Chapter 89

89

"Mr. Shaw, is it? Where do you get your help, Mr. Shaw?" I said as the large man and his two lackeys walked back up the aisle toward the bow. "There isn't one I've met so far that I've liked."

"Beats me," Shaw said. "I just work here."

"Where's Frank?" I said.

"He had other business to attend to."

"Cowards always do," I said.

Shaw smiled.

I looked around the beautifully appointed craft. It had to have a beam of what? Forty feet? I thought. There had to be multiple thousands of square feet of interior cabin. Half a dozen staterooms below deck. It was like a floating mansion.

"Look at the three of us," Shaw said. "Is there anything better than enjoying a day out on the water?"

"Not in my book," I said.

"What do you think, Olivia? Having fun?"

The college girl said nothing.

"She doesn't talk much," Shaw said. "Just like her old man. The silent type."

Olivia looked at him.

"Oh, wait," Shaw said. "Did I forget to tell you? I killed your father."

Even my eyes went wide at that one. He'd killed her dad? Colleen's client who'd been in jail?

"Bullshit," I said.

"'Fraid not," Shaw said. "I strangled him at his shit box in Washington Heights. No client no case, right?"

Olivia started to shake. Silent tears started to pour down her cheeks.

"Look, she even cries quiet," Shaw said. "Remarkable."

He looked back at me.

"So, what are we doing here?" he said.

I took out a thumb drive, flicked it across the table.

Shaw took out a tablet and stuck it in, hit some buttons. He watched Jodi's video twice.

I looked at the sociopath's face for some emotion as he viewed. There was nothing at all.

"You weren't kidding. That's some damning tape there," Shaw finally said after he was done.

He laid the tablet down on the highly varnished outdoor table between them.

"But where's the rest? The blackmail from the college."

I tossed him the padlock key.

"All the servers are in a storage locker in East Hampton. Address and locker number is on the fob."

"Right on the fob. Gee, thoughtful. Thanks," Shaw said with a chuckle. "But you have other copies of this footage, right?"

He began tapping the table beside the tablet with a finger.

I smiled. There was a sudden grayish tint in the air as a cloud slipped over the sun. I kept smiling.

"Of course, I do. But only for insurance. Once you let us go, you won't have to worry about it."

"I have to disagree there," Shaw said. "What's to stop you from sending it out when you leave here with her?"

"The knowledge that guys like you with your now almost complete global surveillance grid will never stop hunting us down," I said.

"What's to stop us from doing that anyway?"

I shrugged.

"Why bother if you get what you need. Even if we went to the press with the footage, they wouldn't even show it. You guys got that covered, too."

Shaw drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

"You killed my guys."

"How many people did you kill?" I said. "And you destroyed a town."

Shaw squinted, considering what I was saying. Then he brought a small Glock out of his pant's pocket as he stood, pointing the gun at my forehead.

"You can't be this stupid," I said, looking at him with genuine surprise.

Shaw laughed.

"You shouldn't have killed my buddies. They were like sons to me."

"Were they? Wow, that's touching," I said, checking my watch as I leaned back. "Don't make me laugh. As if you ever cared about anyone but yourself your whole life."

Shaw laughed again.

"You've got balls, I'll give you that," he said. "Ice cubes of extra-large size. I promise I'll use them ethically, for chum, when I go fishing later for swords when Frank helicopters back."

I shook my head as I checked my watch again.

"You're a real piece of work, Shaw. It's not your fault. You're human, I guess. You don't learn. Some people just can't."

"What do you mean?"

I checked my watch again.

"If you've got some place to be," Shaw said, "you probably should call ahead because, believe me, your plans have changed."

"Shaw, I told you I was a bomb squad guy, right? Well, before that I was a SEAL. You know the navy SEALs?"

"And?" he said.

"What do SEALs do, Shaw?"

"Cowboy around like obnoxious jackasses? Die young?"

"Besides that, we do underwater demolition, Shaw," I said.

I watched as a puzzled expression formed on his face.

"What if I told you," I said, "that when I called Frank Stone, it was from behind this boat, after I was done."

"Done?"

"You'll see. Any second now. It's just about time," I said with a laugh as I looked over at Olivia and smiled.

"Time?" he said.

I leaned over casually and hooked my hand in under Olivia's left arm where it was handcuffed behind her.

"Time for you and time for me," I said as I lifted my wrist and watched the second hand on my watch finally land with a deafening blast.