The Darkest Day

FIFTY-FIVE

They left Manhattan on the Staten Island ferry. The ferries were still running and packed to capacity with otherwise stranded commuters unable to take other forms of public transport or use their cars on closed roads and bridges. The police presence felt heavy at the South Street terminal but the overworked cops seemed more interested in keeping the dense crowds under control than looking out for fugitives.

The East River ferry would have taken them straight to Brooklyn, but if Halleck’s crew were watching any route, that would be the one.

Victor and Raven stood outside on the top deck because it was almost impossible to get inside with so many people competing for space. Raven positioned herself to Victor’s left. To his right a frail woman with bone-white hair clutched a handbag-sized dog. A teacup chihuahua, the woman told him, named Teddy.

‘They don’t allow pets on the ferry,’ she explained. ‘So I normally take the Q to Coney Island.’

To be polite, Victor asked, ‘How did you get Teddy onboard?’

‘I said to them, “If you don’t let me take him with me then I’ll have to swim instead.”’ She grinned, mischievous. ‘I turned on the waterworks.’

‘A shrewd tactic.’

She nodded. ‘A lady must use all weapons in her arsenal.’

Raven said, ‘I couldn’t agree more.’

The woman stroked Teddy and asked Victor, ‘How long have you two been together?’

He hesitated, but Raven said, ‘Not long. But it’s something of a whirlwind romance.’

The woman said to Raven, ‘The best kind, dear,’ and then to Victor, ‘You’re a lucky man. I hope you treat her right.’

Victor remained silent.

‘If I were you,’ the woman said to Raven with a wink, ‘I’d make the most of him before he gets fat. Because they all do.’

Raven laughed and said, ‘Oh, I intend to.’

The woman excused herself to find a toilet for Teddy to use. Victor didn’t enquire as to how Teddy might use facilities designed for humans or even how she knew the dog needed to.

They arrived at the St George terminal a few minutes after nine p.m. The power was running on Staten Island, and they could see the same was the case across the bay in Brooklyn. A bus took them over the bridge and south to Coney Island. It was nearing ten when they stood on the sea wall, facing east, and looked out across the water to their objective, some two kilometres away.

Floyd Bennett Field was little more than wide empty space on the map. It was located on Barren Island, a spur of artificial land, filled and claimed from the sea on the southeast coast of Brooklyn, surrounded by water on three sides. To the east lay Jamaica Bay; west was the Lower Bay. To the south across the narrow strip of water between the two lay the Queens Peninsula, which marked the last stretch of dry land before the Atlantic Ocean. It had been built as New York’s first municipal airport in 1931, but these days it was only in service during air shows. The area was now managed by the National Park Service and was used for camping, motorsport events and other leisure activities.

But not in the middle of the night. Now, the disused airfield would be unoccupied save for Halleck’s team.

‘If I’m right, there are four bridges that lead to the island,’ Raven said. ‘Two at the north, one at the west and one south.’

Victor could see the Marine Parkway Bridge in the distance, stretching over the water from the Queens Peninsula.

‘Halleck has a large crew, but it’s not big enough to keep watch over the entire island. He has enough men to watch the bridges though.’

‘I’m hoping you don’t suggest we swim,’ Raven said.

‘I didn’t bring my shorts.’

She gestured with her chin to where sailboats and pleasure boats and small yachts were moored on a nearby jetty. ‘No one is out on the water at this time of night.’

He nodded.

She said, ‘I don’t know how to sail.’

‘Neither do I.’

‘Outboard motors are noisy. They’ll hear us coming a mile away.’

He said, ‘What’s your upper-body strength like?’

She turned to follow his gaze to where an inflatable lifeboat was moored behind one of the larger yachts.

‘I can bench twice my bodyweight,’ she said. ‘Can you?’

He didn’t answer. ‘Any idea what Halleck is having delivered?’

She shook her head. ‘Your guess is as good as mine. But I think it’s safe to say it will be related to the attack.’

‘Will Halleck be there to collect it?’

She regarded him, close and searching. ‘Halleck doesn’t die until I know what he’s planning and where the bomb is. Are we clear on that?’

‘I understand what your motivations are, yes.’

‘That’s not what I said. Remember: if that bomb goes off, the person who is going to take the fall for it is you, so it’s in your own best interests that it doesn’t go bang.’

Victor said nothing.

For a minute they watched the moonlight dance on the water and listened to the lapping of waves.

‘What now?’ she asked.

‘We eat.’

They found places still open easy enough, but they ignored the busy restaurants and bars, settling instead on a quiet diner with only one other patron. They sat in a booth along the far wall where they could both see the door. The waitress who took their order had the tired eyes of someone who was at the end of a double shift and didn’t disguise her annoyance at having another table to serve. Victor reminded himself to leave a good tip.

He ordered coffee and the all-day breakfast. Raven only wanted coffee.

‘Never go into battle on an empty stomach,’ he told her after the waitress had gone.

‘You do it your way,’ Raven said in return. ‘I’ll do it my way.’

The diner had a television mounted high in one corner. The sound was off and even without reading the anchor’s lips, Victor knew what was being discussed and what was not.

He said, ‘They’re saying the blackout was caused by a computer fault.’

Raven shrugged. ‘That’s true, kind of.’

‘And the power will be back on by morning. No mention of it being deliberate. Certainly not an act of terrorism.’

She nodded. ‘Even if they know what caused it, there’s no point alarming people. It’s like we have a collective consciousness to maintain the lie that everything is fine, even when it’s not.’

They said nothing more until the waitress had returned with the coffee flask and gone again.

Victor said, ‘If you were Halleck, what would you do? Would you have your guys out looking for us, or would you pull them back to protect the delivery?’

She didn’t have to consider the options. ‘Protect the delivery. His guys have failed twice while they’ve been spread out, and the authorities are looking for us anyway. Plus, even if he doesn’t know we’ve found out about the airfield, he needs to consider the possibility. Especially if I’m Halleck and I’m there too, or will be. He’s a warrior and he’s no coward, but he’s not stupid.’

Victor nodded. ‘I agree. Pachulski said there were twenty-four guys. The guy I spoke to earlier today said twenty-one.’

‘That’s Halleck not keeping his people in the know. It could be either or it could be less or it could be even be more.’

‘Let’s go with twenty-four. Anything else is optimism or wild speculation. I don’t do either.’

‘We took out two who came after us in the Audis, plus Pachulski and his partner. That leaves twenty.’

‘I disabled three and killed one in the parking garage under the museum.’

‘Nice work,’ she said. ‘That brings us down to sixteen.’

‘Fifteen,’ Victor corrected. ‘The guy on the subway will be calling in sick.’

‘What did you do with him?’

He said, ‘I convinced him his time would be better spent not following me around the city.’

‘You convinced him?’

‘I can be very persuasive when I want to be.’

Raven said, ‘So, he’s still out there?’

Victor nodded.

Raven shook her head. ‘Halleck picks people for their loyalty first and foremost.’

‘Good,’ Victor said. ‘I’d rather go against the most loyal opposition than the best opposition.’

She frowned at him. ‘What I mean is that guy you scared off will have had a change of heart.’

‘No,’ Victor said. ‘Right now he’s home or on his way home and thinking about what to do with the rest of his life.

‘Sixteen guys left,’ Raven said as though she hadn’t even heard him.

They stared at one another.

‘Or would you prefer we underestimated the strength of our opposition?’

‘Well played,’ Victor conceded. ‘Sixteen it is.’

She didn’t gloat. Instead she bit her lip. ‘That’s a hell of a crew. Sixteen guys is too many. We’ve only been up against a handful at a time before now. Next time we’ll be outnumbered eight-to-one.’

‘I can do basic arithmetic, Constance.’

‘I’m not sure what I dislike most: your sarcasm or your insistence on calling me that.’

Victor said, ‘When all this is over I’ll tell you my own name, which I’ve never liked either. Then you can have your revenge.’

‘Really?’ she asked, eyes widening in disbelief.

‘No,’ Victor said. ‘I was being sarcastic again.’

She groaned and rolled her eyes. ‘You’re like an annoying older brother, you know that?’

He nodded. ‘But an annoying older brother with a plan to get that number down.’

He placed Pachulski’s radio on to the tabletop.