The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(47)

A few minutes later they were on the deck of the frigate. It was much more stable, a blessed relief. Mike felt as if the waves that had slapped against the sub with such terrifying force were now only barely breaking against the ship.

A sailor handed them emergency blankets. They wrapped themselves in the specially treated fabric, grateful for the sudden warmth. Mike said to Nicholas, “Never thought I’d be so happy to be standing on a floating hunk of metal.”

He gave a tug on her wet ponytail. “You and me both, Dame Caine, you and me both.”

A short, portly man in a dark green uniform strode toward them, a lopsided smile on his face. In accented, somewhat broken English, he said, “I am Captain Heng of the Singapore Navy’s RSS Tenacious. You are welcome aboard. We have food, drink, and warm clothing inside. If you will follow my sailors’ directions?”

Captain Heng started to turn away but Nicholas caught his arm. “Captain Heng, we’re Agents Drummond and Caine, Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. We need to make for land immediately. It is a matter of national security. Can we take your rescue chopper? Ours is somewhere out there, unfortunately.” He pointed at the ocean. “We went down on approach.”

The captain’s face registered shock. “I am sorry to hear that. Your pilot? He has been rescued as well?”

“I’m afraid he died in the crash. This is Mr. Broussard. He can give you the exact coordinates so you can attempt a retrieval of his body. Captain, I am sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but we need to leave your ship immediately.”

Either the captain recognized the urgency in Nicholas’s voice or he was a good-natured man, because he nodded and said, “Very well. I will arrange it. Be here in ten minutes. I will have my pilots take you to Singapore.”

“Phuket, sir. Thailand is the closest. We have a plane waiting in Kuala Lumpur, we can have them meet us there.”

“This will take more arranging.”

“Sir, the circumstances are critical. We must get to land, and fly to Europe, and we need to do it before this typhoon strikes and we get stuck here for the next twenty-four hours. Many lives depend on our actions.”

“Very well. Have your plane moved to Phuket, and we will talk to the Thailand SAR and arrange for them to take you. They have ships nearby.” Another small lopsided smile. “We all cooperate when people are at risk in the Strait. As you say, the typhoon is coming, we must all be prepared.”

Nicholas already had his satellite phone out, remarkably still working. “Isn’t this a lovely surprise? These phones are indestructible, apparently. Even an ocean swim doesn’t kill the signal. I lost my tablet, but at least this was zipped inside my suit.”

Mike sighed. “Mine didn’t make it.”

“Come now, Agent Caine. We rescued Grant, which will make Kitsune very happy, all because of your brilliant idea. We’re batting a thousand so far.”

“Except we almost died. Again.”

“Once we stop this nuke we’ll talk about that.” He tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. “If you weren’t such an adrenaline junkie—”

“Me? An adrenaline junkie? Oh no, you don’t. I’m just along for the ride this time. Well, maybe. Okay, maybe not.”

He was still grinning when he spoke to the pilots of the Blue Mountain jet and got their assurances they would head to Phuket immediately. A few minutes later, a steel-gray Seahawk chopper landed on the deck of the Tenacious, the flag of Thailand painted on its side.

“There’s our ride.”

Grant and Broussard joined them, both still damp but drinking down hot coffee.

Grant said, “We’re going with you.”

Broussard said, “That’s right. Don’t try to ditch us. We’re coming, no argument.”

Nicholas said, “That’s fine with us. Mr. Broussard, we will need all the information you can provide on your second-in-command, this Dr. Nevaeh Patel.”

Mike didn’t want to get into yet another helicopter, but no choice. She said over her shoulder, “I’m going to start having a phobia about these things if we’re not careful,” and jumped aboard and settled in, put on her harness and headset. She accepted a cup of the strong coffee, swallowed, and was surprised to see the world was suddenly much brighter.

Grant sat down next to her, strapped in. Nicholas was opposite, Broussard beside him. They lifted off and one of the pilots said over their headsets, “We will be in Phuket in fifteen minutes.”

Nicholas gave them a thumbs-up.

Grant said, “You get a phobia, Mike? I thought crashing a chopper in the ocean would be high on your bucket list. I’ve heard Nicholas call you an adrenaline junkie.”

“Yeah, yeah, like you had sinking with a megayacht after being taken out by a Hellfire missile on yours? No more talk about crashing helicopters. And why does everyone think I’m an adrenaline junkie?”

Nicholas patted her damp knee. “Probably because every time we go in the air or the sea you’re the first one out the door with a manic grin on your face. Now, we’ve got to find out if this nuke is for real. Mr. Broussard, you need to run us through everything you know.”

Broussard looked at the three of them, sighed. “Grant, please do not call me Mr. Broussard again. Nor you, Nicholas. Now, you’ve heard everything. I was drugged, too, though maybe I didn’t get as much as some of the others. I was awake first, and able to function much sooner than anyone else.” He closed his eyes a moment, then said, “I think Devi must have dosed the wine, and the water, too. I had both water and a few sips of soup.”