“What we’ve got ahead of us is little more than carefully executed destruction and extermination. You’ve all been drafted for pest control. These things can’t be allowed to continue to thrive, and certainly can’t be permitted to breed and spread.
“So here’s the plan …”
68
“You’re not going to throw me overboard, are you?” Tori asked, attempting a smile.
The serious little FBI guy, Nadeau, shook his head. “I don’t think that’s on the agenda. At least not today.”
So he did have a sense of humor. It was just buried underneath an intense expression and the air of purpose that swept them both along the corridor and up the stairs. They passed an open door leading out on deck and the warm breeze helped her feel more awake and alert. But Agent Nadeau opened an inner door and Tori reluctantly passed through it.
She had started to feel a little claustrophobic in the room they’d given her — not because of its size, but because they would not allow her to leave. If she had to use the bathroom, one of the Coast Guard seamen would accompany her and wait outside the door, but otherwise she remained a prisoner. After Josh had visited her, she had tried to rest, but as tired as she was, she only fidgeted and tossed and finally sat up again.
Nadeau’s mysterious arrival had been a blessing.
“You still won’t tell me where you’re taking me?”
The agent preceded her down the hall, oblivious to any danger of attack from behind. She might be in custody, but obviously they didn’t perceive her as much of a threat. Maybe that was because of Josh, or maybe it was because, even if she did try to get the jump on Nadeau and make a break for it, she didn’t have anywhere to run.
“I’m taking you to a meeting,” he said.
“About what?”
“Something to do with the operation, obviously. Beyond that, I have no idea, and wouldn’t be able to tell you if I did. Can you stop asking now?”
Tori understood Nadeau’s shtick now: cranky guy. Apparently he thought it was part of his charm.
He led her up another inner flight of stairs and then back toward starboard to a door flanked by yet another pair of seamen in the uniform of the U.S. Coast Guard. One of them rapped on the metal door and then unlatched it, swinging it open for them to enter.
“Very Chamber of Secrets,” she said.
But the room surprised her. Instead of the dreary, cheerless cell she had anticipated, she found herself in a small rec room a bit like those on board the Antoinette. Windows on the starboard wall let air and sunlight in and the smell of popcorn swirled on the breeze. Someone had used the microwave to pop some recently, but Tori doubted it was anyone in the room. She knew all but one of them, and she thought they had better things to do.
There were three FBI agents in the room — Josh, Rachael Voss, and the asshole Turcotte — and now Nadeau made four. Turcotte stood by one of the windows and did not even glance up when she and Nadeau entered and the door clanged shut behind them. The only person she did not recognize was a beautiful older woman with silver hair, whom she gauged at about sixty. The woman was dressed all in black and looked both stylish and serious, but she nodded to Tori, almost friendly.
“Please, Miss Austin,” the woman said. “Take a seat.”
In her current circumstances, she knew she shouldn’t be making snap judgments, but Tori liked her immediately. Nobody else in the room had bothered to sit, but Tori went to one of the chairs around a round card table and slid into it, forcing herself not to even glance at Josh.
She hadn’t forgiven him for lying to her, but as her anger had receded, she had begun to understand that he must be telling the truth. It couldn’t all have been pretense. He would never have risked losing his job for her. That implied that either she meant something to him, or he’d wanted her so badly he couldn’t control himself, or a little of both. And all of those options intrigued her, no matter how much it still stung.
Tori watched him as he spoke quietly to Agent Nadeau, loving his eyes and the line of his jaw, and feeling foolish to be thinking of such things in the midst of something so weird and awful.
She rolled her eyes a little and started to turn away, then caught both Rachael Voss and the silver-haired woman watching her. The older woman seemed interested and amused, but Voss’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed in consternation. She had obviously seen something in the way Tori looked at Josh and didn’t approve.
Someone rapped on the metal door. It was opened from outside and Tori blinked in surprise as Gabe Rio stepped into the room. The captain of the Antoinette looked ragged around the edges, with dark circles under his eyes, but he kept his chin high in defiance. No handcuffs, but they were obviously far more wary of him than they had been of her, for the broad-shouldered FBI agent who followed him into the room watched his every move. The seamen out in the hall closed and latched the door behind Gabe and the big agent.
“Thanks, Mac,” Voss said to the big guy.
When Gabe saw the agents gathered there, he sized them up and then walked toward the card table.
“How you doing, Tori?” he asked, sliding into the chair beside her.
“I’m all right. You holding up?”
They both knew she wasn’t talking about his bandaged leg or the harrowing experience they had shared, but about Miguel’s death, and the revelation that his brother had been having an affair with Gabe’s wife.
Gabe knocked his knuckles on the table. “I’m still here.”
“And we’re glad you are,” the silver-haired woman said.
The FBI agents all focused on her as if she were a judge calling the court to order. Even Turcotte pulled his attention from the window. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, body language saying volumes about his disapproval of this situation, whatever it might be.
Since Tori and Gabe were sitting, the silver-haired woman joined them at the card table. The five FBI agents in the room remained standing, a few feet back, observing. None of them seemed particularly happy about being there — not even Josh.
“Miss Austin. Captain Rio. My name is Dr. Alena Boudreau and I am now in charge of all matters relating to this operation, including the events that transpired over the past twenty-four to forty-eight hours aboard the Antoinette and on the island.”
As if in punctuation, a sudden roar filled the room. It took Tori a moment to realize the sound came from a helicopter that had just flown overhead.
Turcotte glanced back at the window. “Four choppers,” he said, turning to look at Dr. Boudreau. “You’re not wasting any time.”
For her part, Dr. Boudreau adopted a serious expression, but Tori had a feeling the woman was only indulging Turcotte.
“The civilian helicopter will be returning to St. Croix in a couple of hours. They’re loaning us their services in the meantime.”
Dr. Boudreau turned back to Tori and Gabe. “Let me make this short and sweet. I’ve read the statements you gave about the creatures … the sirens, as you call them … and what happened to your crew. I’m sure the last thing either of you wants is to ever set foot on that island again. However, that’s precisely what I’m asking.”
Tori felt her mouth drop open and frigid air seemed to envelop her.
“You’re crazy,” Gabe said. “Out of your mind, lady.”
“You can’t possibly—” Turcotte began.
The woman shot him a dark look. “I have the authority to choose any team I want — to incorporate anyone, with any specialty, from any government agency, organization, or armed service, or to recruit any civilian who is necessary to the completion of the operation with which I am tasked. Do you want to argue this some more, Agent Turcotte, maybe give our people less time before nightfall, or can we get on with it?”