Chapter 17

It was just before sunset and the waters were choppy as Lynch piloted the boat toward a mountainous, green-sloped island.

"What's this?" Kendra said.

"Another one of the Channel Islands." Lynch looked at the navigation screen. "San Clemente."

"I've never been to that one."

"Most people haven't. It's administered by the navy. They took control of all of these islands during World War Two. They used some for bombing practice ranges, and others as outposts to monitor possible foreign invasions. Most have been turned over to the park service in the last few years."

"What's this one used for?"

"I honestly don't know. Probably training, but from this map, it looks like the few structures are clustered on the island's north side."

"Is that where we're headed?"

"No. It looks like we're going to a cove on the south side. Williams steered this boat there, then went back to Catalina about ninety minutes later. We'll go there and take a look around."

"What if the navy objects?"

"It's a fairly big island, and it looks like Williams was almost twenty miles away from the only active installation. We should be okay, but I'll steer clear until after dark."

Forty-five minutes later, Lynch steered the boat toward the isolated cove, which was home to four dilapidated buildings made of corrugated tin, a loading dock, and the remnants of an antenna that once towered over the complex. Vines now covered much of the area.

Lynch pointed toward the antenna. "This looks like one of those old monitoring stations I told you about."

"Well, it kept the homeland safe during World War Two. But I'm not sure why Williams would bring the Morgan sisters to a place like this."

"To seal them off from the world. Or, more importantly, to seal the world off from them. I can't think of a better place. I actually feel good about having you here right now."

"If you're having thoughts about leaving me here, forget it."

"I wouldn't dare."

Lynch eased the boat up to the loading dock and cut the engines. Kendra tied the landing ropes to the cleats. Only when Lynch turned off the deck lights did she realize how incredibly dark it was out there. There were no lights and no power at this long-abandoned installation, and the only sounds were of water lapping against the nearby rocks.

Lynch handed her a flashlight. "I think you'll need this."

Kendra, Lynch, and Harley left the boat and walked across the boarding dock, which creaked and splintered beneath them. Kendra could feel herself wincing with each step. Was this thing going to hold?

They finally made it.

Lynch aimed his flashlight beam toward the right, at a building that appeared to be living quarters. "Let's start there, and we'll work our way to the left."

"No."

"No?"

"It makes more sense for us to separate and start on each end. We'll work our way to the middle, so we won't miss them if we send them scurrying. I'm sure it's what you would have done if you were here with anyone else."

"I don't like it."

"I'll have Harley, plus…" She flipped up her shirt to show the holstered automatic she was carrying. "I'll be okay, Lynch."

"I still don't like it, but you're right. It is what I would do with anyone else."

Kendra nodded. "I hope we do find some sign of Chloe and Sloane and that it's not going to be just another tragic ending." She closed her eyes for an instant. "We've had too many of those lately. I don't want another one."

"Neither do I." His arms were suddenly around her, holding her. God, he felt wonderful. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Reach out if you get into trouble."

Kendra held the device as if she'd been presented with something from another world. "A walkie-talkie? I haven't seen one of these in a while."

"Still very useful in places where there's no cell reception. That one you're holding has saved my life twice."

If it was anyone else, she might have thought he was exaggerating. But she had no doubt Lynch was telling her the truth. She clipped the walkie-talkie to her belt. "Got it."

"After I check out the buildings, I'll walk up to higher ground and see if I can spot any other boats on our tail. It'll be difficult in the dark, but I'll give it a shot."

Just then, they heard the barking of seals in the distance. Harley returned the barks and ran ahead of Lynch.

"So much for my protector," Kendra said. "Seals again. I'm beginning to think bringing Harley was a mistake."

"He'll be fine. I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes." He kissed her. "Twenty minutes. If you're late, I'll sick the dog or the seals on you."

She smiled and waved until she couldn't see him any longer. It seemed strange to not be with him any longer after all this time together.

Good heavens. Exactly what she'd been trying to avoid since she first met him. Where was her independence?

She turned and started down the broken concrete path that led to the radio shack. A faded statue was positioned just before the front entrance. It was Neptune, the Roman God of water and the seas. This figure was gazing out at the ocean, keeping a watchful eye.

"The eye of Neptune," she said aloud. It's what Williams was trying to tell Lynch in his last moments.

They had come to the right place.

The structure's front door was chain-locked, but there was ample room to enter through the other side, past the broken hinges. Kendra slid through and trained her flashlight around the installation. It had clearly been a radio room, although there was no longer equipment on the well-worn wooden tables. There were faded maps and posters on the wall, showing hundreds of call signs and radio relay stations. The place clearly hadn't been used since the mid-1940s.

Kendra moved through the room and down a narrow hallway. It didn't look like there was much more to this building, except a bathroom and maybe a—

BAM!

A figure jumped from the shadows and hit Kendra with a flying tackle! Before she could react, she was on the floor and two hands closed around her throat.

"Can't… breathe…"

The figure leaned close, squeezing even tighter. "Who are you?" her attacker whispered.

Kendra thrashed from side to side, trying to break free.

Just then, someone grabbed her assailant and pulled her away.

Lynch?

No, she realized. It was a woman. They both were women.

"Back off!" the second woman ordered. "Don't you know who this is?"

"Who?"

"It's Kendra Michaels." She knelt beside Kendra and helped her sit up. "Are you okay?"

Kendra squinted to see in the darkness. "Chloe?"

Chloe Morgan smiled. "Pleasure to meet you."

Kendra turned to the other woman. "And you're Sloane. Hello."

Sloane rolled her eyes. "Oh, shit. It is her."

"You know who I am?"

Chloe nodded. "Of course. We've spent most of our lives trying to catch a serial killer. And you've helped catch quite a few of them in our hometown."

"I was brought into this case by an acquaintance of yours. A retired detective, Paula Chase."

Sloane gasped excitedly. "She's here?"

Kendra decided to wait to break the bad news. "No. I'm here with a friend. When you meet him, I don't recommend lunging for his throat."

"Sorry about that."

Chloe grinned. "My sister is paranoid about drop-in visitors."

"I've been learning a lot about both of you." Kendra was rubbing her throat. "From Paula, Detective Todd Williams, and a certain auto mechanic named Charles Davenport."

Chloe grimaced. "Oh, God."

"Yes," Kendra said. "I must say, I dislike your taste in men enormously."

"So do I," Sloane said with a frown. "I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger. I've been trying to make up for them lately."

Kendra was still rubbing her throat. "Any reason why you started to strangle me just now?"

She shrugged. "You were a stranger. I couldn't trust you. But I didn't finish it."

"Thanks to your sister."

"I was protecting her, too."

"She's not as bad as you think," Chloe said quietly. "Apologize, Sloane."

Sloane nodded. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. But I've been training for a long time and I could have really damaged you if I'd tried."

"So that was practice."

She nodded. "Sort of."

"Then I should tell you that I also practice a good deal." She looked at Chloe. "I work just as hard as you do and I'm very dedicated." She patted the gun on her hip holster. "Another few seconds, and I would have gone for this."

Sloane's eyes widened. "How good are you?"

"Good enough. But that's not why I'm here. We should talk about it later."

"Why are you here?" Chloe asked. "Did Detective Williams think we might need more supplies? Heaven knows he gave us more than we could possibly use. But then he was always like that. Always taking care of us."

"Yes, he cared for you both very much."

Oh, shit. Sloane was sitting straight up, her gaze on Kendra. "Be quiet a minute, Chloe. She's trying to tell us something and it's not easy for her. Isn't that right, Kendra?"

"Kendra?" Chloe whispered.

Kendra drew a deep breath. "She's right. It's not easy and it's never going to be any easier. But you have to hear it, because it would be what I would want. Because you have to know he risked his life for you both."

"He's… gone." Chloe said. "He didn't just… send… you?"

Kendra shook her head. "In a way he did. It's why you need to hear this."

"Go ahead," Sloane said as she went to sit beside her sister. "We talked about it. We knew he was putting himself in danger for us."

The two sisters had gone through so much heartbreak over the years, Kendra thought. She hated to be the one to bring this new threat to the forefront. And it wasn't over; new agony loomed on the horizon.

Get it over with. They could take it.

"Well, then I guess I should begin where it started for me when Paula asked me to help with the case she and Williams had worked together when you were children. At first I didn't want to take it. I didn't know enough…"

She had expected questions but both girls were silent as she told them about Paula Chase's murder, Williams' story, and later the rest of the events that had brought her here. Toward the end there were tears but she found she was also crying as she tried to comfort them. But there was no real comfort to be had at this time.

After she finished, she found that one of the girls had brought her a cup of tea. She didn't even remember which one but was grateful for the kindness.

She finished the tea and set down the cup. "Enough?"

"Too much," Sloane said. "You knew it would be, didn't you?"

She nodded. "But we couldn't even begin to try to solve it until you knew everything. It's not over, you know." She smiled. "As startled as I was by Sloane's tackle, I totally understand it. And I appreciate that you've been on high alert out here. Williams obviously brought you both here because he thought it was one place you could stay safe. But what brought him—and you—to this point?"

Chloe let out a long breath. "It was my fault. I was the one who reached out to him."

"You two were reaching out to everyone connected with the case, weren't you?" Kendra asked.

"It was different with Detective Williams."

"You should probably go back and tell her about Setzer," Sloane said.

Chloe nodded. "After we started re-interviewing people, I was approached by someone named Justin Setzer. It was no one I'd ever heard of. He said he had some information for us, but he was limited in what he could say. We had to do the follow-up work ourselves, but he said he could guide us and push us in the right direction if he thought we needed it."

"What did he tell you?"

"He told us to look into the Dayton Group and what they were doing at the Baum house around the time that our mother was killed. We started asking around, but we didn't get far at first. So Setzer started telling us more and more."

Kendra nodded. "We know about the Dayton Group."

"Well, we didn't have any idea until Setzer told us. He eventually admitted that he was a member of the group. He revealed how the Dayton Group enabled and covered for the Bayside Strangler, whose name was Rod Wallace. Setzer told us he even helped fake Wallace's death."

"Really?" Kendra thought for a moment. Although Highcastle suspected the man's death had been faked, this confirmed it.

Chloe nodded. "I think he felt guilty that they had enabled this psychopath for as long as they did. Setzer left the Dayton Group not long afterward and started his own private security company. Anyway, we told Detective Williams all of this, and we probably would have gotten in touch with Detective Chase if we'd had the chance. Williams had just started reaching out to his law-enforcement and intelligence sources to confirm and investigate the story when Setzer was murdered. That's when Detective Williams decided it was too dangerous for me and Sloane to stick around. He figured that Setzer's old Dayton Group teammates found out that he was being too forthcoming with information about their activities, and they silenced him. Williams wanted to get us the hell out of Dodge as soon as we could."

"Leaving behind your phones, purses, credit cards, everything?" Kendra said.

"He didn't want us bringing anything that could possibly be tracked. Phones, of course, were out. But driver's licenses and credit and ATM cards have RFID chips that can flag sensors all over the place. When Williams realized what we may be up against, he didn't want to take any chances. He said that these people have resources we can't imagine. He even made us take off our Apple Watches and fitness trackers. I took his file and the file we had started for Setzer and left everything else behind."

"The bad guys were aware you knew about all of this," Kendra said, putting it together in her own mind. "And they figured you most likely had some written evidence in those files of yours. That's why they wanted your files so badly."

"We gave those particular folders to Detective Williams," Chloe said.

"I wish he had stayed here, too," Kendra said.

"We asked him to stay, but he wanted to get back and get to the bottom of things," Sloane said. "I guess that's what he was working on when he was killed."

"He was probably reaching out to his old law-enforcement contacts," Kendra said. "I wish he had confided in Lynch and me sooner. But he didn't really know us, and I think he was a little suspicious of Lynch because of his government work."

Sloane shrugged. "Well, when Detective Williams left us alone on this island with food, blankets, and his old service revolver, we couldn't be sure of surviving. We knew he would try to help us but he obviously didn't want us to have any contact with the outside world until he could make it safe for us." Her lips twisted. "But evidently that wasn't going to happen. We decided that we were going to have to take care of ourselves. So we set out to do it. We did everything from setting up sentry posts to watching for any bad guys who might be coming after us over the horizon."

"Speak for yourself," Chloe said. "Don't let her bullshit you, Kendra. She's the one who set up all those defensive moves because she liked the idea of training herself to be Rambo." She was grinning affectionately. "But I have to admit she did a good job of it. I just did what she told me."

"Except for the cooking," Sloane added.

"It kept me busy," Chloe said. "Paradise can be extremely boring with nothing to do."

"I imagine it could," Kendra said. "I've never had to worry about that." The sisters were obviously completely different and yet she could see the affection. She rubbed her throat again. The flesh was still sore, and she was glad she hadn't had to deal with Lynch when she—

Lynch!

Dammit! She didn't have to check her watch to know that she'd been more than twenty minutes. She headed for the door. "I'll be right back. I forgot that I promised to meet Lynch."

"Ah, the mysterious Lynch you told us about," Sloane said with a smile. "I can hardly wait. Do you need us to run interference?"

"That's the last thing I want. You might make him a sandwich if you like. Since he's been trotting all over this island while I've been tucked in here with both of you for the past half hour." She didn't wait for them to answer. She was out the door in three minutes but she ran into Lynch just outside the radio shack. He didn't look pleased.

"I know, I'm late." She held out her hand to ward him off. "But good news: I located Sloane and Chloe, and they're both alive and well."

He nodded. "Well, that's a relief."

"They appear to be very familiar with the island. Did you see any sign of boat or helicopter activity while you were searching? Sloane said she's been keeping an eye out and she'll be glad to show us around."

"How kind," Lynch said caustically. "But I believe I'm up to date at the moment on Wallace and his ugly crew. Perhaps later." He took a step closer to her. "What I'm really interested in knowing is how you managed to get that ugly bruise on your throat? I know you didn't have it when you left me." His fingers touched the bruise. "How?"

"An accident." She moistened her lips. "A misunderstanding with Sloane. Now drop it, Lynch."

"I will. I'm going to let you take me inside and I'll be very charming. I just want you to introduce me and let me set the rules. Then it will be over."

"I set the rules," she said firmly. "They've lost people they care about."

He nodded. "And I have no intention of losing anyone I care about. Don't worry. I won't be ugly." He opened the door of the radio shack with a flourish. "So introduce me, Kendra."

"I have to admit, he's very interesting." Chloe was watching Lynch move around the kitchen half an hour later. "And he's getting along with Sloane very well, which is a relief. I was afraid that she'd be antagonistic toward him when he started telling her all the places on the island he was going to ask her to take him after dinner."

"She offered to do it. I heard her." Kendra shrugged. "Why were you surprised?"

"Because she regards this island as her own special place these days… and he's a very dominant personality. Of course, he probably won her over when he ran out and got Harley and brought him back here. He's a very appealing pooch."

"Yes, he is," Kendra agreed. "Though he's capable of getting in a great deal of trouble. That's why we try to keep him away from the seals. But everyone does love him." She looked Chloe in the eyes. "Even Todd Williams liked him."

"I'm sure." Chloe smiled. "One blue eye and one brown. Detective Williams had a big heart. He could never resist an animal that unusual."

"Lynch told you what happened when I took Harley to see Williams?"

"A few things," Chloe said. "We were asking a lot of questions and Lynch was kind enough to answer them." She was silent a moment. "And then he went on and told us how Todd Williams died and his last words to and about us." She was blinking tears away rapidly. "And then we realized how kind a man your friend Lynch really could be."

"Yes," Kendra said quietly. "You should have seen Lynch after Williams' car was found. He risked his life to get to him, and I believe Williams knew it. I think he knew we'd never stop looking for you. Because he trusted us."

"So do we," Chloe said. She smiled. "And you found us."

"We located you," Kendra corrected. "But we haven't really found you until we bring you home. That comes next." Her smile faded. "And it's difficult waiting right now. I want it over. I want all the deaths to stop."

"Me too," Chloe said.

Kendra lowered her voice. "One question, Chloe… Why did you have a garrote under the floor of your bedroom? It looked like the same contraption the killer might have used."

Chloe looked stunned. "You found that?"

Kendra nodded.

This obviously flustered Chloe. "I can't believe it," she whispered.

"Where did you get that?"

She looked down, unable to meet Kendra's gaze. "I made it."

"Why? Chloe, what was it for? Were you planning to use it?"

"Yes. But not in the way you probably think."

"Then in what way?"

Chloe still didn't look up at her. "When I was a freshman in college, I thought I'd found my mom's killer. All the evidence I'd gathered seemed to line up with him. I presented it all to the police, and no one took me seriously. I decided if they weren't going to do anything about it, I'd take things into my own hands. I made that garrote out of an electrical cord, the exact same type and gauge that the Bayside Strangler used. I was going to plant it in his place to help make my case. For a time, I thought I might even kill him and call it self-defense. But later, I decided it would be enough to plant the evidence I needed to have him locked up for good. Eventually, I lost my nerve and didn't do anything. Good thing, because he wasn't the strangler after all. He was just some creep who was fascinated by the case, and all serial killer cases."

Kendra smiled. "I know a guy like that. They're not all creeps."

Chloe finally looked up. "I was going to burn my garrote, but something made me want to hold on to it. Maybe I thought I still might use it someday, I don't know. But I tried to put it someplace where no one would ever find it."

"It almost worked. So, that was your blood on it?"

"I thought I'd wiped it all off. I tried it out on myself to make sure it left a mark identical to the strangler's garrote." She managed a smile. "Kind of ridiculous, huh?"

Kendra put her hand on Chloe's. "We all work through these things in our own way."

"I still dream about the day my mother died. I don't think it will ever be over."

"Soon," Kendra said. "I promise you." She squeezed Chloe's hand. "You won't lose the memories, but someday the nightmares will end." She shook her head to clear it. "What else do we have to do to finish dinner? Your sister and Lynch have done all the work."

"I'm not worried," Chloe said. "I could tell Lynch knew what he was doing when he offered to help cook this meal. What kind of training does he have? He appears to be ultra-competent."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I suppose we could start at Hell's Kitchen and go from there…"

The foursome talked more over dinner, and Kendra was interested to discover how different the Morgan sisters were from the impressions she'd formed during her investigation; although much of their lives had been defined by their mother's horrible death, there was little evidence of the serious, somewhat grim young women she'd expected to find. Chloe and Sloane were engaging and witty, and they seemed determined to enjoy life despite their shared tragedy.

Lynch was his usual charming self, but as the meal went on, he seemed anxious and distracted. Finally he stood. "I'll be right back."

After he'd left the shack, Chloe and Sloan immediately turned to Kendra. "Is everything okay?"

Kendra nodded. "Lynch is hypervigilant. If I know him the way I think I do, after we go to sleep he's going to spend the entire night on that hill behind the sheds, keeping watch with his binoculars."

Sloane looked away. "And tomorrow you'll take us back to San Diego?"

"That's the plan."

"I don't know if I'm ready for that," Sloane said. "I've felt so safe here."

"Lynch knows people. He'll make sure you're okay."

Chloe was about to say something when Lynch burst back into the room.

"Turn off the lights! All of them!"

Kendra jumped to her feet. "What is it?"

"We have company. One small boat has dropped anchor about half a mile off shore, and a slightly larger one is now headed this way."

"Is it a navy patrol?" Chloe asked as she turned off the solar-powered battery lantern. "Detective Williams told us they might sometimes circle the island, but he says they almost never come down this way."

Lynch shook his head. "It wasn't a navy craft. It was an electric speedboat, very stealth. I might have missed it were it not for the running lights. I counted at least six people on deck."

"Shit," Sloane said. "I can probably only handle three of them. Four, tops."

"Stop it, Sloane," Chloe said. "This is serious."

"Whatever. Do you think I'm not? I'm not going down without a fight."

Lynch pulled out his automatic and popped in the ammo cartridge. "We're not going down at all. But we need to get away from these buildings. They'll be the first things targeted. Is there a back door here?"

Chloe nodded. "At the end of the hallway."

"Let's use it. I want to be at the top of the hill by the time that boat gets to shore."

They ran from the building and scrambled up the hillside, a task made more difficult by the darkness. They finally reached the top and turned to face the water.

"I don't see it," Chloe whispered.

"It's out there," Lynch said. "They've just cut the running lights." He raised his binoculars and scanned the area. "Straight ahead. They're about to reach shore. They've seen our boat."

Sloane stepped forward, watching as the boat tied to the landing and the half-dozen men jumped off. "He's one of them, isn't he? The man who killed our mother…"

"We don't know that," Kendra said. "We can't be sure yet."

"And we can't lose focus," Lynch said. "Our goal right now is to get you off this island alive."

But they could tell the sisters weren't listening. They were staring straight ahead, jaws clenched and eyes narrowed, passing their own binoculars back and forth as they watched the men gathering.

One of the men switched on a battery lantern, and the others took their places around him.

Kendra turned to Lynch. "Do you recognize any of them?"

"I see Krebb. He's the one with the white hair. He doesn't usually go into the field. He prefers that others do his dirty work. We must be scaring the hell out of him."

"Good," Sloane said.

"And I see our friend with the blue hat from Catalina," Lynch said. "He's still wearing that hat. We were being watched there."

"Give me those," Kendra said to Lynch as she grabbed his binoculars. She trained the glasses on one man at a time. "Okay, I think we might also have the guy who attacked me in Sloane's condo."

Sloane turned toward her. "Wait. You were in my condo, and some guy attacked you in it?"

Kendra kept the binoculars trained on the men. "Yes. I was going to tell you about that."

"When?"

"Soon. We've been keeping fairly busy since we arrived on this island." She focused more precisely. "The guy standing next to Krebb is missing his right front tooth. The same one I knocked out."

"Nice work," Chloe murmured.

"Thanks. We recovered it near Sloane's dining room table." Kendra gasped as a chill ran through her.

"What is it?" Lynch said.

Something kept Kendra from wanting to immediately say the words out loud. How did you tell these young women who had been searching most of their lives for their mother's murderer that he was standing here before them? "Rod Wallace. We told you that he'd made another appearance in San Diego lately." She turned to Chloe and Sloane. "The Bayside Strangler is here."

"Which one is he?" Chloe asked as her fists clenched. Even in the darkness, Kendra could see her face flush with rage. "We haven't even seen a picture of him. Point him out to me."

"The one with his arms crossed, standing directly across from Krebb. Lynch and I encountered him in my building garage a few days ago. He bragged about who he was and… what he'd done."

"Are you sure it's him?" Lynch said.

"Positive. Bill Dillingham captured him perfectly in one of his alternative sketches. The guy was wearing a fake nose and maybe some fake bushy eyebrows, but Bill gave us a possibility that was right on the money. Pauley also deserves credit for remembering that face as well as he did."

"So did you," Lynch said quietly. "For picking up the odor of that prosthetic glue."

Kendra gestured impatiently. "No big deal." She turned back to the sisters. "Are you okay?"

"I can't believe it," Sloane said slowly. "After all these years…"

Chloe's lips tightened. "We can't leave this island until we bring him down."

Kendra and Lynch exchanged a look.

"We'll get him one way or another," Lynch said quickly. "It doesn't have to be here and now. We can wait until the odds are more squarely in our favor."

"We can't let him get away," Chloe said. "How can you say that? He's been getting away with our mom's murder for fifteen years. We can't ever forget the way she died."

Kendra put a hand on her arm. "We know that. But I also know that your mother wouldn't want you to do anything to hurt yourself. Would she?"

Sloane looked down and then away. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, there's no way we're going to ignore those sons of bitches," Kendra said flatly. "First of all, I'm going to tell you exactly what those guys are planning."

Chloe gave her an incredulous look. "How do you think you're going to do that?"

Lynch smiled at Kendra. "Can you do it?"

She smiled back at him. "As long as no one turns their back to me."

Sloane looked between the two of them. "What's happening…?"

Kendra raised the binoculars just in time to see Krebb start to brief his men. As luck would have it, light from the lantern illuminated Krebb's lips. "Okay," Kendra began, "they know there's four of us here and don't expect any backup. Adam Lynch is the only one they regard as a serious threat. With that in mind, their orders are… to kill him on sight."

Lynch cocked his head. "Harsh."

"If even one of us gets away… He's reminding them they could all spend the rest of their lives in prison, or maybe even facing the death penalty. But the three of us women need to be kept alive long enough for in-depth interrogation."

Lynch shrugged. "Huh. My shoot-on-sight thing doesn't seem so bad now."

Kendra squinted to see as the movement of the lantern cast a momentary shadow across Krebb's face. "He's telling them that it's just as important to secure any written or digital evidence. Any computers, tablets, phones, or written material are to be seized… along with anything we brought with us here. Oh, and they'll be towing our boat out to sea and sinking it before sunrise."

Lynch clicked his tongue. "Poor Delgado. My new friend will not be happy."

"The two men on the right are being sent around and up the hill. They'll move toward the installation buildings from the rear, then signal via walkie-talkies when they're in position."

"They won't make it," Lynch said. "I'll make sure of that."

"Two of the men will approach from the front, one at each side, then move to the center simultaneously."

Lynch nodded. "A squeeze play."

Kendra studied Krebb's mouth as he finished his briefing. "Krebb and Wallace are going to hang back and watch for any attacks from the installation's front flank." She turned to Lynch. "Krebb is keeping Wallace close."

"Wallace has probably killed more people than the rest of them combined. Krebb might think he offers a certain level of personal protection. Or he may think Wallace is a wild card and want to keep him on a tight leash."

"Both are possible," Sloane said. "And knowing their intentions, we're perfectly within our rights to kill any of them the second they make a move toward us. Right?"

"Of course," Kendra said. "But our main objective is to get the hell away."

Neither sister responded. They clearly had their own objective, and deep down, Kendra couldn't blame them. She would probably feel the same way if it was her mother who had been so brutally murdered.

Lynch motioned toward the rented boat. "We're lucky enough to have a boat that's faster than theirs. If we can get back to it, we'll have no problem getting away."

"That's a pretty big if," Chloe said.

"Not if we have a plan and stick to it," Lynch said.

"And what, exactly, is that plan?"

Lynch turned to Kendra. "Are they finished down there?"

"They're done talking. Right now, they're just loading ammo clips into their automatic rifles."

"Comforting. Okay, gather around. Here's what I have in mind…"