Ever Hayes - Redemption

He slammed his head back against the seat rest, and a sharp object stabbed him in the back. “Aya… Ouch!” He turned around and pushed against the sharp object. Then he noticed the seat cushion had been cut on the side. He reached inside the slit and pulled out a rough lump of coral with a piece of paper wrapped around it. He unfolded the paper and read the words aloud.

“Car equipped with satellite diffuser. Switch next to ignition. Switch releases magnetic pulse that kills all electronics in twenty miles. You will travel invisibly. Safe house is at your disposal. Can be hiding place, storage site, prison, etc. Four guards there to help you as needed. If pulse activated, we will know you are coming and we will be ready. Allah be with you.”

This was exactly what he had been looking for and should have easily found—had he only sat in the driver’s seat before. Not having any idea where the book was anymore, he couldn’t just take it and run—his original plan—but he still needed it. And now Lazzo knew exactly what he must do to get that book. He just needed the opportunity to present itself.

He still had a chance. He just had to force Danny’s hand.

The USS George Washington was parked a half-mile offshore, but it was so huge it seemed we could reach out and touch it. The carrier had finished its planned loop and settled into the Kauai Channel for the night. The Hexagon had called Danny and let him know it was parked in our “dark” zone—so they couldn’t see it. They wanted us to let them know immediately if anything went wrong—though I suspected the carrier would notify them on their own if they needed to. From various vantage points in the tree house we used our telescopes and binoculars to watch people scurry around the deck, completing an assortment of drills and tasks. Danny pointed out Captain Baker and Brock. I’d already heard plenty about those two from all the Pack members so I observed them a little closer than the others—out of curiosity. Launch day was finally upon us.

Grandpa thought we should build a huge bonfire down in our cove and have a farewell celebration of sorts for the 348 people on that ship. “Maybe for 346 of them, Ryan,” Keena said, and we all laughed. Yeah, no one will miss the prick and his fat sidekick. We grilled hot dogs, burgers, steaks, vegetables, apples— my favorite —and s’mores and popped open a bottle of champagne. We went all out, and then we sat on the beach and watched the lights on the carrier. At some point Sam mentioned taking one of our boats out to the carrier to see it up close from the water. It was almost completely dark, with no moon out yet, and pretty much everyone else was heading up to go to bed—but Emily and Abbey were thrilled by the idea, so Reagan and I volunteered to ride along. I could tell Danny was considering coming with us, but Kate pulled him away. I hugged him goodnight.

“Be careful,” he said.

“Sure thing.” I gave him a quick hug.

Tara and Dad were talking to Emily and I couldn’t help but overhear most of it.

“Please, Mom.”

“It’s not safe, Em. It’s dark and—”

“But Abbey gets to go. Reagan will be there… and Hayley.”

“It’s actually not a bad night.” Dad jumped in. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime experience.”

“Ryan.” Tara clearly didn’t like him taking sides—or the opposite side.

He should have kept his mouth shut . “Tara.” I stepped over to them. “She’ll be okay. I’ll keep her right by me.”

Tara looked out at the boat one more time, then down at her daughter whose hands were clasped together in a pleading manner. “Okay—”

“Yes!” Emily jumped up and down and hugged Tara.

“But—but…” She placed a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “You put that life jacket on and you stay with Hayley. I want you back at the Big House in an hour.”

“Okay, Mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“One hour.”

“I’ve got her, Tara.” I watched Emily run off towards Abbey.

“Thanks, Hayley.”

“Of course.”

Lazzo walked out onto the docks with us. I asked if he wanted to go, and he shrugged and hopped in.

“Sure, why not? I’m still wide awake.”

We shoved off and headed toward the aircraft carrier. Once we got beyond the cove the wind started picking up. It was almost chilly. I snuggled against Sam for a little extra warmth—as he steered us towards the carrier. Suddenly Lazzo stood and stepped away from Reagan. He was holding something in his hand—pointing it at Sam. A gun! “Stop the boat, Sam,” Lazzo demanded.

Abbey opened her mouth to scream, but Lazzo covered her face with his hand, pressing the gun to Reagan’s forehead as she moved toward Abbey. “Sit back down, Reagan.”

“Lazzo, what the hell?” I stepped towards him and away from Sam—grabbing Six’s leash and trying to get closer to Reagan. “What are you—”

“Sit down, Hayley.” He swung the gun toward me. “Right here.”

Reluctantly, I did as I was told. Six was snarling. With one hand I gently covered his mouth. With the other I motioned for Reagan to sit down. “Lazzo, what is this?”

He ignored me. “Sam, you move over here.”

“Lazzo, don’t be stupid.”

“Sam, this might not be the best time to call me stupid.”

“Sam, do what he says.” I patted the seat beside me.

Lazzo’s body was calm but his eyes were wild. I’d never seen this Lazzo before. Clearly this wasn’t some prank. His voice was angry. “Anyone screams and I shoot you all. You keep her quiet.” Lazzo pointed at Abbey.

As Lazzo moved behind the boat controls I slid down the bench towards Reagan. Emily was hidden behind me now. “Lazzo, talk to me. What are you doing?”

“What I must, Hayley.” Lazzo fixed his eyes on Sam, who had moved across from us. “Sam, don’t get any ideas. The gun isn’t there anymore.” He waved the gun in the air, implying he’d taken it from the box under Sam’s bench.

Sam stood back up. “Lazzo—”

“Sam,” I cautioned.

“Shut up, Sam.” Lazzo trained the gun on him.

I had a bad feeling about where this was going. I wanted to tackle Lazzo and push him off the boat, but I couldn’t possibly cover the space between us quickly enough. And even if I could, Danny had told me Lazzo was a member of the Libyan Special Forces at one point—not too long ago. Me—even in all my fury—I still probably couldn’t take him.

Reagan had placed herself between Lazzo and Abbey. This had to be a terrible déjà vu for the vice president’s daughters—being held at gunpoint by a Qi Jia officer. If Lazzo still was one. Could he have had ulterior motives this entire time in Hawaii? Had the hard-working, friendly, volunteer for everything, person we’d all come to know and appreciate been an act—an impostor? I didn’t want to believe that yet.

“Tell us what’s going on.” I was trying to keep his attention on me. “Please.”

Lazzo rubbed his eyes. “I can’t, Hayley. I’m sorry.” He moved over to the boat motor, never taking his gun off Sam. “This has to be done.”

Lazzo turned the motor on and pushed the throttle forward, simultaneously firing the gun—the revving engine somewhat masking the gun’s discharge. The bullet tore into Sam’s chest, propelling him overboard. I heard myself scream, and I jumped up to go after him, but Lazzo yelled. “You jump in, I kill the other three.”

I froze on the edge of the boat looking frantically into the inky black water as we moved away from where Sam had fallen in. There was no sign of him and I couldn’t hear anything other than the sloshing of waves against the boat. Panic spread through my body, revealing itself in my shaking hands. I spun towards Lazzo ready to explode but froze at the cold glare in his eyes. He was going to shoot me too . I shouldn’t have untied Six, but I did. He’d been lunging against his leash but it had held. Now loose, he flew at Lazzo. Lazzo killed him mid-jump with another gunshot. “That was stupid, Hayley,” he yelled, pulling back on the throttle.