Shoot First(Stone Barrington #45)(32)

“My hand before my face,” Rawls replied, “but only barely.”

Stone could hear engines now. “Radar shows he’s closing.”

“I don’t need radar to get that,” Rawls replied. “I’ve got ears.”

“It doesn’t sound very big,” Stone said.

“No, and it’s too quiet for a lobster boat.”

Suddenly, the engine noise stopped.

Stone peered into the fog. “I still can’t see him.”

“Well, that means he can’t see us, either. Thank God for small favors.”

Stone heard a metallic click from the fog. “What was that?”

Ed took hold of the banana clip on his weapon, released and extracted it, then slammed it home again. “That answer your question?”

“I guess it does,” Stone replied.

“You should either take a seat or get down on the deck,” Rawls said.

Meg walked up behind Stone, startling him. “What’s going on?”

Stone got down on one knee and pulled her down beside him. “There’s another boat out there, nearby.”

“I can’t see a thing,” Meg said.

“Be quiet and listen,” Stone whispered.

There was nothing for a full minute, then the engine noise came up again and, gradually, seemed to fade a little. “Is he leaving?” Stone asked Rawls.

“He is. I think he must have heard our response,” Rawls said.

The departing engines made more power, and the boat seemed to be moving away.

“I expect he’s got radar that allows him to move around in this fog,” Rawls said. “That, or he’s just nuts. I expect there are other boats anchored out there.”

“Not in that direction,” Stone said, “from what I saw on our radar.”

Bret joined them at the fantail, and Stone and Meg got to their feet.

“He’s left us,” Bret said.

“How close did he get on the radar?” Stone asked.

“Thirty meters.”

Rawls unscrewed the silencer and returned the rifle to its scabbard. “That’s close enough,” he said. “The fog was on our side.”

“Are you expecting an assault?” Bret asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Stone replied. “We came up here to get rid of somebody who took a shot at us a few days ago, in Florida.”

“All we’ve got aboard is two shotguns for skeet, but I do have some buckshot, if it’s needed,” Bret said. “And I’ve got a nine-millimeter handgun in my cabin, but I think Mr. Rawls is better armed for the occasion.”

“It would seem so,” Stone said. “Anybody hungry?”

“Everybody, I expect,” Rawls said.

“The cook’s at work on breakfast,” Bret replied. “I think we’d better serve it at anchor, and wait for the sun to get a bit higher and burn off some of this fog before we weigh anchor.”

“Agreed,” Stone said.



* * *



—

A MILE or so away, Joe cut the engines to idle and set the Jetstick to “Hover.” “There, that will keep us pretty much in the same spot,” he said.

“What about current?”

“The GPS will communicate that to the boat’s computer and it will be taken into account.”

“How close did we get to them?”

“Fifty, sixty yards, maybe. If the fog had been a little less thick, we might have gotten a shot off.”

“She’s probably still in her bunk,” Jane said.

“I heard a couple of male voices, once, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I heard somebody ram a magazine home, though, so I can’t say they weren’t expecting us.”

“That’s bad news,” Jane said. “What do you want to do?”

“They’re just on the edge of my radar screen,” Joe said. “We’ll wait here for them to make a move, then we’ll follow very, very discreetly.”

“If we can see them on radar, then they can see us,” Jane pointed out.

“Yeah, but when the fog lifts they’ll be easy to find, given their size, which is something over a hundred feet. We’ll be harder to pick out among the pleasure boats and lobstermen. How many days’ food do we have aboard?”

“Three, unless you want to go on a diet.”

“If they go a lot farther afield, we’d be better off to reprovision somewhere, then just pick up a mooring at Dark Harbor and wait for them to come back.”

“Agreed,” she said.



* * *



—

AFTER BREAKFAST STONE sat down to read the Times online and wait for the fog to clear. Meg came and sat down beside him.

“What’s our plan?” she asked.

“Wait for the fog to lift, then continue our cruise,” Stone replied.

“Won’t they follow us?”

“Maybe, but they know we’re armed now, so they’ll be cautious. They might even drop the chase.”

“I hope so,” Meg said.

“We can hope.”





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