Lost(51)

The sound of the gunfire among the containers was deafening and disorienting, like thunder inside a small room. The noise was everywhere, swarming my senses. I stumbled forward and tried to pull the container door shut to protect the people inside.

But that wasn’t going to happen. There was no way those prisoners would let the door shut on them again, not even if people were shooting right in front of them. A mass of the people still inside the container slammed the door open.

I backed to the side of the container and drew my service pistol. People from the unknown group had guns up and were firing. Steph and Rick Morris were returning fire.

I needed to know Marie was safe. She was unarmed. What had I been thinking, bringing her here? I raised my pistol. There were no obvious targets, but a few shots crossed between the two groups.

My heart was pounding in my chest from the adrenaline rush and the shock of being shot at. I looked over my shoulder. There were a few people cowering inside the storage container and several others lying still on its nasty, garbage-covered floor.

Marie leaped forward and slammed her body into a man trying to get to the container. She knocked him back, but he quickly regained his balance and swung the butt of his pistol into Marie’s face.

Her head snapped and twisted.

I needed to help her.

Two things happened quickly: three rounds pinged off the vent I was using for cover, forcing me back down, and Marie took another blow, this one a punch from the man’s other hand.

I stared in horror as he brought his pistol up and pointed it at Marie. I raised my pistol for a tricky shot, hoping to at least distract the man.

But Marie was quicker. She kicked and darted to one side. Her foot connected with the man’s knee and he fell, and she followed that up with a kick to the man’s head.

Teeth flew and blood painted a pattern on the side of the container.

A tall woman scooped up the injured man, and the two of them disappeared into the maze of containers.

There was one more rush of fire, then, like the aftermath of most gunfights, an eerie, all-encompassing quiet. Part of it had to do with my ears ringing from the sudden loud noises. Part of it was the fact that there was very little activity at this time of the evening in the port of Miami.

And part of it, I knew, was that there were people down on both sides of the fight.





CHAPTER 75





AS SOON AS she heard the first shots, Hanna realized exactly what Albert planned to do. He wanted to use this as cover to shoot Billy the Russian. He wasn’t going to wait for a police officer to do it.

Hanna flinched as Albert shot one of the Russians in the back. The man just dropped. Nothing like in the movies. He just fell forward, silent and still in the midst of chaos.

Albert wasted no time. He grabbed Hanna by the wrist and tugged her along as they fled the shooting.

Albert managed to say, “I think that shit Billy is headed for the gangplank. We better not see him on the ship.”

Hanna risked a quick glimpse over her shoulder. They’d already gotten far enough away that all she could see was a few flashes from pistols. It was amazing how much the sound of gunfire was reduced when you got a few dozen yards and a couple of shipping containers away from it.

Hanna recognized a couple of the younger women running past them, headed for the front of the ship. They were girls she had housed in Amsterdam.

She’d thought these girls would’ve trusted her. It must be the gunfire. Hanna didn’t like the idea that they would betray her and run when they knew they still had to work off the cost of their transportation. The people she transported usually wanted to trust someone. And they’d known the travel would be hard.

She planted her feet to stop Albert from dragging her along.

He looked at her, astonished. “Are you crazy? We’ve got to get out of here.”

“We need the red backpack. Either Magda has the pack or it’s back in the container.”

“Back there, where all the gunfire is? Where the police are waiting for us? No, thanks. We need to keep running.”

Hanna glanced over the side of the ship and saw the girl she was looking for. And she had the backpack over her shoulder. She yelled at Albert, “Right there. Magda’s right there.”

“And running faster than we could ever hope to,” Albert pointed out. “Don’t worry. The tracker is in the backpack. We’ll let things settle down here and then we’ll be able to find her easily. At least we can salvage the diamonds.”

Hanna followed her brother off the ship. The chaos from the ship had spread to the docks. People were running in every direction. No one knew if this was a terrorist attack or a drug-gang shootout.

Hanna followed Albert’s lead as he immediately slowed to a fast walk. They headed directly off the port grounds. She was going to take a serious financial hit on this fiasco.





CHAPTER 76





IT TOOK ONLY a moment for me to regain my senses and realize I had to act immediately. I wanted to chase the shooters, but there were too many people who needed help right in front of me.

I swept the area for gunmen. Once I determined it was clear, I holstered my pistol. Two men from the group that had confronted us were dead.

One of the men had been shot in the back, but I didn’t know if it was an accident or if someone from his group had gotten tired of him. For safety reasons, I took the pistols from the bodies and secured them.