Chapter 16
Wind whipped across the deck of the Coast Guard cutter all the way through the layers that Kam wore. He wasn't sure that he would ever stay warm again. It was early August, but temperatures had already started to cool, especially at night.
Kam gripped the railing, staring out over the waters of Resurrection Bay.
The deep emerald waters were inky in the shadows of the moonless sky.
It was the perfect condition for concealing their true intentions from Dasha.
It bothered him that they had lost track of Katarina after their brush with the assassin for hire at Unalaska.
She was still out there and could blow this whole thing apart.
They would have to do their best and pray that everything would work out in the end.
Kam took a deep breath and ran through the plan one more time in his head.
Taylor appeared beside him, propping her elbows on the rail next to him.
She had a knit hat pulled over her long braided hair.
He wasn't the only one minding the cold this night.
"Are you ready?" Her question was weighted with all of the possibilities of what the future could hold.
Kam turned to put the railing at his back and leaned on his elbows, bringing him closer to her. "I'm ready for a life with you. A life where I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not."
She gave him a shy smile. "And what does that life look like, exactly?"
Kam felt that question hit like an unblocked right hook. "I don't know. Amelia offered me a job, or at least a chance at a new life, but I don't want to go anywhere you can't."
He wanted to ask her if she'd go with him. If she'd be willing to leave her life here in Alaska, but he wouldn't make her choose between him and everything she worked so hard for.
"Wherever you go, I go." Taylor spoke with conviction, like she needed Kam to know she was speaking the truth.
"What about the FBI? Davin and Paul?" He didn't want to sway her to not go with him, but he needed to make sure this was what she wanted.
"Davin and Paul are like brothers to me. They've had my back since I arrived here in Seward." She turned so that one elbow leaned on the rail, bringing her even closer to him. "But I've searched for over three years for you. God gave us a second chance and I'm not going to let it go."
Kam brushed his fingers along her jaw line.
"Nor will I." He leaned closer to her, claiming her lips.
Every day he got to be with her, he would make sure she knew how much he loved her.
Her hand traced up his chest and to the back of his neck, bringing him closer to her.
This was the kind of relationship that he dreamed about while deployed and forced undercover.
No, he'd never let a day go without her knowing how deep his love for her was.
A voice cleared their throat behind him.
"It's time to load the boats." Officer Kirk Peters stood stalwart in tactical gear with a stormy look.
Kam slid an arm around Taylor as he fully faced the police officer who Davin had decided to read in after returning from delivering the prison bus to Spring Creek.
"Kirk." Taylor touched her lips then pulled her fingers away. "We'll make our way to Northstar."
"No." Kam stilled Taylor's retreat. "I want you on Sierra."
Taylor's eyes flashed. "I'm not letting you go in alone."
"He won't be alone." Paul walked up while zipping the prison jumpsuit over an ultra-lite Kevlar vest. "I'll be there."
"You'll be in handcuffs." Taylor wasn't going to give up this fight easily.
"Fake handcuffs." Kam jumped in, "and I need someone I trust on the pick up boat in case Dasha gets away."
Taylor narrowed her eyes, but he could see the fight leaving her. "Fine. But the moment something goes sideways, we're coming in early." She grabbed him by the collar and gave him a hard quick kiss. "Don't die on me."
She held his gaze for a moment longer then stomped off toward the secondary boat that would be just on the other side of Dasha's research vessel.
Kam took a step towards Peters. "Keep her safe." Kirk nodded then followed Taylor to the boat where Davin and two other Cost Guard shipman waited for them.
Kam walked past Paul. "Let's do this."
Kam steered the Zodiac around the end of Fox Island.
It wasn't lost on Kam that Ian was literally only a few miles from where they were, probably waking up with a pounding headache.
Phase one hadn't gone exactly to plan, but it was still a success.
The lights from the research vessel twinkled on the water, making it appear as a refuge and not the vessel of doom Kam knew it was.
He pulled back the throttle and turned to Paul. "Ready?"
Paul held out his hands. "Not too tight."
Kam placed the breakaway cuffs on Paul. "Remember, don't pull on them too much or they'll break."
Paul rolled his eyes. "Just put the sack on my head and let's get this over with."
The crew on the research vessel had them out of the water and on the deck with practiced moves. Kam helped Paul over the side of the Zodiac, but didn't let him go.
Dasha stared at him with hands on her hips. "Let my son go," she seethed.
"Not before you give me the schematics."
Dasha laughed. "You really think after what you did, that I'm going to just give you the schematics?"
Kam pulled the gun from his pocket and placed it at Paul's side. Paul flinched, but said nothing. "The schematics or I shoot your precious boy."
Dasha sneered at him, "You won't shoot him."
"I don't know. I think I'd be doing the whole world a favor if I just shot him and tossed him overboard." Kam raised the gun higher on Paul's chest.
"Poluchit' posylku." She snapped at the man standing behind her. He returned a moment later with an envelope. "Now, take that cloth off his head and this is all yours." She waved the package back and forth.
Kam could care less about the fake schematics. This whole exchange was more about getting Dasha to confess on official record about all she had planned.
"Tell me. Were you going to build the weapon yourself or just sell the technology to the highest bidder?"
Dasha smirked, "I am a patriot. I was going to give my country the opportunity to buy it first."
"Then why go through this whole thing to get him back." Kam tugged on Paul's arm. Paul get out a low growl. Nice touch. Dasha's face flashed with anger.
"I need someone with Volkov blood to run the empire. It's the only way."
"So you need the clout of the Russian mob in order to get anyone to take a chance on your tech." Kam shook his head. "Sounds like you've got a problem."
"Alexei took everything from me when he turned his back on his family!" Her face reddened and her breaths grew short.
"I guess we better get this over with." Kam took a step forward with Paul.
"Nyet." Katarina stepped out of the shadows with a gun pointed at Paul. "That's not Ian."
"Hello, Katarina. We meet again." Kam prayed that the Sierra was ready, because the situation just became unpredictable.
"Katarina, what are you doing?" Dasha gritted out in Russian. "We need him."
Kam needed to figure out a way to stop Katarina from blowing their operation. The Sierra would be here any moment to board the vessel and take down Dasha. He didn't want Paul to get injured in the confusion when they boarded.
"Shoot him or don't, I need those schematics," Kam said dryly. Where were you, Taylor? Why weren't they boarding? Could they not hear that the mission was being sideswiped by Katarina? Kam stared at Katarina. There was no way he'd lose track of the assassin again.
Taylor watched at the Zodiac was hoisted onto the research vessel.
The feeling she had earlier was rolling through her full-force once again.
She wasn't sure if it was just fear talking or if it was a warning of what was to come.
She began to pace the deck watching and listening.
They needed to wait until Dasha confessed about her plans for the weapon.
"You're going to start rocking the boat with all of your pacing." Davin stood in the door to the bridge with his arms folded.
Taylor gripped the railing to keep herself in place. "I just can’t shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen." She looked over her shoulder at Davin. "I had this same feeling when we left Nalani at headquarters to go save Paul."
Davin narrowed his eyes, "Why didn't you say anything then or now?"
"I'm not sure it's more than worry or fear for someone I care about. I've already lost him once."
Kam's voice came through the ear pieces they each had, he was getting Dasha to confess her intent with the plans and neurotoxin. "We should get in position."
Davin gave the signal to the captain and they began their slow approach to the stern of the ship. When they were a few yards away, Taylor saw a figure slip onto the boat along the far side.
"Davin, we have an unknown on the far side of the vessel." Taylor's worst fears were confirmed when Kam greeted Katarina. They needed to get on that boat.
Davin put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. Let Kam try to diffuse this before we go in weapons hot. I don't want either of them injured because we made the situation worse."
The call didn't sit right with Taylor. Davin didn't know what Katarina was capable of, but Taylor was also on thin ice and didn't want to disobey the agent in charge. "Come on, Kam," she whispered as she listened to what was happening on deck.
A gun shot split the silent night air. "Peters, Ertz, on me. The rest of you watch the waters for any runners. Call in the Mustang to be on standby. No one gets away this time. Got it?"