along a series of floating docks—cabin cruisers, fishing boats, a few sailboats with their masts reaching toward the darkening sky.
At seven o'clock on a Sunday evening in January, the place was nearly deserted. Most recreational boaters had already pulled their vessels in for the winter, and those that remained were battened down for the night. The marina office was dark, and only a few boats showed lights on in their cabins.
They got out of the car and walked carefully down to the floating docks, their footsteps muffled by the gentle lapping of waves against the hulls.
"There," Max said, pointing toward the furthest dock where a sleek white cabin cruiser sat at the end of the pier with the name Isabelle painted on the side.
It was bigger than most of the other boats, maybe forty feet long.
As they approached the boat, they could see a light on inside the main salon.
They paused for a moment as Novik came into view, a phone pressed to his ear, gesturing wildly as he spoke.
"Wonder if he's alone," she whispered.
"Let's get closer," Max said, casting a look around as they crept down the dock. And suddenly Novik's voice ran through the air.
"I told you, I don't have a boat that can make it to the Bahamas," he said. "I need a plane and a private airfield."
He was looking to run, and they needed to stop him. Max stepped aboard first, and she followed. They both drew their weapons. Novik was a big man, broad-shouldered and thick around the middle.
"I need to get out of the country," Novik continued. "Tonight, if possible. Yes, my brother will pay anything. He owes—" Novik stopped mid-sentence when he saw them enter the cabin. He threw down his phone and started to reach for a gun on the table.
"FBI," she shouted. "Don't do it, Novik. We just saw Hartford die. You don't want to be next."
He froze, turning his head at her words, his eyes cold but also scared. "Hartford is dead?"
"Yeah. His house was blown up," Max said as he moved across the room and grabbed Novik's gun before he could reach for it again. "Costa was killed last night. I'm guessing you're next, unless you make a deal."
"What kind of deal?" he asked warily.
"You tell us where to find Caleb Azrani and Ali Qadir."
"I don't know where Caleb is, or his brother, or anyone else. I had nothing to do with any of this. All I did was tell Hartford about an internet site."
"Where he could hire someone to build bombs, blow up buildings and kill people," she said, still pointing her gun at his face. "Start talking."
"I can't help you. They didn't tell me anything. And when I heard about Elias, I got scared, so I went into hiding. I'm trying to get out of town."
"Where does Caleb live?"
"He's always changing his address. I only know how to reach him through the site."
"You're not in charge?" she asked.
"God, no! Caleb is in charge. Well, actually, I don't think he's on top anymore either. His brother is in town with a lot of other bad people."
"What are they here to do?" Max asked.
"I don't know, but Cal's brother hates America. That's why I was shocked when I heard he was in town. I didn't think he could get into the country."
"You need to come with us," she told him. "We'll protect you as long as you tell us the truth."
"You'll put me in jail," he said, but the resignation in his gaze told her he knew he had no other option.
"At least you'll be alive."
Before he could respond, they heard approaching engines. Fast boats, more than one.
Max moved to the window and swore under his breath. "We've got company. Two speedboats coming in fast."
"Back exit?" Kara asked.
"Engine compartment leads to the stern deck," Novik said, already moving.
The first shots came through the cabin windows before they could reach the rear of the boat. Kara dove to the floor, pulling Novik with her, while Max returned fire through the broken glass.
They squeezed through the narrow opening into the engine room, the sound of automatic weapons fire echoing behind them.
They emerged onto the stern deck just as one speedboat pulled alongside, its occupants spraying bullets at the cabin where they'd been hiding moments before.
"Jump!" Max shouted.
They went over the side together, hitting the cold water of the bay with a shock that drove the air from her lungs. Behind them, the cabin cruiser erupted in flames as someone threw an incendiary device through the broken windows.
They swam underwater as long as they could, surfacing near another dock as the speedboats circled back, searching.
But in the confusion and smoke from the burning boat, they slipped away unseen.
For a moment, she thought they might have lost Novik, but then he came to the surface, looking even more terrified.
Sirens rang through the air. She could hear yelling as people came out of their boats, and within seconds, the two speedboats were out of the harbor.
They paddled to the dock. Max helped her out as Novik climbed onto the boat, and then Max followed.
She was afraid Novik might try to run, but the sight of the burning boat seemed to make him realize they were his only hope of staying alive.