John Ringo: A Deeper Blue

Mike looked up and vaguely recognized the guy who had played assistant gunner. He was even carrying the M-60.

“Daddy?” the girl said. “Daddy!”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a rope or anything useful would you?” Mike asked.

“No, but I was just going to say thanks for saving my kid,” the man replied. “They’re evacuating the park.”

“Good to hear it,” Mike said, reaching the landing. He pushed the girl up and she ran to her father who picked her up, big girl though she was. Mike followed her, getting up onto the landing then taking a knee as he just breathed . It had been a long damned day. And what was it with girls and swimming on this op?

“Seriously, man, thanks,” the guy said, taking a knee next to him.

“Seriously, you’re welcome,” Mike said, looking at the two of them. His jaw flexed when he really looked at the girl’s face. Blonde hair, blue eyes, even the cheekbones and, yeah, the lips were right. She looked one hell of a lot like Gretchen would have looked at the same age.

“Thank you,” the girl said. She’d looked over his shoulder and could see where she’d been standing. The area was covered in flames.

“You’re welcome as well,” Mike said, pulling the communicator pad off his belt. He shook it and was unsurprised to see that it was still functioning. That was why he’d paid an arm and a leg for the system. “Kildar here.”

“Kildar!” Greznya said. “Armenak saw you run into the fire! We thought you were dead!”

“Not yet,” Mike said, standing up and holding his hand out for the machine gun. “Tell Dragon I need pickup,” he continued, walking up the steps of the landing. “And put me through to Pierson. We’ve got some loose ends to clean up.”

He paused at the top of the stairs and watched as the man, with his daughter still piggyback, walked up.

“Lass, what’s your name?” Mike asked, shouldering the M-60.

“Lindsey,” the girl said.

“Lindsey, I need you to do me two favors,” Mike said. “You planning on getting married and having kids?”

“Yes,” she replied, blushing. “ Some day.”

“Someday is good,” Mike said as the black Hind hovered above and then began to drop into the open space behind him. “I want you to do me two favors in that regard. The first is you pick a good husband. Pick somebody smart and strong, somebody who doesn’t beat you or shout at you and plans on being somebody. A guy who has it on the ball. Pick good genes, girl, that’s the first favor. The second favor you owe me for this, Lindsey, is you got to name your first daughter Gretchen.”

Cell phone connections had been overloaded, but Will had managed to get the whole family collected before they entered the tunnels. Will was amazed by the tunnels under the park; they were big . But even as large as they were, they were crowded.

Will had ahold of Lindsey’s hand while Dafney led Jason and Allison. The crowd, fortunately, was moving pretty smoothly and nobody was panicking. Just shuffling forward to some unknown destination.

“The exit is not far, folks,” a Disney security guard said, waving the group on. “Remain calm and keep walking. There will be busses waiting when you exit…”

“You okay?” Dafney asked.

“Fine,” Will said, rubbing Lindsey’s still-wet hair as they exited a side tunnel into a much larger area. It was still packed, though. Apparently, the whole park dumped into it. He looked back at her and grinned, then blanched. A guy who looked pretty damned Middle Eastern to Will’s eyes had just pulled out a can of OFF. Since there weren’t many mosquitoes in the tunnel, he probably wasn’t worried about bites. And he had a weird look in his eye. It was that, as much as anything, that had Will suddenly moving, pushing his youngest daughter aside and swinging…

He hadn’t gotten in a fight since he was in the Army but the roundhouse was muscle memory, even if diffused, and it connected perfectly. What he’d forgotten was how much hitting somebody’s chin with your fist hurt .

“Fuck,” he said, cradling his hand as the man crashed to the ground, the can of OFF rolling away unsprayed. “SECURITY!”

Anastasia was just about worn out; this was just too much of a good thing.

Gonzales had been torturing her practically nonstop, getting every scrap of information she was willing to give. Katya had been there for most of it, and had caught more than a piece, as he brought in guards to rape and whip them both when he got worn out.

Currently she was tied belly down to a saddle with one man raping her in the ass and another taking her in the mouth. Gonzales was back to whipping, his arm having given out twice so far. He didn’t even really seem to be interrogating her anymore, just punishing Mike through her.

As the man came in her mouth and backed away, she looked over at Katya, who was chained up in a corner, and rolled her eyes. The girl snorted through her gag in laughter. Hopefully, the group would take it as some sort of stifled plea.

“What does he want?” Gonzales said, pulling her head back by her hair. “What is he after?”

“The gas,” Anastasia whimpered. “And… and…”

“He’s after my money, isn’t he?”

“Yes!” she admitted, bursting into tears. “Yes. I heard him speak of it. A great deal of money. He wishes to steal it from you. It was to be transferred by… b… p…”

“He knows about the boat,” Gonzales said, straightening up. “Gomez must have talked. Tell Suarez to send a message, right away, to move the shipment.”

“Yes, jefe ,” the guard by the door said, darting out.

“Does he know where it is?” Gonzales asked, pulling her head up again. “Tell me, bitch!” he added, striking her on the back with the whip.

“In the Keys,” Anastasia said, taking a guess. “Something Key.”

“Fuck, he even knows it’s in Marathon?”

Katya rolled onto her side, trying to turn the gales of laughter into something else. She’d been tortured by experts over the years and while she didn’t enjoy it, she knew what “expert” meant. And Gonzales was an idiot . If he was the quality of individual that ran major segments of a cocaine smuggling ring, well, anybody could do it.

Come to think of it…

She managed to stop laughing by turning it into a whine as if from terror.

“Katya,” Julia said over the radio link. “That whine is not only extremely annoying, we’re having a hard time hearing what is being said. Did he just say a boat with money on it is in Marathon?”

“Uh, huh,” Katya said through her gag. “Uhhhh…”

“Get that bitch over here,” Gonzales said, gesturing to Katya. “You wanted to make out with this one. Well, make out with her. Do it all with her. I want to watch…”

“Katya,” Julia said. “Be advised that if you can extend the time with your hands undone, it might be advisable. We’re going to need a distraction in a few minutes.”

“There’s the boat,” John Hardesty shouted over the wind, pointing to the water below.

Mike’s regular pilot had eventually turned up and upon Mike’s arrival at the island had had a bit of a tiff with his boss. Tom Chatham, on being informed why Mike needed something along the lines of a Beaver, had insisted on driving. But John pointed out that not only did he have more time with Beavers, he was Mike’s regular driver. The two had worked it out as gentlemen after Chatham pointed out who was the boss. So Chatham was driving the blacked-out Beaver while Hardesty worked the door.

Mike gave him a thumbs-up and considered the angle. Given the reported winds aloft, it was close enough. So he grabbed the edges of the doorframe and hurled himself out.