Running Dark Part 31

"Who?"

"Cameron Sumner."

"The Colombian disaster."

Banner sighed. "I wish everyone would stop saying that. The Colombian thing is over. We did nothing wrong."

Rickell nodded. "I know. I'll help wrap that up when I get back."

They drove for a while, Banner navigating the narrow streets to hit the main road to the airport. He heard Rickell chuckle.

"I was losing that game, but I was ahead overall. For the first time ever, I was ahead. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have put it all back on the table. But thanks to you I'm ahead. It's a good way to go out."

A half hour later, Banner pulled the car up to a spot on a road near the runway at the Frankfurt airport. He killed the engine and sat in the silence.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am to know that the gambling returned because of a poisoning," Rickell said. "Have you ever had an impulse that you couldn't control?"

Banner thought about the moment he'd wanted to continue fighting, and when he stared at Frau Kartiner. He'd controlled himself, but just barely.

"No, but I've been close," he said.

"Well, it's a frightening thing when your body craves what your mind rejects."

Banner didn't reply.

Rickell reached for the door. "Thank you for getting me."

"You're welcome."

"Don't die out there."

Rickell slammed the door and walked away.

50.

BANNER'S PHONE RANG TEN MINUTES AFTER HE LANDED IN BERBERA, Somalia. He glanced at the readout. The number listed was unfamiliar. He punched the green b.u.t.ton.

"Banner here."

"It is Giovanni Roducci."

Banner snapped to attention. Roducci wouldn't call him if he'd had an opportunity to speak to Stromeyer. Something was up. "Yes?"

"I have just learned that both you and Major Stromeyer may be targeted for death."

Banner did his best not to let his mouth drop open. "Who's targeting us?"

"A man called the Vulture. He is a corporate raider from Europe. Lots of money that he spreads around. No one really knows his true ident.i.ty, because he operates out of a tangled ma.s.s of offsh.o.r.e sh.e.l.l corporations, but it is believed his influence reaches into the highest levels of society. Unfortunately, he uses the influence to harm those who get in his way."

"How have I gotten in his way?"

"You haven't. You got in the way of a Somali warlord. This warlord cut a deal that included wiping Darkview off the planet."

"What does the Vulture get in return for killing me?"

"He gets the warlord to capture a cruise ship that carries several dealers waiting to bid for the formula for a new drug. Once the warlord captures the ship, he takes the dealers hostage and gives the Vulture the cargo. The Vulture wipes out his compet.i.tion in one clean sweep, and no one will suspect he's behind the attack. After all, pirate attacks have become quite common in the past few years, so it will be considered just another act of piracy."

"Is Major Stromeyer aware of this?"

"She is. I contacted her first, of course."

"Of course," Banner said. He was surprised Roducci even bothered to let him know. Sometimes he thought Roducci would like nothing better than to see Banner out of his way.

"What did Stromeyer say?"

"She told me that you had already placed bodyguards around her in response to some recent threats. Then she asked me to warn you. She would have done it herself, but she was concerned about a wiretap."

A man in military clothing stepped up to Banner. "Your helicopter to the Redoubtable is ready," he whispered at Banner. Banner acknowledged him with a nod.

"Thank you, Mr. Roducci."

"Anytime, Signor Banner."

TARRANT SAT OUTSIDE STROMEYER'S HOUSE. He'd had no opportunity to hit her with the pen all day. The two bodyguards never left her side. He checked his watch. He'd been sitting in the car for over three hours. He needed to do something soon. Take some action. He reached into the glove compartment, extracted two more pills, his last, and downed them with a whiskey chaser. His nerves were uncommonly jittery. A knock on the driver's-side window startled him. He saw only dark knuckles and antelope cuff links. It was the African. Tarrant lowered the window.

"I thought you would never get here. I'm out," Tarrant said.

"Yes, you are," the African said. He pointed a gun with a silencer at Tarrant's head and shot him. He walked calmly away, flipping open a phone as he did. "It's finished," he said.

"And the woman?"

"Alive."

"Good."

The African was confused. He thought the woman was supposed to be targeted for elimination.

"Why don't you want her dead?"

"She received a confidential communication from an arms trader, mentioning my involvement. She started digging, looking for my ident.i.ty. She is quite adept at obtaining information. She notified the DOD that if she or Banner is injured or killed, they are to activate an investigation."

The African felt a stab of fear. "Does she know us?"

"Not yet, but it is best that we subside for some time."

"And Mungabe?"

"I'll deal with Mungabe."

The Vulture hung up.

51.

EMMA WATCHED THE CROWD OF MEN STAMPEDE. THEY TURNED as a group toward Sumner and Block. The two men moved to the side to let the panicked pa.s.sengers run past them in their rush to the casino. Emma sprinted to the bridge, Cindy close at her heels, and pounded on the door. The captain's second officer opened it. Emma, Cindy, Sumner, and Block pushed into the room, which was already filled with Wainwright, Janklow, Herr Schullmann, Marina, and several ship employees. They all stared at a radar screen set into the Kaiser Franz's control panel.

"You fixed the radar," Sumner said.

"It's jerry-rigged from some old parts we found in storage," Janklow said. "Although right about now I wish we hadn't managed it."

The radar showed thirty green dots ma.s.sed at a spot not far from the ship.

"What do you think?" Wainwright said to Janklow.

Janklow rubbed a tired hand over his face. "Maybe it's a meeting?"

Wainwright nodded. "I agree, but what are they meeting about?"

"New tactics being discussed? Sumner?"

"I think they're getting ready to do this thing right."

Block groaned.

Sumner ignored him while he pointed at the dot closest to sh.o.r.e. "That's the mother ship. They're going to make a concerted attack."

Emma was appalled. If the dots represented individual pirate boats, then they were soon to be overrun. Her head started pounding. She wasn't ready to be a hostage, and she wasn't ready to die. She looked at the men a.s.sembled around her. She was as helpless to stop this thing as they were.

The ma.s.sed dots were moving toward them. Ahead of the entire group, and also moving toward them, was a lone dot. It was nearly upon them. She pointed to it. "Who is that?"

Wainwright handed her a set of binoculars. "Have a look." He pointed beyond the bridge's window to the sea. Emma couldn't make anything out. She put the binoculars to her eyes. A small boat sprang into view. While the driver's face was unrecognizable because he was behind a water-splattered windshield, the second man's face was not. It was Richard Stark.

"That's Ha.s.sim and Stark. The two men who helped me get here."

"Are they friend or foe?" Wainwright asked.

Good question, she thought. Ha.s.sim she could vouch for, at least. "The driver is an agent for the Darkview company. The pa.s.senger is the CEO of Price Pharmaceuticals."

Wainwright gave her an incredulous look. "Since when do CEOs of major Fortune 500 companies end up on the high seas being chased by Somali pirates?"

Emma had to agree. Stark was not to be trusted. "Since I don't know. Some very strange things have been occurring at Price, and he's in the thick of them."

"Do we let him board?" Janklow said.

Wainwright nodded. "I'm not leaving the Darkview operative to die out there. We'll haul them both on deck and sort it out later." He thought a moment. "Is everyone accounted for?"

Sumner spoke up. "Not Clutch. I haven't seen him in hours."

"Come to think of it, you're right," Janklow said. "When we're done here, I'll go look for him."

Ha.s.sim's boat made it to the side of the Kaiser Franz. Janklow and two crew members lowered a ladder. Ha.s.sim came up first, Stark second, carrying Emma's duffel.

"Ha.s.sim, what happened?"

"We never got far. They're everywhere."

Stark climbed over the railing. Emma couldn't read his face. He looked as tired as she felt.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"To stop it."

"What are you stopping?"

Stark sighed. "Can we go belowdecks? Speak in private?"

Emma shook her head. "No. There's no time. In case you weren't aware, there are thirty boats coming this way. Besides, I'm not going anywhere with you in private. You tell me what you know now, in front of these witnesses. Which one of the vials has ricin in it?"

Janklow and the crew members stayed where they were, listening.

"None. There is no ricin. It was a hoax. It's the AX 2055."

Emma thought a moment. "That was an experimental drug Price was testing."

He nodded. "It's an investigational drug that had a small effect on those with neuromotor problems. It also increased one's endurance dramatically, by as much as eighty percent within a few minutes of injection, while acting on the dopamine receptors. Like many dopamine drugs, it had the side effect of increasing addictive behavior. But, unlike others, it worked too well. Rather than taking years for a person to develop that particular side effect, with this drug it happens quickly and with an aggression we've rarely seen. And it has a dark side."

"Other than the fact that it can ruin people's lives by driving them into destructive acts?"

Emma let her sarcasm show. She was so furious she was having a hard time even looking at him.

"Much worse. On the second application, it kills."

"How do I figure into all this? Why did you hire me?"