But before they did, Harness wanted to make one more stop.
Chapter 26
Two years had passed since Harness helped save a young boy’s life back at Sally’s Diner, and since then, hardly a day had gone by when he hadn’t thought of him.
He had heard that after being released from the hospital, the boy had left the country, leaving a trail when he applied for a work visa in the Cayman Islands. Harness knew that this, too, was an extreme long shot, but after questioning a few Cayman locals he was told that there was a young man that fit the description living up on Cayman Brac, working at a dive shop called Earl’s Reef.
He and Holt drove straight to the airport and boarded the next plane to Cayman Brac, betting on a chance to say hello to Aaron Quinn.
“You just missed him,” the salty man behind the counter at Earl’s Reef Dive Shop told them. “Won’t be back for a month… that is if he ever does come back. Said something about sailing a motor-yacht through the Panama Canal, and in my experience, those folks, the ones that sail that far, never return. He’ll be sorely missed around here.”
Harness couldn’t believe his luck. They had actually tracked Aaron down. It was a shame that they had missed him.
“Did he say where they were headed?” he asked, figuring he might run into Aaron sometime in the future.
“I can’t recall,” the man said. “But he did mention a flaming redhead who has the hots for him.” He paused, scratching his whiskers. “There was something else… Oh, yeah, I’m pretty sure he said the boat’s captain was some guy named… Jason.”
Harness looked at Holt, unable to believe what he’d just heard. Holt couldn’t believe it either.
“Did he mention the captain’s last name?” Harness asked the man. “Or the name of the yacht?”
“Nope, only Jason.”
Harness had to take a moment. There was no way that the guy Aaron was sailing with was Jason Souther… or that the motor-yacht he and Aaron were on was the Cayman Jewel. That would be way too strange a coincidence. An impossible turn of fate.
He jotted down his number on a scrap of paper and handed it to the man. “If by some chance Aaron should happen to return, would you tell him I stopped by?”
“Yep,” the man said. He dropped the note into a jar full of business cards.
Harness thanked the man, and then he and Holt left Earl’s Reef and boarded a plane bound for Panama City.
Chapter 27
Ekatarina Vtorakevna Pankova lived with her father in their modest home overlooking Vladivostok Harbor, along Russia’s northern coast. She was in her bedroom, seated lightly on a small chair, smiling at her reflection in the vanity mirror, brushing her long black hair with enthusiasm.
She was going to see her boyfriend tonight. They had been dating for two years now, and she had a strong feeling that tonight would be the night he would ask for her hand in marriage.
She set the brush aside and lifted her breasts a little before letting them bounce, thinking, Thank you my twin friends. You’ve served me well.
There was a knock on her door, which she answered after quickly donning her robe.
“Yes, Father?” she said.
“There is something I need to discuss with you,” Vtorak Pankov said.
Ekatarina glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “But I was just getting ready to go see Boris.”
“Please, sit down,” Pankov insisted.
Ekatarina hesitated and then took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Pankov pulled up a chair. “Ekatarina, my dear,” he said. “Now that you are out of high school, you need to see the world.”
She looked at her father. I know that, she thought. She was hoping to be married soon, and seeing the world was her plan.
“You and I are going to America for a while,” Pankov said.
“What?” Ekatarina cried, incredulous. “Where?”
“California,” he said. “San Diego to be precise.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“We leave in three weeks.”
Ekatarina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re just doing this because you don’t like Boris!” she cried. “You know we plan to marry soon, and now you want to break us apart!”
“When my business there is finished we will return,” Pankov said. “If Boris loves you as much as you think he does, he will wait for you.”
Ekatarina grabbed her hair as if to tear it out in frustration. “How long?” she asked quickly. “How long will we be in America?”
Pankov knew he would not be coming back. But as for his daughter, it depended, of course, upon how the U.S. responded to the assassination.
“A few days, maybe a few weeks,” he said. “If things go as planned.”
“You’re lying,” Ekatarina said. “No one from Russia ever just visits the United States. You plan to immigrate and keep me there forever!” She rolled over onto the bed and buried her face in her pillow, sobbing.
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Pankov said calmly. “But this matter is of the utmost importance to our country. Some day you will realize that, and perhaps then you will forgive me. I will give you an exact departure date when I have one.”
Then he went out.
Chapter 28
For Jason and his crew, the first few days of the voyage had run like fine clockwork. Refueling and resupply were easy, and the towns, restaurants, and bars they visited along the way were fantastic. Even Brandy had begun to relax, thinking maybe the trip wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
At around 4:00 a.m., Tuesday, just before sunrise, 10 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, Aaron awoke to a strange, low buzz coming from somewhere on the water. He grabbed a pair of high-powered binoculars out of a cabinet and went to the window.
In the predawn light he could just make out what appeared to be four men in a small outboard approaching the Cayman Jewel at high speed, and as they drew nearer it was clear that they were carrying rifles. Jason had told Aaron what to watch out for, and there was little doubt that he was about to encounter his first pirates.
He jumped into some clothes and ran to the master cabin to alert Jason.
“How far out?” Jason said, pulling on his pants.
“About a mile,” Aaron said.
“Go to the midships cabin and get my sniper rifle. There’s an assault rifle as well… in the large drawer under the bed. Hurry!”
Aaron ran to the cabin and retrieved the rifles, along with a box of ammo for each.
He returned with the guns, and Jason took the AWSM. Aaron slid a magazine into the well of the assault rifle and clicked it home. Then he slapped it hard and gave it a tug to make sure it was seated.
“Looks like you know how to handle a rifle,” Jason said, surprised.
“Actually, I do,” Aaron said.
Jason finished assembling his rifle, listening for the approaching boat. “Time to rock, my friend,” he said.
From up on deck they could clearly see the four men speeding toward them in their small outboard, and Aaron had been correct: they had guns.