Piranha

16

The steel deck of the Oregon baked under the cloudless sky where it was moored against the dock of Montego Bay’s Freeport terminal. Eric’s shirt was already soaked with perspiration from helping Murph construct the portable ramps, grind rails, and eight-foot-tall half-pipe that Juan reluctantly allowed him to install, turning the ship into a makeshift skateboard park. Eric lowered his sunglasses so they wouldn’t steam up as he peered at the screen of his brand-new video camera. He was kneeling to get the best angle for the shot, an enormous cruise ship providing the backdrop.

The lens was trained on Murph as he hurtled across the obstacles, bobbing his head to the beat of heavy metal music only he could hear in his headphones. Every time he whipped around in a turn, sweat flew from hair that poked from the edge of his helmet. Eric had caught some good tumbles already, but Murph, who was dressed in baggy shorts and a black T-shirt that said “Welcome to Nuketown” and was protected by kneepads and elbow pads, popped back up every time. Only a true face-plant would slow him down.

Eric’s phone rang, and he kept the video recording as he answered it.

“This is Eric.”

“Eric, it’s Linda,” she said, her voice breathy and urgent. “We’re in trouble.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Julia and I were attacked.”

“My God! Are you all right?”

“We’re okay, but we have reason to believe the rest of the crew might be targeted as well.”

“Targeted? By whom?”

She described her attackers, including her assessment that they were either French or Haitian, neither of which made sense to Eric. But the danger implied in the message was undeniable: All of them have been sighted. Attack as soon as you see an opportunity.

The hairs on the back of Eric’s neck stood on end. He suddenly felt exposed on the deck.

“Contact everyone who’s on leave and tell them to get back to the ship,” Linda said. “When that’s done, get the Oregon ready for departure. She’s a sitting duck. Julia and I are on our way back now. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Got it.”

Eric hung up. He couldn’t help looking around to see if he was being watched, realizing someone could be observing them from any of a hundred spots in the crowded port area.

He yelled for Murph to stop, but the headphones were pumped to the same earsplitting volume that Murph blasted in his isolated cabin. Eric tried moving over and waving his arms, but Murph was so absorbed in his tricks that he paid no attention.

Eric felt more than heard a disturbance in the air. A hole appeared in the half-pipe above the spot where Murph had performed a particularly difficult twisting move. There was no accompanying rifle crack, but Eric knew a bullet hole when he saw one.

The sniper must have been waiting for Murph to pause but was prodded to act early because of Eric’s waving. He had to be using a sound suppressor.

Murph was oblivious to the threat. He would be up the other side of the half-pipe and back into the sniper’s view in moments.

Eric sprinted across the floor of the half-pipe. Murph was already curling up the opposite side, preparing to go into his next spin. Eric launched himself at Murph, who gaped in surprise when he saw his friend barreling toward him.

Eric tackled Murph around the torso and Murph’s momentum took his legs up into the air over the lip of the half-pipe. The two of them flipped around and crashed to the floor. Murph’s headphones were ripped from his ears.

“What the hell?” Murph yelled, grabbing his leg. “I think my ankle’s twisted, you goober!”

Eric looked down and saw blood oozing between Murph’s fingers. The sniper hadn’t missed completely.

“Let me see,” Eric said, lifting Murph’s hand away. A bullet had punched all the way through his calf. Murph blanched at the sight.

“I’ve been shot?”

Eric tore off his shirt and wrapped it around Murph’s leg, tightening it as much as he could to keep pressure on the wounds.

“Linda called,” Eric said. “She and Julia were assaulted at the spa by two attackers. A text on one of their phones implied that the rest of us were also targeted.”

“Why?” Murph asked, wincing as Eric tied off the bandage.

“Good question. We may be stuck here unless we can get that sniper off our backs.”

“Where is he?”

Since the half-pipe was built on the flattest section of the deck, the nearest hatch to the interior was a hundred feet away, so running for it would make them easy targets. More holes drilled through the polyurethane half-pipe material. The frustrated sniper was firing blindly to flush them out or kill them where they sat. Eric guessed he was somewhere in the direction of the terminal’s oil storage facility. He couldn’t stick his head out without getting it blown off.

His video camera, however, was state-of-the-art, with a 100× optical/digital zoom built in. Eric edged it around the end of the half-pipe and watched the screen as he panned around, looking for the most likely place for a sniper to hide within range of the Oregon. The assassin would want to be high enough to have a good vantage point.

Eric zoomed in on the fifty-foot-tall oil tanks until he could see every detail. The first two tanks were barren, but when he got to the third, he could spot the faint outline of a man lying atop the tank. He still had the rifle aimed at the Oregon, waiting for them to show their faces.

“Got him,” Eric said, showing the image to Murph.

“He planned that well,” Murph said through clenched teeth. “No way we can take him out with the Gatling gun when he’s on a tank full of oil.”

“Not that we could open fire here in port anyway.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Eric nodded. “I think it’s time to call the police.” He routed the call through an anonymous server so that it couldn’t be traced back to them and reported that shots had been fired at the oil facility.

Moments later, police sirens wailed in the distance. The camera showed the gunman scrambling across the tower toward the stairs. He would be gone before the police could arrive, but that didn’t matter to Eric anymore.

He needed to alert the others. He preferred to call Juan first, but since he and Max were at sea and out of cell phone range, the Oregon’s radio would be the only way to reach him. As he helped Murph limp to the medical bay, Eric used his free hand to dial Franklin Lincoln.