The Steel Shark

Chapter 41

Vivian stumbled across the yacht’s pitching deck. She didn’t like her odds. As part of her Army training, she’d taken a class to learn Arabic. Her Arabic wasn’t as good as her Pashto, but she didn’t need to be a linguistic genius to know they’d been talking about how and when to kill her. The one with the gun, Jin, looked like someone who’d pull the trigger without hesitation. The guards looked pretty serious, too. The three women who’d argued over her she wasn’t so sure about.

Jin and the guards seemed to work for the woman who owned the yacht, and Plan A was to get the hell away from Jin. The chubby one, Ambra, had seemed to be arguing for letting her go. She might become an ally. So, going with her was Plan B.

No one had questioned Vivian’s scared-prostitute act, but that might be because they didn’t really care where she came from because they planned to kill her anyway. Or, she was a fantastic actress, she’d tugged at their heartstrings, and they intended to let her go. That wasn’t much to bet her life on.

Glascoe and Tesla would send the Navy for her. She still had a transponder tucked into the top of her dive bootie. They’d find her. She was glad she’d sent Tesla out. He’d do whatever it took to get her back. Plus, he would have made a terrible hostage.

Jin poked her hard in the ribs with a gun barrel. “Walk.”

Vivian walked. She assumed they were taking her to a stateroom where they’d lock her in. She’d sit tight and wait for rescue, escape if she got close to shore. Not great options, but she’d work with what she had. At least she had regular air to breathe.

The white cabin of the yacht towered over her head. Everything was immaculate — freshly painted, spotless, and shiny. The captain ran a tight ship. So long as Vivian stayed in her good graces, maybe she’d get out of this alive.

Then she saw the sub.

The rounded hull rode above the waves, blacker than the water, blacker than the sky. Three women stood on the deck holding assault rifles. Their postures weren’t as precise as the guards on the yacht, but they still looked like they knew how to use the weapons.

“Go onto the deck.” Jin pointed at the submarine.

“No.” If she went onto the sub, she’d lose a lot of control. She wouldn’t be able to see if she was close to land. If she was able to escape, she’d have no idea if she was stranding herself in the middle of the ocean. She looked at the lit windows of the yacht. “I stay here.”

Jin prodded her hard enough to leave a bruise. “Go.”

The four women behind Jin glared at Vivian and raised their guns.

“What is that thing? I don’t want to go there,” Vivian said. “It doesn’t look safe.”

She did a quick scan of the horizon. No ships. No sign of shore. Not that she’d expected any. The remoteness of the location was why everyone had picked it.

“You go on that ship, or you go in the water with a bullet in your back,” said Jin.

Not much of a conversationalist, Jin. But she did get her point across.

“Please. Let me speak to the nice lady.” Any of the other ladies were nicer than Jin.

Jin leveled her gun at Vivian’s head. “You’re speaking to me. I say get on the other ship, or die right here. We can roll your body right into the water. No problem.”

The woman wasn’t bluffing.