The Lost Key (A Brit in the FBI 2)

But they could be close, she thought, too close, and she closed her eyes against the possibility. She gave it only a moment’s thought. The key didn’t matter, killing Havelock eliminated the threat of the micro-nukes.

“Light it up, Captain. The man on that submersible is an enemy of both our countries.”

He smiled, signaled to his man, who said, “Firing, firing, firing,” and the torpedo was free. It hissed away, and there was an impact. Mike felt the concussion.

“Direct hit, sir. The submersible is down.”

Havelock was dead. It was over.

A second explosion, this one from above the water, made them all rush to the rails. The Gravitania was on fire, flames spreading through the ship as if following a trail of gasoline.

Mike shouted, “Did you hit it, did the torpedo hit the ship and not the submersible?”

The captain shook his head. “The torpedo was on a completely different path. That explosion was internal to the ship, not external. And there’s no one aboard, so it was probably on a timer of some sort. You didn’t see a bomb on board?”

Mike shook her head, realized her hands were shaking. They’d been plucked off the Gravitania and brought on board the Dover only twenty-two minutes before.

Everyone but Mike watched the ship sink. She was staring down at the water. She knew how much air they had, and it was gone. She had to face it, Nicholas and Halpern hadn’t made it.

The surface of the water began to bubble. When she saw Nicholas’s head break the water, she didn’t say a word, so grateful, she stood mute, heart pounding, thinking over and over, You did it, James Bond, you did it.

—

NICHOLAS AND HALPERN were chilled to the bone. The medics from the Dover wrapped both men in special heat-trapping blankets, stitched Nicholas’s arm, dropped a pain pill down his gullet. When they finally let Mike in to see him, she went straight to his bed and hugged him hard, and kissed him. His lips were cold, his teeth chattering, but he grinned at her.

Mike said, “Didn’t we have a talk about you pulling death-defying stunts? You scared me to death.”

Nicholas ran a hand over her hair, rested it on the back of her neck. “At one point down there I saw you clear as day—did you call me a lamebrain?”

“Not this time, I was too scared. You’re all right, Nicholas, you’re all right.”

“I’ve got to admit I didn’t think I was going to make it up, and I wouldn’t have if not for Ryan.” He called out across the sick bay, “I owe you one, Ryan, you saved me. What was the explosion? Tell me what happened above water.”

“They hit the submersible with a torpedo. If Havelock was still in it, he’s dead.”

“So I didn’t dream it, then? I thought I saw a torpedo whiz by. Havelock dead? Somehow I can’t quite come to grips with that. I have a lot to tell you.” He realized he was still holding her close and pulled his hand away. She didn’t move for another moment, then slowly straightened, and he told her about the billions of dollars in gold bars in the sub, about the woman he’d found in her own private tomb. He mentioned briefly März’s attack once he came out of the sub. After they thrashed it all out, she pushed him again about März. Nicholas said only, “He knifed my arm, but in the end, I killed him. As for the key and Curie’s book, Havelock took them.”

“Do you think this was the woman Shepherd spoke of? Ansonia?”

“I do. Is Shepherd awake? I’d like to hear more.”

“Shepherd was in and out of consciousness the whole time you were down. He’s messed up pretty bad. They had no choice but to operate, possible because they’ve

got a small operating room on board.” She looked at her watch. “They took him in for surgery maybe twenty minutes ago. It’s going to be a while before he’s coherent enough to talk.”

“Has there been word on Adam and Sophie?”

Mike shook her head. “I would assume they’re probably off on this phantom boat Shepherd talked about, with Weston and Havelock’s whipstress. But there’s been no sign of it.”

“His what?”

“I made it up. Sounds fitting, doesn’t it?”

He burst out laughing, startling the medics, who rushed over to make sure he was okay. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Agent Caine’s a comic, that’s all.”

The captain strode into the sick bay. “We’re receiving some sort of distress signal from that long piece of land and someone’s waving a white flag at us. We’re sending a boat over, and the chopper for support, in case. We’ll have whoever it is on board shortly.”

They heard the chopper’s rotors whining, heard it lift off, and they waited.