The Devil's Triangle (A Brit in the FBI 4)

Mike cocked an eye at Adam. “Whatever gave you that impression? I suggest you don’t answer that, Adam, or I’ll make you eat your sneakers when this is over.”

Trident said from the cockpit doorway. “Okay, guys, all buckled in? Good. We’ve got drinks and sandwiches for you. What is that? I do believe I hear sirens. And here I thought just maybe you were exaggerating. We’re out of here!”

The plane was barely wheels up when Carabinieri cars roared onto the runway and raced after them. When they were in the air, Adam pumped his fist in the air. “Way to go, Clancy, Trident!”

“Top Gun!” came two voices over the intercom.

Louisa stretched. “Is anyone ready for a sandwich?”

Laughter. Always food for Louisa. It felt good, Mike thought, as she snuggled into her nest. She heard Nicholas ask, “Did Lia and her father get off all right?”

“She was discharged just before we left Venice. She’s good. Her father loves Venice.”

Nicholas said, “I’ll bet Lia won’t have any fond memories.”

“Actually, she wants to come back with her dad. As a tourist.”

He looked from Louisa to Adam. “Listen. Mike will swear she’s one hundred percent, but she’s not. At least not quite. I suggest all of us get some sleep, it’s going to be a long flight. You, too, Adam. I’ll keep an eye on Kitsune’s tracker.”

“You also need to keep a watch on the storm.” Adam handed Nicholas his laptop. The weather panel showed the storm, spinning slowly on the radar. “The meteorologists and their hurricane models have it strengthening, but it’s still heading toward the Gulf. They expect it to become a category-three hurricane and hit Texas, but that’s all based on their computer models. They don’t know it might very well change course and head to D.C.”

“At least the Kohaths haven’t changed its direction yet,” Nicholas said.

Louisa said, “I have a hard time imagining how they’re going to pull this off.”

“Any rational person would,” Nicholas said. “Adam, Louisa, before you’re off to dreamland, let me tell you what Ben’s learned about the Kohath family history.” He told them about Da Vinci, Tesla, and Appleton Kohath, and their weather machine.

Adam asked, “Is there some sort of formula based on electromagnetics? Lasers? Use of satellites?”

“Hopefully Ben will be able to add more explanation of the machine to us.” Nicholas yawned.

Louisa said, “Nicholas, you look ready to drop. I’ll take the first watch. Make it four hours? Then you can take over.”

Half his brain was already in never-never land. “Thanks, Louisa. Wake me if anything changes.”

And without opening her eyes, Mike said, “Put in your earplugs, people. He snores.”

Nicholas gave a little smile. “Yeah? So do you.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

Over the Atlantic

Nicholas woke to darkness. The plane’s interior lights had been turned down, and everyone was asleep, slumped in their chairs, except for Adam, who’d taken Nicholas’s turn after Louisa, staring at the multiple open screens on his laptop.

When Nicholas, rose, stretched, Adam looked up. “Good timing. You’re going to want to see this.”

“You got her?”

“Yes. They landed in Cuba. GPS has a ping at 20°44´03?N 075°39´26?W. There’s an airport there called Preston, on the southeastern coast.

“From what I can tell, this ain’t no hot spot like Havana, it’s a tiny, out-of-the-way place. They’ve been there for about an hour. I already alerted Clancy and Trident. They’re going to get permission to land there. They say about two more hours. The Kohaths had a decent head start, but we’re catching up. The longer they stay in one position, the more time we cut down.”

“I doubt the Cubans will be thrilled with a planeload of FBI descending upon them, even if travel has been normalized between our countries. Oh, bugger all. Zachery is going to love this call.”

“Well, before you do check in, there’s some bad news. The storm hasn’t changed course, but it’s intensifying, rapidly. The millibars dropped by twenty since the last flyover by the National Weather Service planes. The predictions are all over the map—literally. Every model has it going a different way now, apparently the jet stream is changing and the storm could get caught up in it. They have weather watches from Texas and Louisiana to the coast of Florida, and they’re discussing the storm even heading up north, all the way to New York. No one knows where it’s going. It’s ‘wobbling,’ as the meteorologists say. And it’s been named. Since it’s the first storm of the season, its name starts with an A. Want to guess?”

“Tell me.”