Richard Johnson - Deadly Cargo - A Chilling Naval Terrorism Thriller

It took only a few moments for him to remove the planks from the back window opening and step out into growing darkness. He tapped the nails back into place, then rushed across the narrow road and rapped on the door then put his ear against it. Sorgei called out from within.

“Josh?”

“Yes. It’s time to get going. Are you ready?”

Josh heard the window boards move. “Here,” Sorgei shoved a cloth bag at him through the opening. “Food and clothing.”

Josh took the bundle and helped Sorgei climb through the window. The Russian had a worried look on his face as they replaced the planks. If they were lucky, nobody would discover that the prisoners had escaped until time for the morning meal. That gave them a ten-hour head start; and in this country, they needed it.

They looked left and right, but the street was deserted. “This way,” Josh said, and the two of them scrambled across the road and ducked behind the house where Josh had been held. Extending to the horizon was nothing but empty wilderness – a dead-looking landscape of small rough brush and boulders. “Afghanistan is that way,” Josh pointed toward a star that was just appearing in the night sky. “That’s where we’re going. We’ll get back to my camp and we’ll be safe.”

“Maybe you will,” Sorgei said, “but I don’t think they will look too kindly at me.”

“Leave that to me. I have a plan. But right now we’ve got to move. You just stay close to me. It’s going to be a long, dark night, and you don’t want to get separated from me. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sorgei said, but there was reluctance in his voice.

Josh looked him in the eyes. “Listen, everything’s going to work out.” He pointed at the silhouette of a boulder pile in the distance. “We’ll need to move as quietly as possible until we get to those rocks. Stay low, so you won’t show above the horizon. Let’s go,” he said in a hushed voice, then took off in a crouched run.

Sorgei whispered a question as he bent and ran behind Josh. “How do you know where to go?”

“Trust me,” he panted. “You just stick with me and I’ll explain it all later.”

Barely three minutes passed and they scrambled into the boulder pile and stopped to look back at the bleak village. Everything was dead still. Josh knew that the entire population was in the mosque, prostrated on prayer rugs that were turned to face toward Mecca – the same direction as the escape route he and Sorgei were on.

San Blas Islands – Eastern Caribbean

“So, how’s it going this morning?” Dan Plover sounded particularly happy as he stepped into the hut that served as Sven’s store. The Dane looked up from the large piece of paper he had stretched out across the counter.

“Ah,” he said, “You guys are back from down south. How was it?”

“Man,” Dan smiled, “I’ve never seen anything like it. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was just us and the birds and the monkeys. Perfect!”

“Well, I was just thinking about you,” Sven said.

“Yeah? What about?”

“I’ve been looking at the chart. I love charts. When I study them, I can almost see what the ocean and the islands and the coastline look like. It’s almost as good as going on the voyage myself.”

“So which chart are you drooling on today?” Dan asked with a smile in his eyes.

“It’s the one you will be using between here and the Rio Dulce. Won’t be long now before you’ll be heading out. The hurricane season has about to end. Unless something weird happens. A late storm…”

Dan scratched his head, then tried to smooth down his permanently tousled hair. “That’s why I’m here. Nicole wants to stick around for another couple of weeks, so the kids can have some more time with their friends, ’cause once we leave, who knows where we’ll end up. We might not ever get back this way. At least not for a long time. And she wants to make sure we’re not going to bump into a late storm. She has a sort of sixth sense about these things, women’s intuition, I guess, if you believe in such things.”

“Hmmm, just what’s going on in here?” a female voice piped up. “You guys were talking about us girls, weren’t you?”

Dan backed up and looked at Sven for help but got none, because Sven had his head down and was pretending to study the chart again. Dan tried to sound innocent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And don’t you try to pretend that there’s nothing going on here, either Sven.” Grendel’s tone was almost enough to prompt a confession.

He looked up from the chart. “Oh, hi honey.”

“Don’t ‘oh, hi honey’ me. We were standing outside and heard every word you said. These palm frond walls don’t block the sound. What was that remark about intuition? It was a compliment, right?”

Sven shifted back and forth on his feet, looking for the right words. “Well, yah, sure honey…”

“Yah?”

Nicole’s face slowly melted into a warm smile. “You two should be lucky,” she said, “to have such intuitive wives.” Then she hugged Dan.

Sven turned to Grendel with a ‘what about me’ look on his face. She nodded, “Yah, I agree. You two are lucky. So, now, tell us what you were really talking about.”

Just then, Jacob stepped into the room, with Kirsten right behind him. “Hi,” Jacob said brightly. “What’s up?”

“Well, uh,” Dan said, “Sven and I were just looking over the charts and talking about how we’re going to be sticking around here for another couple of weeks before we take off for Rio Dulce.”

Jacob broke into a huge smile, “That’s great. I love it here.” He unconsciously glanced over at Kirsten, then realizing what he had done, he blushed. “I mean, this place is an awesome cruising ground. You know,” he stumbled on, “we’ve got coconuts and palm trees and fish and…”

Nicole rescued him. “We know,” she said. “This is a pretty perfect place.”

“But eventually we’re going to move on,” Dan said. “In a couple of weeks.”

Jacob’s face fell a little with the realization that there was so little time left. But he struggled to not let it show. “Oh, right. Of course. The Rio Dulce awaits. I hear that is a fantastic place.” Then he turned and took Kirsten by the hand. “Come on,” he said, “let’s go for a swim.” The two of them headed out the door.

“See ya later,” Kirsten called back over her shoulder.

“You two be careful,” Grendel shouted just loud enough to be heard as the kids walked down the beach. Kirsten waved her hand without looking back, so her mom knew she had heard.

“Well, all right.” Nicole turned her attention back to Dan. “What do you two guys want for lunch? Grendel and I were just coming to see if you have any particular appetite.”

“Umm.” Dan grinned and wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist. “I do have a particular appetite,” he growled in a husky voice.

Nicole giggled. “I meant for food.”

Sven broke into a hearty laugh. “I think he intends to nibble on you.”

Grendel poked him. “You behave yourself. Don’t go giving Dan any ideas.”

Sven grabbed Grendel and swept her around, dipping her low for a dramatic kiss. “You’re right. Let him come up with his own ideas.”

A tiny giggle from outside caught the attention of the two snuggling couples. “Cadee, is that you?” Nicole yelled.

“Yep, it’s me. But I can’t come in there with you guys doing all that mushy stuff.”

“It’s okay, honey,” Dan called out. “We’ll be good.”

Cadee stepped into the room, a slight blush on her face. “Jacob just told me the news.” She bounced, excited. “Maria Elena and I can hang out together for another couple of weeks.”