Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(91)

Rand turned and jogged forward, ducking under windows, searching for an entrance. Twenty or so yards away, he found a door and nudged it open, peering inside. The lights were on, but no one was home.

The rain and noise from the gunfight at the bow of the ship overpowered anything inside. He strained to hear voices, movement, but instead all he heard was the rhythmic pounding of water and the ping of bullets.

Time was running out.

Rand crept down the hall, a sense of dread weighing him down. Would they kill Sarah if it came down to getting what they wanted or nothing at all?

Rand turned and headed toward the stern of the ship. The rooms were empty. A few held discarded bits, empty boxes of takeout, some doughnuts. He reached out as he passed and stuck his finger in a cup of coffee.

Still warm. There’d been people here until recently. Which meant that Sarah might have just been here. In this room.

He sheathed his knife and pulled out his cell phone.

No service.

He picked his way forward, pausing at a junction of wide hallways to listen. A fresh breath of air wafted by, heavy with moisture. Someone had left a door open.

He tilted his head left, then right.

It was hard to tell, but if he were hemmed in with an advancing enemy, he’d go out the back, toward the aft of the ship.

Rand took the left hall, gun at the ready. Ahead of him a wide door, big enough for a forklift, stood open. He jogged forward, keeping close to the wall, until he could peer out onto the aft deck.

Rain poured from the skies, creating a curtain of cover.

A group of people stood at the port quarter rail, just to the side of the stern. A woman growled.

He knew that sound.

Sarah.

Rand’s heart leaped into his throat, and he stepped forward into the rain before he could process what was going on.

A man turned, one he recognized. Rand fired first, the shot going wide and pinging off the stern rail.

Wei fired back, but Rand dove to the side.

“Rand, Rand—it’s Charlie! Rand!” Sarah’s words washed over him, their meaning lost to him. All he knew was that she was in trouble, and if he didn’t get her back now he might never see her again.

He dove down a level, using the nook created by the loading ramp and upper deck as protection.

Sarah was gone, likely over the side of the ship. Only two other people remained on the deck.

Wei, and another man Rand didn’t recognize. They’d split, one circling around from the aft, the other coming at him from the port side.

Rand aimed at the stranger and fired off a blast. He swung around, but Wei was faster. The other man kicked Rand in the shoulder, knocking him back. His hand went numb, and the gun slipped out of his fingers. He stumbled sideways, pulling his knife with the other hand and faced Wei fully.

Sorry, Andy…

Rand lunged, and Wei dodged. Or would have. Instead, Wei slipped on the oil and water, going down. He twisted, wrapping his hands around Rand’s ankle and yanked. Rand twisted midair, coming down hard on top of the slighter man. The knife slipped from his grip, clattering to the deck.

Wei grunted and Rand turned, slamming his fist into Wei’s face.

Again and again.

Wei bucked and twisted, unseating Rand just enough to roll out from under him. Wei slashed out with Rand’s knife, catching the front of the Kevlar vest. Rand knocked Wei’s hand aside and punched again.

A bullet hit the deck inches from Rand’s thigh.

He dove sideways, taking cover by the ramp.

“Come on,” a man called out.

Wei scrambled up one level and bolted, leaving a red trail of water behind him.

Rand pushed up, drawing his second Glock, and fired at Wei’s back. The man dodged at the last second, as if he knew Rand had him in his sights. The other man lurched forward, arms flung out, and went head over heels into the water below.

Wei turned, firing off three shots before he, too, disappeared over the side of the boat.

Rand closed in, peering down at a smaller boat. Not quite a speedboat, but big enough to hold a dozen people. Wei disappeared under the boat’s awning and the engine revved, the water churned.

Rand roared. He was powerless to catch them. To get Sarah. All of this was for nothing. She was gone. He’d failed her.

“Rand!” Andy came pounding down the side of the ship, hair slicked to his face.

“She’s gone.” Rand flung his hand out toward the ship.

“Yeah, Matt saw that. Come on.” Andy holstered his pistol and slung his assault rifle over his shoulder.

“What?”

“Come on, Noah’s doing a sweep on the other side.” Andy shimmied down the ladder Wei and the others had descended.

The high-pitched hum of another engine cut through the roar of the rain. Noah’s sleek, black speedboat came into view.

Rand almost laughed out loud, except he needed his breath.

He scurried down the ladder after Andy, Noah not far behind. By the time they were most of the way down, Matt had the much smaller boat alongside the ship.

“There’s a guy in the water,” Matt called up.

Andy leaped from the ladder to the nose of the boat and climbed to the driver’s seat. Matt disappeared from view while Rand focused on the miniscule amount of deck space below.

A wave pushed the boat into the freighter. Rand let go of the ladder and landed on one of the cushioned benches.