Odessa Sea (Dirk Pitt 24)

The Macedonia eased into Balchik a short time later, arriving amid a glow of flashing police lights along the waterfront. Captain Stenseth found a ship’s berth near the main dock, where he watched a police dive team retrieve two bodies from the water. The divers then assisted some agitated dockworkers in lifting a yellow container from the depths in front of a large freighter.

Once his ship was moored, the captain went ashore, taking a quick peek at the saturated bodies that had been hastily covered with a tarp. Relieved to see they bore unfamiliar faces, he turned his attention toward the lights of police vehicles near the town center. Walking the few blocks to the main traffic circle, he jumped aside as a fire department ladder truck roared up onto the sidewalk and stopped beside a tall marble statue. The statue itself was surrounded by a growing throng of policemen.

Stenseth made his way to the opposite side, where a battered pickup truck was mashed against a fountain at the statue’s base. Its tailgate was down, and two men in wetsuits were seated on it, speaking to the police.

The Macedonia’s captain approached Pitt and Giordino with a relieved smile. “You boys didn’t tell me you were planning some sightseeing after your dive.”

“We just offered a ride to a local hitchhiker.” Giordino pointed toward Ana, who was arguing with several Bulgarian police authorities.

“Ana?” Stenseth said. “I didn’t recognize her when the mayhem started. Bad timing on our part, as we were well off your dive site recovering the AUV when you surfaced.”

“As I requested,” Pitt said, “though I kind of wish you hadn’t listened to me.”

“We saw the gunfire and tried to give chase, but we couldn’t match your speed. I knew things were bad when the salvage ship materialized out of the mist. I take it Ana was aboard the vessel?”

Pitt nodded. “She tracked the Besso to the harbor at Burgas—and was abducted during a raid. Ralin apparently wasn’t so lucky.”

Stenseth shook his head. “We alerted the Coast Guard, who in turn called the local police when you were spotted entering port.”

“A good thing, too,” Giordino said. “Our beloved chariot here was about to give up the ghost, with us in it, when the police finally appeared.”

“I saw at the wharf that you got two of them.”

Giordino smiled. “Dirk dropped a load on them.”

Stenseth pointed to the bullet holes that peppered the truck. “And the third gunman?”

“Got away on a motorcycle,” Pitt said. “Hopefully, the police will catch him.” He looked to the dock. “Any trouble from the Besso?”

“No. They ran a parallel course to shore with us, then turned back to sea when we got close to Balchik.”

Ana extricated herself from the policemen and stepped to the truck. Her body sagged under the weight of the turmoil of the last two days, but her eyes smiled at the sight of the three NUMA men. “It took some conniving, but I talked the police out of arresting the two of you and impounding your ship.”

“I guess this means a ticker-tape parade is out of the question?” Giordino asked.

“There is the matter of a stolen pickup truck and a sunken cargo container that has a few of the locals upset. They obviously don’t understand what was at stake, and even the police are slightly skeptical. They’ve asked that you and your ship remain in Balchik until they confirm the contents of the HEU canister.”

Pitt frowned. “How long is that likely to take?”

“They’ve called in an Army bomb disposal unit to transfer the canister to a military installation near Sofia. I suspect we won’t have an answer until late tomorrow.”

“So be it. You’re welcome to bunk aboard the Macedonia tonight, if you’re going to be detained here yourself,” Pitt said.

“Thank you. It appears I will be coordinating enforcement response with the local authorities for a bit longer.”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Stenseth said. “If the HEU was aboard the Besso, where is the canister now?”

Pitt gave him a crooked smile and pointed at the statue. They all watched as a ladder was extended from a fire truck to the marble Dionysus, a replica of a statue found in the waters off the town centuries earlier. A pudgy fireman climbed the ladder and nervously collected the canister. When he descended, he was surrounded by a circle of policemen, who made him set the canister on the ground as they huddled around. Nearly an hour later, a bomb disposal unit from the Bulgarian Army arrived to collect it. They loaded it into a van, then roared out of town with an armed escort, leaving the townspeople to gawk at the two divers on the pickup truck and contemplate what strange things they had brought to town.

• • •

IT WAS EARLY EVENING before Ana and the NUMA men returned to the Macedonia under a police escort. They stopped to examine the damaged container now sitting on the dock alongside the two mangled Zodiacs.

Thankful to board ship, they cleaned up for dinner after Ana was shown to a guest cabin. An hour later, she bounded into the wardroom, refreshed from a shower and a short rest. Wearing a borrowed ship’s jumpsuit, with her hair hanging freely, she raced to the table where Pitt, Giordino, and Stenseth awaited her.

“You look like a new person,” Pitt said.

Her eyes misted with joy. “I received a message from my office with fabulous news. Petar is alive!”