“Ah. So. Well, did you—”
“No.” Lazzo shook his head. “I couldn’t get myself to try your—I mean his—I… no. I’m okay. I’ll wait until next week if I have to. I’ll have someone buy me some from the market.” He hoped his embarrassment and stuttering had sufficiently masked his initial guilty response.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, please. It’s okay. Please don’t tell Danny. You have no idea as a guy how…” He looked away, still acting.
“Don’t worry.” Kate laughed again. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Lazzo headed back to his room and sat on his bed, still trembling. That was too close. Way too close. He had been so close to being caught in the act. If he hadn’t seen Tara coming up the hill, Kate would have walked in on him and then… then what?
But now what should he do? He couldn’t risk going back into Danny and Kate’s room. If he were caught again, he was sure no one would believe him no matter what he said. But where was that book? Was Danny carrying it with him now? Was it in Blake’s house?
Lazzo was in a full panic. He was running out of time and couldn’t chance being caught snooping again. He had to start thinking about another way to get the information the Libyan commander wanted. At that moment it occurred to him that he hadn’t thoroughly explored the van in the Waimea Bay parking lot. Was it possible he’d missed something there?
He knew this might be his last chance to go back to Kauai since there would supposedly only be one more strategy meeting—Saturday—before the aircraft carrier left, and who knew how security would change around the ship’s departure. He grabbed his sweatshirt and headed down to the cove—needing to leave before the Pack came back. The others were hanging out at the top of the cliff trail so—to be courteous—he asked if anyone needed or wanted to go with him to Kauai. Kate smiled at him and he looked away quickly, pretending to still be embarrassed. He breathed an inward sigh of relief when no one else wanted to go. “Okay, I’ll be back in two hours.”
When Lazzo reached the Waimea Bay parking lot on Kauai, he hopped into the van. He searched the glove compartment, visors, and ashtray. Nothing. In frustration he slammed his fists against the steering wheel. There had to be something here. This was Libyan intelligence. They wouldn’t just leave a van here and hope he came up with a use for it.
He slammed his head back against the seat rest, and a sharp object stabbed him in the back. “Aya… Ouch!” He turned around and pushed against the sharp object. Then he noticed the seat cushion had been cut on the side. He reached inside the slit and pulled out a rough lump of coral with a piece of paper wrapped around it. He unfolded the paper and read the words aloud.
“Car equipped with satellite diffuser. Switch next to ignition. Switch releases magnetic pulse that kills all electronics in twenty miles. You will travel invisibly. Safe house is at your disposal. Can be hiding place, storage site, prison, etc. Four guards there to help you as needed. If pulse activated, we will know you are coming and we will be ready. Allah be with you.”
This was exactly what he had been looking for and should have easily found—had he only sat in the driver’s seat before. Not having any idea where the book was anymore, he couldn’t just take it and run—his original plan—but he still needed it. And now Lazzo knew exactly what he must do to get that book. He just needed the opportunity to present itself.
He still had a chance. He just had to force Danny’s hand.
TWELVE – Snow White (Hayley)
The USS George Washington was parked a half-mile offshore, but it was so huge it seemed we could reach out and touch it. The carrier had finished its planned loop and settled into the Kauai Channel for the night. The Hexagon had called Danny and let him know it was parked in our “dark” zone—so they couldn’t see it. They wanted us to let them know immediately if anything went wrong—though I suspected the carrier would notify them on their own if they needed to. From various vantage points in the tree house we used our telescopes and binoculars to watch people scurry around the deck, completing an assortment of drills and tasks. Danny pointed out Captain Baker and Brock. I’d already heard plenty about those two from all the Pack members so I observed them a little closer than the others—out of curiosity. Launch day was finally upon us.
Grandpa thought we should build a huge bonfire down in our cove and have a farewell celebration of sorts for the 348 people on that ship. “Maybe for 346 of them, Ryan,” Keena said, and we all laughed. Yeah, no one will miss the prick and his fat sidekick. We grilled hot dogs, burgers, steaks, vegetables, apples—my favorite—and s’mores and popped open a bottle of champagne. We went all out, and then we sat on the beach and watched the lights on the carrier. At some point Sam mentioned taking one of our boats out to the carrier to see it up close from the water. It was almost completely dark, with no moon out yet, and pretty much everyone else was heading up to go to bed—but Emily and Abbey were thrilled by the idea, so Reagan and I volunteered to ride along. I could tell Danny was considering coming with us, but Kate pulled him away. I hugged him goodnight.
“Be careful,” he said.
“Sure thing.” I gave him a quick hug.
Tara and Dad were talking to Emily and I couldn’t help but overhear most of it.
“Please, Mom.”
“It’s not safe, Em. It’s dark and—”
“But Abbey gets to go. Reagan will be there… and Hayley.”
“It’s actually not a bad night.” Dad jumped in. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime experience.”
“Ryan.” Tara clearly didn’t like him taking sides—or the opposite side.
He should have kept his mouth shut. “Tara.” I stepped over to them. “She’ll be okay. I’ll keep her right by me.”
Tara looked out at the boat one more time, then down at her daughter whose hands were clasped together in a pleading manner. “Okay—”
“Yes!” Emily jumped up and down and hugged Tara.
“But—but…” She placed a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “You put that life jacket on and you stay with Hayley. I want you back at the Big House in an hour.”
“Okay, Mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“One hour.”
“I’ve got her, Tara.” I watched Emily run off towards Abbey.
“Thanks, Hayley.”
“Of course.”
Lazzo walked out onto the docks with us. I asked if he wanted to go, and he shrugged and hopped in.
“Sure, why not? I’m still wide awake.”
We shoved off and headed toward the aircraft carrier. Once we got beyond the cove the wind started picking up. It was almost chilly. I snuggled against Sam for a little extra warmth—as he steered us towards the carrier. Suddenly Lazzo stood and stepped away from Reagan. He was holding something in his hand—pointing it at Sam. A gun! “Stop the boat, Sam,” Lazzo demanded.
Abbey opened her mouth to scream, but Lazzo covered her face with his hand, pressing the gun to Reagan’s forehead as she moved toward Abbey. “Sit back down, Reagan.”
“Lazzo, what the hell?” I stepped towards him and away from Sam—grabbing Six’s leash and trying to get closer to Reagan. “What are you—”
“Sit down, Hayley.” He swung the gun toward me. “Right here.”
Reluctantly, I did as I was told. Six was snarling. With one hand I gently covered his mouth. With the other I motioned for Reagan to sit down. “Lazzo, what is this?”