Chasing Gold

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

The afternoon counted down.

Alicia was convinced in her heart of hearts that Crouch and his terrorist captors were already slicing through the skies ahead of them. Jet versus jet. The race was still running. She believed that the terrorists were desperate to play out their end game, especially after coming so close to defeat in Vegas and would head straight to Turtle Bay and then whatever this Shoshone Star was. The truth was — she and the others were still lagging behind.

Several times she asked the pilot to fly faster; made him get clearance to take the jet to its highest speed. Inside, they all took turns pacing up and down the aisle, trying not to get in each other’s way. There was little to say. All they could do was peer out the window and wish that the patches of landscape they could see below were moving quicker.

Crouch also peered out of the window of his jet, wondering if Alicia and the team were still on their tail. He knew it was touch and go. It had been incredibly hard to make the last message happen. Silently, he wished for the plane to slow down, for the power to drop, for a storm — anything to allow their pursuers to gain ground.

Terri sat by his side. They were both zip-tied with their hands in their laps, both secured at the ankles too. Terri had said very little since they left Vegas, and Crouch wondered if she was worrying over Cutler. The guy had seemed fine when he broke free, but maybe Terri had seen something else.

Crouch had already studied every detail of their captors at least twice. Ricci sat at the front of the plane, constantly ranting into a cellphone, his black hairstyle as unruffled now as it had been the first time Crouch set eyes upon it. The other two remaining terrorists — the banner bearers — sat to Crouch’s left, both nodding off, both holding their arms tenderly as if muscles and tendons truly burned.

The jet raced on, flashing through the air at hundreds of miles per hour. If Alicia was behind she would be pushing the speed with every ounce of energy she possessed. Crouch had always had a soft-spot for the spirited Englishwoman, ever since he learned of her terrible life at home and that she’d run away to join the Army. What energy she must have possessed to become the first woman of the SAS… but that was another, older story. He trusted her implicitly, and knew she would do anything — everything — to save his life.

Ricci rose at the front and turned around, grinning. “We’re landing soon,” he said. “And then we will be gone. I have more men waiting at Turtle Bay. Enjoy this flight,” he said. “It will be your last.”

And then, not happy with simply waking the men who’d labored and struggled with the banner’s weight between them, he walked over and tased them into awareness.

Terri glanced at him. The look on her face said it all.

We’re gonna die.

Terri had been thinking about Cutler once more and wondering if he had been forced to join the chase team. Most of her wished for an affirmative, but that scared part of her — the one that remembered he’d chosen badly in a moment of crisis; that hoped she’d never see him again. Her soul was full of endings, seeing their parting and her death and worse — a death she wished for but would not soon come.

It was odd — but the best time of her life turned out to have been chasing Cutler. Not world-class robbery or finding him. But looking for him. She had been alone and carefree, just embarking on her journey. Wasn’t it strange how an event skipped by, unnoticed, and then later you looked back and just knew that it was something you’d never forget — something epic that would become nothing less than a deathbed memory.

Looking for Cutler. Not finding him.

And never since had she felt the same. Life had truly passed her by.

She looked to Crouch now, knowing she still had a clever, capable asset at her side. And boy, was she going to stick with him.

Alicia urged the jet to higher speeds, feeling the vibration in the wings and hearing the deep roar of the engines. The floor vibrated and the fuselage rocked as it was struck by turbulence. The pilot called back that they were an hour out from the island of Oahu.

Caitlyn called out through the tumult inside the plane. “I have it. The Shoshone Star is an oil tanker.”

Alicia considered that for a moment. “From Turtle Bay to an oil tanker? Then waveriders will be a form of boat…”

Austin bowed slowly.

“They bought passage,” Russo said, “an easy way out of the country. The tanker could be going anywhere in the world. This changes things now.”

“Why?” Alicia could barely keep her hands still she was so pumped full of adrenalin and fire.

“Isn’t it more likely that their video will be beamed from the tanker? Somewhere totally anonymous.”

“It would make it far easier for them,” Caitlyn said.

Alicia glared at them. She knew they had it all. Everything. The terrorists’ entire plan.

But she also knew it might be too late to stop them.