Chapter 3 - THE FALSE RESCUEI woke on a steel floor.
My wrists were zip-tied.
My head throbbed.
The room smelled like disinfectant.
A strip of fluorescent light buzzed overhead.
For several seconds, I couldn't remember where I was.
Then I saw Briggs.
He was unconscious beside me.
Captain Ward was gone.
A door opened.
Two Marines entered.
Behind them came Kane.
He wasn't wearing his sunglasses this time.
He looked almost relaxed.
“Good morning.”
I said nothing.
Kane crouched in front of me.
“You've caused quite a disturbance.”
I stared at him.
“What did you do to Captain Ward?”
“Captain Ward?”
He smiled.
“You mean the man who kidnapped you?”
I almost laughed.
Instead, I said:
“That's your story?”
“It will be.”
He stood.
“Your official account will be straightforward. You entered a restricted compartment without authorization. Captain Ward confronted you. A struggle occurred. You fell overboard while attempting to escape.”
“You're going to blame Ward?”
“He's already dead.”
My stomach tightened.
Kane watched my face.
“You see, Hannah, truth isn't what happens. Truth is what gets entered into the record.”
He turned toward the door.
“Take her to medical.”
The two Marines hauled me up.
As I walked down the corridor, I noticed something strange.
The lights above us were numbered.
Deck Four.
Deck Four.
Deck Four.
We weren't in the medical bay.
We were still below.
A door opened.
Inside were four hospital beds.
One was occupied.
I stopped.
Tyler Webb.
Alive.
Bandaged.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
“Hannah?”
One Marine grabbed my shoulder.
“Keep moving.”
I pulled away.
Tyler tried to sit up.
“He knows!”
The door slammed.
I looked back through the small window.
Tyler was pounding on the glass.
“DON'T TRUST THE RESCUE!”
The Marines dragged me away.
An hour later, the ship-wide alarm sounded.
MEDICAL EVACUATION.
Then another announcement.
“Unidentified distress vessel detected three nautical miles west.”
A rescue boat was supposedly coming.
I was taken onto the flight deck.
The sea was rough.
A small vessel approached.
Coast Guard markings.
My pulse jumped.
For the first time since being thrown overboard, I felt hope.
The boat came alongside.
Two officers boarded.
“Petty Officer Cole?”
“Yes.”
“NCIS?”
“Yes.”
One of them nodded.
“We received an emergency transmission.”
Kane appeared behind me.
“Excellent.”
Something about his smile felt wrong.
One officer looked at me.
“Ma'am, we're taking you to shore.”
I stepped forward.
Then I saw his wrist.
A black thread bracelet.
Three knots.
I had seen that bracelet before.
On Daniel Reese.
The missing sailor whose file was inside Deck Four.
My heart pounded.
“Where did you get that?”
The officer looked at his wrist.
“What?”
“The bracelet.”
He went still.
Kane's expression changed.
I grabbed a metal railing.
“That's not Coast Guard.”
The officer reached for his weapon.
I moved first.
I slammed my shoulder into him.
He stumbled.
Gunfire erupted.
The other officer fired toward the deck.
Sailors screamed.
Kane shouted.
I dove behind a cargo container.
Bullets struck the steel.
The fake rescue team wasn't there to save me.
They were there to transfer me.
Or kill me.
Maybe both.
I crawled along the deck while chaos exploded around me.
Then I saw someone standing near the aircraft elevator.
Tyler Webb.
He was bleeding through his bandages.
He pointed toward the starboard side.
“Jump!”
“What?”
“NOW!”
I didn't understand.
Then he threw something.
A flare.
It landed near Kane.
Bright red light exploded across the deck.
Everyone shielded their eyes.
Tyler shouted:
“MOVE!”
I ran.
We crossed the deck and ducked behind a maintenance structure.
Tyler collapsed against the wall.
“You're alive.”
He laughed weakly.
“So are you.”
“What happened to Ward?”
Tyler looked at me.
“He knew too much.”
“You said not to trust the rescue.”
“They're not rescue.”
“Who are they?”
Tyler swallowed.
“Black Meridian.”
I stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I signed the transfer papers.”
He pulled a folded document from beneath his bandage.
I opened it.
It wasn't a transfer order.
It was a death authorization.
At the bottom was a signature.
Victor Kane.
And beneath it was another signature.
Captain Elias Ward.
I looked at Tyler.
“Ward signed this?”
“He didn't.”
“Then whose signature is it?”
Tyler's face went pale.
“That's what he was trying to prove.”
A voice came from behind us.
“You two should really stop asking questions.”
We turned.
Nathan Briggs stood there.
Holding a pistol.
My heart sank.
He raised the gun.
“I told Kane I would bring her back.”
Tyler whispered:
“Lieutenant Commander...”
Briggs looked at me.
Then he lowered the weapon.
“I lied to Kane.”
May you like
He tossed the gun onto the floor.
“Because Captain Ward is still alive.”
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