Lost Empire (Fargo Adventures 2)

Sam tapped on Remi’s shoulder to get her attention, then jerked his thumb downward. Together they submerged until only their eyes and noses were above the surface.

The middle Zodiac—the leader’s boat, it seemed—reached the Andreyale first, gliding up to the bowsprit, and the leader grabbed onto the rail with one hand. Now in profile, the man’s face was visible. The gaunt face and hawkish nose were unmistakable. Here was the mystery man from the Yulin.

As if flying in formation, the other two Zodiacs slid down the port and starboard sides of the Andreyale and came together at the stern. Within seconds both men were over the rail and standing on the afterdeck. The one closest to Sam and Remi’s hiding spot reached up to his shoulder, grabbed something, and lowered his hand. Moonlight glinted off steel. A knife.

Remi’s hand found Sam’s underwater and squeezed. He squeezed back. In her ear he whispered, “We’re safe.”

The two men disappeared into the cabin, then reemerged a minute later. One of them leaned over the gunwale and signaled to Hawk Nose, who gestured back, then pushed off, brought his Zodiac about, and headed for the beach. Once there he too drew a knife. Moving slowly but steadily, he padded up the beach to Sam and Remi’s lantern-lit tent. He peeked inside, straightened up, then scanned the beach and the coconut palms for half a minute before returning to the Zodiac. Two minutes later he was aboard the Andreyale with the other two.

For the first time, one of the group spoke. Hawk Nose muttered something in Spanish, and the other two ducked back into the cabin. The Andreyale began rocking. Cabinet doors opened and slammed shut. Glass broke. Through the portholes came the glow of flashlights moving about. After five minutes of this, the two men reappeared on the afterdeck. One of them handed Hawk Nose a small object, which he examined briefly before tossing it back down the cabin’s ladder. It pinged down the steps. The second man handed Hawk Nose a yellow legal pad. Hawk Nose studied it, handed it back. The other man produced a digital camera and flashed a picture of the page in question. The legal pad was tossed back into the cabin.

In Remi’s ear Sam whispered, “Hook, line, sinker.”

Hawk Nose and his companions climbed back into the Zodiacs and pushed off. To Sam and Remi’s surprise the group didn’t head for the inlet but rather began a search of the lagoon, starting with the shorelines. Flashlights skimmed over the banks and through the trees. As one of the Zodiacs drew even with the bell’s hiding place Sam and Remi held their breaths, but the boat never slowed and the flashlight never wavered.

Finally the trio reached the mou

th of the lagoon and finished their examination of the shoreline, but instead of heading for the inlet they turned again, formed a line abreast, and started checking the floating islands, flashlights scanning each mangrove buttress before moving to the next.

“This could be bad,” Sam muttered.

“Very bad,” Remi agreed.

The drawn knives had told Sam and Remi everything they needed to know: Whoever these men were, they had no compunction about using violence. Had Sam and Remi been either aboard the Andreyale or in the tent, they would be dead now.

“Head back to the Andreyale?” Remi suggested.

“If they decide to board her again, we’ll be trapped.”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

Sam thought for a moment, then said, “How about two birds with one stone?” He explained his plan.

“Risky,” said Remi.

“I’ll make it work.”

“Okay, but only if there’s no other way.”

“Agreed.”

They watched the progress of the Zodiacs. If they continued on their current paths, the one to their right would reach their hiding spot in less than two minutes. The other two were ahead by half a minute. With luck, they’d finish their searches first and turn back toward the mouth.

“Cross fingers,” Sam said to Remi.

“Already there,” she replied and kissed him on the cheek. “For a little more luck.”

Sam ducked underwater and pulled himself back through the root system and into open water. Doing his best to keep all three Zodiacs in view, he maneuvered himself around to the back side of the roots. Thirty seconds later, to his left, Hawk Nose and his partner slid into view. Each man scanned his final floating island, then turned and headed back toward the inlet. The last Zodiac was still on course, forty feet away.

“¡Apúrate!” Hawk Nose called. Hurry up!

Sam’s target raised a hand to acknowledge the order.

Thirty feet away . . . twenty feet.

Sam kept moving, pulling himself clockwise around the mangrove roots. He stopped, peeking around the edge. The Zodiac was ten feet away. Sam watched, waited until the nose of the Zodiac disappeared around the opposite side, then glanced back up the lagoon. The other two Zodiacs were a hundred yards away and still moving.

Sam took a deep breath, ducked under with the gaff pole, kicked twice, pulled himself around the roots, and let his eyes pop above the surface. The rear of the Zodiac was five feet away, moving slowly, the driver sitting with one hand on the motor’s throttle as he leaned sideways and scanned the mangrove with his flashlight. Sam did a half kick with his feet and closed to within a foot of the Zodiac. He reached out, gently placed his left hand on the rubber side, then raised the gaff from the water, cocked it back, and flicked it forward as though casting a fishing lure. The gaff’s steel tip caught the man on the side of his head, just above the ear. He let out a gasp, then slumped over the side, his head drooping in the water. Before Sam could make another move, Remi was there, lifting the man’s head and rolling the body back into the Zodiac. Sam looked over his shoulder. Hawk Nose and his partner were two hundred yards away now.