CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

"Sir! Sir, you have to come up top," said John.

"What's wrong? What's happening?"

"Sir, we have three men on our deck, and they're demanding to see you."

"Three men? Kill them!"

"Sir. One of them is your brother."

He threw back the covers, grabbed his robe and slippers, and moved as quickly as his portly body would carry him up the steps. Sure enough, standing on the deck was his brother, with two men pointing a weapon at his neck.

"Lawrence? Lawrence, how? How are you alive?" he asked.

"Lawrence can't speak right now," said Noa.

"What have you done to him?"

"What have we done to him? Well, from what we've heard, you've had quite a time with little girls, young women, children, and, of course, men. Servicemen, to be specific. Did you enjoy torturing and killing?"

"Lawrence, what did you tell them?"

"He told us a lot," smiled Cruz. "Didn't you, Lawrence? He told us about the weapons on this boat. He told us about the accounts all over the world. He told us about all your sleazy friends who didn't bother to help you."

"This is a trick. He's dead. My brother is dead." His brother's eyes looked up, staring at him with pain and anguish. "No. No, this isn't right."

The lights of the yacht dimmed, flickered, then darkened completely. The hum of the engines was silenced.

"What's happening?" he yelled at John. "Why didn't you see them coming?"

"I'm not sure, sir."

"Kill them!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Nine, standing behind him. His wet suit was dripping on the teak deck, Ian and Ghost behind him. Gaspar stood near Cruz and Noa. Slowly, men came over the edge of the ship's deck, one after another.

"What do you want?"

"You," laughed Gaspar. "We came all this way just to see your face before we kill you."

"Let my brother go," he pleaded.

"Okay," said Gaspar. He waved a hand through the image, and it flickered, then disappeared. "Hologram. A really, really good one. It's not exactly a hologram. I can't remember what the geeks said it was called."

"How did you get on this ship?"

"Oh, that was easy. I can't tell you, but it was easy," said Ghost. "Right now, your submersible is being set free. Now, of course, it will sink because there's no propulsion system any longer. We were able to disengage that and disarm your cannons. Nice touch, by the way."

"If you're going to kill me, just do it," he said defiantly. The men smiled at him, watching as the dark figure behind him slammed a knife through his back until it came out the front. It was slowly pulled from his body as he gasped for air.

"You're going to die slowly. You will die for all those girls who died."

"John. John, help me!"

"I don't think I can, sir. If I move, I'll be dead."

"I don't care! Do as you're told!" John stared at his boss, realizing there was no way out. He shook his head and then looked at the other men.

"You're going to kill me too, aren't you?"

"Yep," said Ghost.

"Two laptops in his room have everything you'll want to know on them. I suspect you can get into them. I was a good man once. A good man who did something incredibly stupid, and then I was a prisoner for life. I deserve a slow death."

"No arguments," said Gaspar.

"Why did you do it? And don't give me any bullshit about following in your father's footsteps," said Nine. "Why?"

"Money. Opportunity. Dad started with traditional brothels, but they're expensive to maintain. Whores don't need the amenities." Trak rammed his knife into the man's thigh, twisting as he screamed in pain.

"Careful what you say," said Ian.

"Men didn't care what the location looked like. They just wanted to do whatever they wanted. We gave that to them."

"You gave them children," growled Alec. Kaplan had the common sense to swallow, staring up at the giant.

"Why the POWs? Why keep those men prisoners?"

"I wanted to kill them," he said, realizing his mistake immediately as the knife was slammed into his gut with a force he didn't know existed. "It was a mind game. That's all. See how long they could last. We never thought they'd live decades. Then, it became a money opportunity. Other countries asked us to handle it, so we did."

"You imprisoned and tortured Americans and our allies," said Ghost. "That can't be forgiven."

"Time to go," said Miller, shaking a detonator in the air.

"You heard the man," said Nine. "Let's get the hell off this boat. Enjoy the swim, although I doubt you'll remember it. This one is for all the men that didn't make it."

"What are you doing? You can't leave me like this! I'm dying!" Miller stared at the man, shaking his head.

"Not yet."

Men scrambled as the invaders left their yacht. Nothing would work. The engines were disabled, the computer systems wouldn't reboot, nothing worked. As the Gray Wolf and VG team moved further from the yacht, Miller stood and flipped open the trigger. They all stared at the yacht, then nodded at their friend.

"Boom," he whispered, flipping the switch.

"Did it work?" asked Victoria, seated with Thomas. He smiled at the young girl, laughing.

"Of course, it worked," said Nine. "It worked beautifully. Well done, both of you. The hologram was foolproof. It looked like the real thing, and the sound-bouncing thing was awesome."

"Sound-bouncing thing?" frowned Ghost.

"Whatever the fuck it was, it worked," said Nine. "Great job, you guys. We were able to get close enough to disable everything and give time for Miller to set the charges."

"Glad we could help," nodded Thomas. "Safe travels home."

"You know, I can't wait to look Vic, Damon, and Calvin in the eyes and let them know that Kaplan is gone. April, too," said Ian.

"I say we give that news to all the men. We have to go back through San Diego. Let's do a little hospital visit before we leave."

All of the men that had been returned to the States were still in San Diego's medical center. They would need time to contact families, reconnect, and be in a place where they truly felt safe.

When the Gray Wolf team visited each unit delivering the news, there was a sense of ease given to the men that wasn't there before. Their nightmare was dead.

"Some of the men from other countries have asked to stay," said the doctor in charge.

"How will that work?" asked Ian.

"I don't know. It's above my pay grade, but the president has sent teams of men to gather information and see what we can do. Those that were being held as POWs and were given to the Kaplans will give their statements, and the U.N. will help to file charges of war crimes. Personally, I'd like to burn them all in hell."

"Same, doc. Same," said Gaspar.

As the sun began to set over the Pacific, the Ospreys were loaded with the teams. Nine, Ghost, Ian, and Gaspar stared out at the magnificence of the terrain they were all familiar with. The sea. She could be friendly. She could be fierce. She could be deadly. But today, she helped to deliver justice.

"Let's go home."