Chapter Seven
“J!” Danny whacked his future bro’s shoulder. “Something’s happening. Sonja’s coming to the mic again.”
Jamie’s rapid-fire typing ceased and he scrambled up from the floor. Danny scooted over, giving Jamie room to stand in the shadowed corner that afforded a view of the deck. He pointed to the right. Two of the mercs tossed the rolled green carpet from the gangway overboard as the main entry to the ship retracted.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sonja said, regaining everyone’s attention. She looked frighteningly comfortable standing behind the mic with an assault rifle. “The ship is ours. There is no way on or off.”
Shouts rang out from the crowd.
“You can’t do this.”
“We called the cops.”
“What are you doing?”
Her cool disregard for her peers and industry influencers chilled Danny to the bone. Everyone here knew her and she still didn’t care, which meant she was unpredictable, which meant his family was in grave danger. How much longer could they wait for Mel? And what could one operative, albeit highly skilled and destructive, do against Sonja and her mini-militia? He’d been confident fifteen minutes ago but that confidence was waning, fast.
“The IRA has no quarrel with you,” Sonja said. “It’s the Talleys we want. They can end this right now, and you can go on with your lives, get off this ship, if they’ll turn themselves in.”
Danny had located his parents and siblings in the crowd as soon as he’d stood. At Sonja’s words, the guards and guests near each of them crowded a little closer, keeping them hidden. It was a flicker of hope lighting his despairing heart. The press did their part too, continuing to shout questions at Sonja so she wouldn’t notice the crowd’s movement. The Talleys had been generous with their time over the years; no press wanted to be singled out as the person who’d turned on them now, even for a headline-making story. Or maybe guests and reporters alike were smartly following the FBI ASAC’s orders. Cam’s dark head and suited form wove through the crowd like a snake, checking in with Danny’s family members.
But Sonja quickly grew frustrated with the delay and obfuscation. “You!” She pointed to one of her mercs. “Get up to the bridge and turn on the spotlights.”
“Shit!” Jamie yanked his phone free of the control panel and turned on his heel for the interior stairs at the back of the bridge. “We gotta get out of here.”
Danny, however, was rooted to his spot, his gaze locked on the horror unfolding onstage. While one merc left the stage, another dragged a woman up onto the dais.
Alison Mueller—Siobhan’s paralegal, thirty-five, single mother of two, celebrating five years with TE this month.
Sonja grabbed Alison by her dark hair, yanking her out of the merc’s hold and into hers. She pressed a knife against Alison’s pale throat. “If the Talleys won’t come forward on their own, then we’ll force them to.”
Sonja’s message was clear. Talleys come forward, now, or Alison would die.
Danny didn’t think twice. He started for the door, halted only when Jamie grabbed his forearm. “You can’t go out there.”
“I know her, J. I helped recruit her. I’m not going to let her die for us.”
“You know Sonja too. Would she really kill someone?”
He glanced back at the stage. Sonja’s blade dug into Alison’s throat, drawing blood, as the paralegal gulped back sobs. “Until fifteen minutes ago, I wouldn’t have thought so, but...” He threw an arm out toward the deteriorating scene.
Movement in the crowd drew his gaze—elegant heads of red and white moving forward. Siobhan headed for the stage, his father aiming to intercept her.
Sound drew his attention a different direction—boots hitting the bottom of the bridge steps. On their way up.
Time was ticking away.
An explosion, of one variety or another, was seconds away.
“Danny, we’ve got to go!” Jamie tugged him toward the back. “She’s not a killer. She’s a businesswoman. Hell, the IRA isn’t even in the killing business anymore. There’s gotta be more to this. Let Nic find out and then...”
Jamie’s words faded, drowned out by the blood rushing in Danny’s ears. His sister and father met mid-deck, arguing. The familiar sight should have been comforting, but suspecting they were debating who would give themselves up, who might live and who might die, made the sight wholly unfamiliar, and terrifying. Cam was closing in fast from where he’d stood with Ellen, but he didn’t move fast enough. John won the argument, and the crowd began to part as he stepped forward.
Boots thundered up the bridge stairs.
“Danny, let’s go!”
Jamie’s earlier words clicked. There’s gotta be more to this. Yes, there had to be. And there was only one way to find out. Only one way to save Alison and his family.
Danny wrenched his arm free. “I can’t leave them, J. You coordinate with Mel. I’m going to stall and find out what the fuck is going on. Stateroom.”
Jamie lunged for him, and Danny lunged for the light switch. He flipped it on, standing tall, while Jamie cursed and hit the floor behind the control panel. Danny slapped the speaker button, switching it to two-way. “Sonja, stop this.”
His father whipped his head around, as did Siobhan and the rest of the crowd, everyone looking up at him. At his feet, Jamie hiked up Danny’s pant leg and strapped a gun to his calf with what Danny could only assume was a computer wire, before arranging his sock and pant leg back over it.
“I’m coming out.” Hands raised, Danny slid out through the swinging door, careful not to reveal Jamie. He met Sonja’s henchman three steps from the top. Too damn close.
“Daniel Talley,” Sonja called out over the crowd. “It’s been too long.”
“I agree.” He broke out the Casanova smile he’d retired sixteen months ago. “How about a little chat, then? Between old friends.”