“Do you trust me, Gideon?” Kate said. Her green eyes bored into his. She gave him a gentle, half-smile.
“Absolutely,” Gideon said.
“Then shoot him,” Kate said. “Shoot the son of a bitch.”
Parker swallowed and released the handle on the bomb.
For a moment nothing happened. Then a heavy thud welled up from deep underneath them. The entire rig shook slightly.
Gideon's War and Hard Target
And then . . . nothing.
Gideon waited for the aftershocks, for the sound of screaming metal, waited for the rig to fail. But the soft wind continued to blow, the huge waves continued to roll under the rig.
For the first time, panic crept into Parker’s eyes. His hand tightened on the grip of the Makarov. Gideon could see he was going to shoot Kate. The shock of the moment would give him time to dive into the escape pod and slap the big red button he’d been talking about.
He smiled. “You don’t have the stomach, Gideon. You never did.”
“Shoot him,” Kate said for the third time.
Then her body went limp and she dropped. As heer&±€†r body became dead weight, Parker was forced to let her go. His entire torso was completely exposed.
Gideon pulled the trigger, felt the Makarov buck under his hand. The shot caught Parker on the bridge of his nose.
He fell without a sound.
“Drop the weapon!” a voice shouted. “Now!”
Gideon tossed the Makarov over the side and into the massive waves. “I’m done,” he said. “It’s over.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
THE SUBMARINE HAD RISEN from the waves just a few hundred yards to the west of The Obelisk, water sluicing down from its conning towers. Kate touched the body bag that held Big Al Prejean until the last possible moment, when the solders lowered it down the side of the rig and into one of the zodiacs that had been launched from the sub to ferry the wounded and the dead. It surprised her that her grief was somehow tempered by the gratitude she felt for having known the crazy Cajun. She vowed silently not to forsake his last words to her, before turning to find Gideon and his brother, who were still in custody.
She found Major Royce talking on a satellite phone. The color had returned to his face as he lowered the phone and limped toward Gideon on his wrapped ankle. The Delta Force officer looked much recovered, now that he’d been worked on by his medical corpsman. “The president says you’re free to go,” he said, nodding to Sergeant Nilson, who removed the cuffs from Gideon’s wrists.
“What about my brother?” Gideon asked.
“The president wants him transported stateside by the first available means.” Major Royce pointed at the submarine. “The USS Glenard P. Lipscomb is the first available means.”
“Everything that you were told about my brother was a lie,” Gideon said. “He came here as a prisoner of the men who seized the rig. He was framed.”
“I have my orders,” Major Royce repeated.
“It’s okay, Gideon,” Tillman said. “Major Royce is just doing his job. We’re all on the same team. This whole thing will be squared away as soon as you get back to Washington. You’ll see.”
Gideon reluctantly agreed. It wasn’t as if he had much choice.
“Besides, there’s a doctor on the sub,” Major Royce said. “We’ll get Lieutenant Davis some medical attention for his wound.” Tillman was still bleeding from where Sergeant Nilson’s bullet had grazed him when he ran interference for Gideon just minutes earlier.
Gideon couldn’t help noting that Royce referred to Tillman as Lieutenant Davis. That had to be a good sign.
“I’ll be leaving half my team here to secure the rig,” Royce added. “The rest will accompany me and the prisoner back to the U.S.”
“I understand,” Gideon said.
“Given that the typhoon is about to hit again, I wish I could evacuate eviv e toleryone off this rig,” Royce added. “But I can’t. Not enough room on the sub. Captain Oliphant has radioed me to say that I can take back two additional individuals. Mr. Davis, Ms. Murphy—I’m offering to take you immediately to safety.”
“And abandon my crew?” Kate said. “Not a chance.”
Royce nodded. “Very well. Mr. Davis, if you would accompany me up to the chopper deck, I’ll have my men rig you up so we can drop you in the boat. I know it looks a little scary down there but—”
Gideon cut him off. “I’m staying, too.”
Royce looked at him curiously. “You’re what?”
“You heard me. I’m staying. With Ms. Murphy.”
Royce looked from Gideon to Kate and then back to Gideon again. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist,” he said.
“Unless you want to carry me, I’m not getting on that sub,” Gideon said.
Major Royce stared at Gideon.
Tillman spoke up for the first time, “Major, my brother is the most stubborn son of a bitch on the planet. So unless you plan to carry him, you might as well save your breath.”
Royce finally nodded.
Gideon stepped toward his brother. They shook hands. “Don’t you worry for a single minute, Tillman,” Gideon said. “I’m going to get this all straightened out.”
Tillman smiled broadly. “Of course you will. You can do anything. Hell, you’re Tillman Davis’s brother.”
The two men laughed.
Suddenly Tillman reached out and grabbed Gideon, hugged him hard. “I owe you one,” he whispered.
“Like hell you do,” Gideon said. “You’d have done the same thing for me.”
There was so much more Gideon wanted to say to him. He’d traveled halfway across the world, gone through all this craziness—and now they barely had time to speak to each other before being separated again. He wanted to say how foolish their estrangement had been, how things would never be like that again, how he’d never doubt his brother again.
But there would be time later. There would be plenty of time.
“Let’s go,” Major Royce said. “The storm’s about to blow back in.”
By the time the submarine slipped beneath the massive waves, the wind had picked up and the wall of ugly black clouds was looming over the rig again.
The entire crew of the Obelisk had gathered on the chopper deck to watch the submarine depart, so Kate took a quick head count. Her worst fears turned out not to be justified. Several crew members had been wounded by gunfire during the seizure of the rig—but other than Big Al and the diver who had been shot in front of Kate and Gideon, none had died.
With no submarine to watch, the crew began to disperse, locking down for the imminent storm loÁ€†.
“Looks like we’re in for some weather,” Gideon said.
“Could be,” she said.
Gideon rubbed his eyes and sighed. “I can’t remember the last time I slept,” he said.
“You can get some sleep in my cabin,” she said.
A ghost of a smile licked at the corners of Gideon’s mouth. Then a sudden gust of wind hit them so hard that it nearly knocked them over.
“Everybody off the deck!” Kate shouted. “I don’t want anybody getting blown into the sea.”
Gideon's War and Hard Target
Once the deck was clear, Kate and Gideon walked down to...
“Perfect,” he said, falling onto it wearily.
“You did it,” she said. “You came to get your brother, and you got him.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“You saved his life. You saved all of us.” She brushed some stray hair from his forehead. “I’ll be right back.” Then she went into the bathroom, stripped off her wet clothes, and returned to her cabin, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
But by the time she’d returned, Gideon’s eyes were closed.
Kate sat down next to him on the bed. For the first time since she’d met him, his face was completely peaceful. He didn’t stir.