The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(22)

Four were dead and the rest of the crew were in varying degrees of drug-induced delirium, beyond high. Yes, definitely ketamine, he thought.

Broussard began coughing. Grant gave him some water, told him to get it together or they’d die, repeating the words over and over until Broussard’s eyes opened.

He drank more water, then sat up, eyes still unfocused. “Thornton. What happened?”

“Listen to me carefully. The ship is sinking. We have to evacuate.”

“Abandon ship?”

“Yes. How do we do that?”

Broussard’s head lolled back. Grant slapped him until he came to again.

“What’s happening?”

“We were attacked, drugged. The boat is sinking. Get it together, mate.”

“Devi. Where’s Devi?”

“I’m sorry, but Devi is dead, and we will all join her soon if you Don’t. Wake. Up!”

The yacht groaned again, its internal gyroscope off and twisting, and the room shifted, hard. That woke Broussard.

“The lifeboats. We need the lifeboats. And the submersible can take up to six people.”

“Show me.”

Grant’s people were staggering around now. He clapped his hands to get their attention.

He shouted, “Emergency protocol seven, immediately! The ship’s been hit, is going down. Get as many people as you can to the lifeboats.”

His people started moving, slowly, but they were moving.

Grant said, “There are a few fatalities among the crew as well from whatever we’ve all been dosed with, I’m assuming ketamine. But Devi was shot to death. Someone came on board in a Sikorsky helicopter, and I’m pretty sure they took your Holy Grail with them. Then they shot us with what surely looked and felt like a Hellfire missile. Hit the side, near the stern. Come on, we have to get moving or we’re all going to die.”

Broussard’s head lolled back again and he cursed in French. Odd how curses didn’t sound as bad in another language.

“But who did this to us? Who could have drugged everyone?”

“Doesn’t matter. Time to go.” He heaved Broussard to his feet.

Broussard was slowly coming back. He looked around, confused.

“Why are the engines off? The emergency lights aren’t on, either.”

“Right. It happened before the missile hit us. Seems the ship was turned off somehow.”

Broussard dragged in a breath, shook his head. “No, that’s impossible. Come with me.”

Together, they moved to the stairs, then up to the control deck on the bridge. There were no lights in the con, not from the screens or the generators. Grant could see flashlights bobbing. Good, his team was leading people to the lifeboats.

“We can’t have more than ten minutes before the whole ship goes down.”

“How the devil did this happen? The transponder has been turned off.” Broussard fiddled with it for a moment. “Not only turned off, it’s been tampered with.”

It had to be said. “Was Devi capable of such a thing?”

Broussard closed his eyes a moment, then shook his head. “No. She must have been in the wrong place when whoever it was came aboard.”

Broussard was moving from station to station, screen to screen. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s more than a power outage. It’s almost as if we’ve been turned off purposefully. But how—”

He grappled with something, then yanked it free. “Merde. Look.”

Grant flashed his torch over Broussard’s hand. He held a small jump drive.

“Not part of your standard operating system?”

“No. I’ve never seen this before. I’m going to have to get us started by hand. I have a special deployment protocol programmed into the system, shouldn’t be compromised. It will allow the lifeboats out and inflate them. You need to tend to the rest of my crew. See who you can get revived enough to help me.” Before Grant could move, Broussard turned. Cursed. Grant looked over his shoulder to see a wall of flames. The missile’s fire had spread.

“No time, no time, do it now or we all die!”

Broussard smashed a foot through a panel to a red lever. He grabbed it with both hands and yelled, “Help me!”

Grant got his hands on it, too, and together they pulled, wrenching the bar back until Grant felt the shudder of machinery and heard a few cheers, then directions being yelled to people to get into the freed lifeboats.

“I’ve got to get Devi. I can’t leave her here. I’ll find Devi and get the Grail and meet you at the boats.”

Grant grabbed his arm. “I’m afraid Devi is responsible for this. She was the only one unaccounted for in the dining room. She’s up on deck, or was before we tilted—no, you can’t go up there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Whoever took your Grail and disabled your ship was talking to her before they shot her. I didn’t hear her calling for help. I heard her ask about her sister, I think. I’m still very fuzzy.”

“But—how? Why? The Grail—”

“The Grail is gone. Whoever took it killed Devi and is trying to kill the rest of us. Now go! We’ll figure everything out later.” He shoved Broussard back toward the stairs to the lifeboats. Looked back at the con. He needed to get word out somehow.