Jock was climbing down the tree even as he called Joe. “Cara’s safe, but Norwalk’s still on the loose. I’ll be there as soon as I can. But I have to get Cara out of that damn vest. Go get Michael. Now!”
He jumped the rest of the way to the ground and ran to the edge of the water, where Darcy was now struggling to help Cara onto the bank. He took Cara away from her, lifting her onto the mossy shore. He took out his knife, cut her out of the vest, and hurled it into the bayou. Then he cut the ropes that bound her wrists. “Is she okay, Darcy?”
“Well, we didn’t blow her up if that’s what you mean.” Darcy boosted herself out of the water. “But I wasn’t expecting that big of an explosion.”
“Neither was I.” Cara was looking dazedly up at Jock as she tried to get her breath. “But then I wasn’t expecting any of this.”
“You should have expected it,” he said roughly. “Do you think I’d ever let anyone take you away from me?” He glanced at Darcy. “Make sure she’s really okay. I have to go after Norwalk.”
Darcy went rigid. “I heard a couple shots. I was hoping we weren’t going to have to worry about him any longer.”
“Well, he has no fingers. I wasn’t sure how foolproof that grenade was, so I made certain that he wasn’t able to keep pressing that damn button. And I made sure his phone was out of action so he can’t contact his men. But he rolled into the brush before I could finish him. If he’s not bleeding to death, he’s probably trying to get back to camp.”
“No!” Cara jerked upright. “He can’t go back there. Michael!”
“Joe and Eve are already there,” he said curtly as he turned and started wading back through the high grass. “And I’ll be there after I take care of Norwalk. Watch out for her, Darcy.”
The next instant, he’d disappeared into the trees.
*
“Watch out for me?” Cara repeated in disbelief as she gazed after Jock. “I’m fine. It’s Michael who’s in trouble when Norwalk gets word to his men to throw him to those damn alligators.” She began to struggle to sit upright. “I can’t stay here and let you pamper me because Jock made a bad shot. I have to get back to the island.”
“I’m not arguing,” Darcy said as she helped Cara to her feet. “There’s no way I want Michael hurt or that bastard to get away. But we don’t have a boat, so we’d better start moving.” She looked her over appraisingly. “You look like hell, but you’ll make it with a little help from your friends.”
“You’re the only friend I have on hand right now.”
“As usual, I’m more than enough.”
“Yeah.” Cara was frowning. “But you look … funny. Something’s wrong with your hair…”
“Nothing’s wrong. It stayed on, didn’t it? I did a damn good job of being Eve. What do you expect when I ended up in that bayou?”
Cara’s eyes widened with hope. “Eve’s alive?”
“I told you how good I was. Never mind, I’ll explain on the way.” She took Cara’s elbow and nudged her deeper into the swamp. “But you should know that wasn’t a bad shot Jock made. He had to make sure that he took out that detonator, just in case the grenade wasn’t foolproof. We didn’t know what to expect. That was an electromagnetic-pulse grenade that I threw into the boat. It was designed to destroy the electronics used to activate roadside bombs and improvised explosives.”
“What? I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“Jock says the Pentagon has been trying to design a good EMP grenade for years, but the best one that he knew about was an experimental model created by a lab in Mobile. But the lab couldn’t get the Pentagon to pay their price, and they were considering selling it to the highest bidder.” She paused. “So Jock set Kaskov on persuading the CEO to give him a sample grenade to use. It was amazing how quickly he got him to agree and deliver it. Well, not amazing. I think fear had a lot to do with it. We only had to take an hour’s delay before we got under way.”
“I agree, not so amazing.” And not so amazing that Jock had known where to go for any weapon in the world’s deadliest arsenal. “Well, I’m glad it turned out a success since I was the experiment.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision for any of us,” Darcy said quietly. “Jock didn’t see any other choice. I’ve never seen him scared before, Cara. He was scared when he asked Kaskov to go get that grenade.”
She nodded soberly. “And I’m grateful that he did. I’m grateful that you were all there for me. I thought it was the end, Darcy.”
Darcy shook her head. “No one was willing to give up on you or Michael.” She added grimly as she increased her pace through the swamp, “And Norwalk isn’t going to be allowed to take one more life, Cara.”
*
“Cara’s safe!” Joe ran back to where Eve was standing. “But Jock says Norwalk may be on his way back. We have to get Michael out now. You know what to do.”
She nodded, her heart pounding. Her hand tightened on her rifle as she moved forward out of the darkness to stand just to the rear of the cypress tree across the bayou from the dock. “You’re going to take out that other man on the west bank. Then you blow up the shack as a distraction, and I cover that Macvey man Norwalk assigned to watch Michael. If he turns on Michael when the shack blows, I shoot him.”
“Right. Ten minutes.” Joe was gone.
Eve drew a deep breath as she gazed out over the shallow waters of the bayou that separated the island from the swamp where she stood. Michael was sitting on the dock, still in his soccer uniform, which was dirty and torn, his face bruised, his hair tousled. Yet he was calmly sitting there, his arms linked over his knees, as he stared into darkness.
He knew she was there, watching him. She could feel it. But he was not making any sign that would alert Macvey, who was only a few yards from him with his rifle in hand. Not that Macvey appeared to be particularly alert at all, she noticed. No one would consider a six-year-old boy a threat, would they? Fair game to shoot or throw to those alligators, she thought bitterly.
Soon, Michael. You’ll be safe soon.
Warmth. Serenity. Love.
Four minutes.
Six minutes.
Seven.
Everything appeared to be still and perfectly normal on the island. But Joe was very good, and that did not surprise her. He should have taken the sentry out by now. He might have even—
Kaboom!
The shack blew up! Wood speared the sky, flames climbed to catch fire on the branches of the surrounding trees.
Her rifle was trained on Macvey. But he never even looked at Michael as he started running up the incline toward the burning shack.
Yes.
Michael was alone on the dock.
Not for long.
She was wading across the bayou, her rifle held above the chest-high water. She could see Michael jumping to his feet, his eyes widening with excitement as he ran toward her. She glanced up the hill and saw that Macvey had almost reached the burning shack.
And Joe was moving toward him from behind.
Then she was on the dock, kneeling, her arms holding her son.
“Mama.” He buried his face in her neck, and she could feel his warm tears. He whispered, “I’d like to go home now, please.”
“Right away.” She pushed him away from her. “Not quite done. I’m going to carry you across this little bayou to that pretty cypress tree, and then we’ll—”
“Step away from him, Eve.”
She froze. She didn’t have to turn around to know who was behind her. She knew that voice, it had echoed in her mind and every nightmare she’d had since he’d appeared in her life. “I won’t do that, Norwalk. I’m never going to leave my son again while you’re alive.”
“Then I’ll shoot right through you.”
And he would do it.
She looked into Michael’s eyes. “I’m going to stand up, and I want you to get behind me. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid. Why should I be?” He smiled at her. “It’s our time to go home.” He paused. “And it’s his time to go away.”