Burn: A Novel Read online

  There was some indignity in dying in a closet, but in the end it wouldn’t matter. Besides, it was quiet here. There was no traffic in and out. He could die in peace.

  The headache that had faded for a while was back with a vengeance, like nails shooting through his skull. Thank goodness the sirens had been silenced.

  He knew the procedures for such emergencies. And since events had not gone as planned, the captain had no doubt contacted the Coast Guard via the Amver system. How soon would rescue arrive? Likely not within twenty-three minutes. He glanced at his watch again. Twenty-two, now. The Pacific was a big ocean, with miles and miles and miles to be covered before anyone would reach the distressed Silver Mist.

  So, a few more people would escape than he’d planned. At this rate not everyone would make it off by lifeboat, though. The idiots were panicking, costing themselves precious time. He wondered how things had gone below. Had Isaac been near the blast? Was he dead? Injured? Ignorant that his employer was responsible? He could only imagine the surprise of the security guards who’d been counting all this time on a robbery that had never been a part of the master plan.

  For years, Larkin had been a success in every venture he began. He’d made deals happen, he’d influenced politics and finance, he’d secretly brokered arms deals that had affected the entire world. What was wrong with the fucking world that he couldn’t pull off his suicide in the way he’d planned?

  He glanced at his watch again. Twenty-one minutes.

  JENNER STAYED CLOSE to Cael, but she made a point not to get in his way. She didn’t say a word when Ryan found them, and informed Cael that Faith was already off the ship, having gone on one of the first lifeboats to launch. And he didn’t take the time to needle her because Faith had cooperated and she had not.

  Maybe later.

  Captain Lamberti found the two men in the crowd. His distinguished face was set with purpose. “The Coast Guard has been informed,” he said. “Every ship in the area, if possible, will come to our rescue.” There was no telling what kind of ships were nearby: fishing boats, freighters, other cruise ships. The problem was, they were currently hell and gone from any other ship. It was going to take precious time for rescue to arrive. Lamberti didn’t linger. Maybe it was true that the bombs hadn’t sunk the ship, as had been intended, but people had been killed—and he didn’t yet know how bad the toll was. No one did.

  It was after the captain had moved on that Cael and Ryan put their heads together. “We need to find Sanchez,” Cael said.

  “If he was below when the bombs went off—” Ryan said, then stopped and shrugged. They had no way of knowing where he’d been. Security personnel could have been anywhere on the ship at the time of the explosion, so his fate wasn’t a given. Larkin was still unaccounted for, and so was Tiffany, who’d been tailing him. Matt and Bridget had both been below when the bombs had been detonated, and with the cell tower out there was no way to check on them.

  Cael turned once to look at her, and she saw the hint of a plea in his eyes.

  “I’m not leaving until you do,” she said, gentle but firm.

  A couple she knew ran past, dressed in evening wear and PFDs. Though they passed by so near they almost ran her down, neither of them looked at Jenner closely enough to recognize her. Their attention was on the lifeboats.

  “Sanchez!” Ryan suddenly shouted, and Cael’s head snapped around. He immediately spotted the Hispanic man, who was a head taller than those around him, trying to make his way to them. He was hard to miss. With his wide shoulders he could’ve easily forced his way through the crowd, but he gently moved panicked passengers aside, and directed several to the boats.

  When Sanchez finally reached Cael, he reached beneath his jacket and pulled out a pistol. He handed it to Cael, keeping the movement furtive. The passengers would panic again if they saw weapons being passed around. “You guys are easy to spot in the crowd,” he said with a strange sort of sigh, and Jenner realized it was the truth. They were the only ones not running for the lifeboats.

  “Tucker’s dead,” Sanchez said in a voice lowered so only they could hear. Not that anyone around them cared what was being discussed. They were only interested in getting off the ship as fast as possible. “He was killed in the blast; that’s his weapon. I was on my way down before the explosion but got delayed. I wasn’t near the blast, as Tucker was.”

  “The others?” Cael prompted.

  “Asker and Zadian are on the loose, as far as I can tell.”

  “That’s it?” Ryan asked. “Is anyone else besides Larkin and those two involved?”

  “Not to my knowledge.”

  Cael nodded to Sanchez. “Thanks for your help. You can head to the lifeboat station …”

  “No thank you, sir,” the security guard responded. “I’d like to see this through, if I can.”

  Cael nodded, and then a furious voice made them all turn their heads. “There you are.” Tiffany had a gun in one hand, but it was down at her side and in the crush no one seemed to notice—or care. Her exotic eyes were snapping with rage. “Larkin’s on this deck somewhere, at least he was last time I saw him, and according to Mills there are more bombs and more people in on this shit.”

  “We know about the people,” Cael responded. “But we don’t have any information about more explosives. Where’s Mills?”

  “Mills is dead, so he’s not going to be any more help.” Tiffany looked down at Jenner. “Why aren’t you on a lifeboat?”

  Jenner didn’t hesitate. “You first.”

  She took a moment to study the people gathered together, a sea of control in the midst of the chaos. Cael, Ryan, Tiffany, Sanchez, and her. They were, in effect, a small army. It annoyed the hell out of Jenner to recognize the fact that she was not a part of this army, but she’d always been pragmatic. She wanted to be one of them, an asset in a crisis, and if they got out of this in one piece maybe she would be. But now …

  “We can assume Faith’s original estimation on time was correct, which means we have less than twenty minutes,” Cael said. “We can probably count on fifteen. We’re going to split up. Much as I’d like to get my hands on Larkin, the bombs are our first priority. He’ll know where they are, and so might Asker and Zadian. Do we all know what they look like?”

  Everyone nodded, except Jenner. She hadn’t been in on their briefings until this point. She hadn’t even heard the names Asker and Zadian before this moment.

  “Jenner!” She spun around at the sound of that voice, coming face-to-face with a teary Nyna.

  “Nyna, why aren’t you on a lifeboat!”

  “I can’t find Linda,” Nyna said. She wasn’t dressed in evening clothes, like most of the others, but was in one of her workout outfits. Tears streaked her face. “I was supposed to meet her in Buttons and Penny’s suite, but they’re sealing off the stairways, not letting anyone go down.”

  Jenner took the woman’s hand and looked her in the eye with confidence, though she felt no confidence at all. “Linda’s probably already evacuated.”

  Nyna shook her head. “I don’t think so. She has no sense of direction at all.”

  Jenner looked at Cael. She didn’t like it, she didn’t like it at all, but he had something to do that she couldn’t help him with. She had to accept that, if she stayed, she was going to be in his way, she was going to distract him when he didn’t need distraction. She wanted to be useful, to make a difference in this crisis, and she couldn’t do that by hanging on to Cael’s coattails.

  What she could do was get Nyna off the boat before more bombs started going off. Less than twenty minutes! Maybe she could find Linda, and make sure Penny and Buttons got onto a lifeboat.

  Their eyes met. Cael realized what she was thinking, he knew she was about to take charge of Nyna and leave him to do what he had to do. She didn’t have to explain, but she went up on her toes, kissed him, and then whispered, “Muster Station Three, fifteen minutes. Get yourself hurt and I’ll kick your ass.”