“She’s dead. This is what I took from her right before Fayez killed her.”
Sam took in a deep breath. He focused, seeing the gold coin that Nikos had given to Remi. “You took it? Or she gave it to you?”
“Does it make a difference? She’s dead, and you’re next.”
Sam glanced at the passageway, seeing Remi just a few feet away on the port-side deck. She smiled, waving at him, her foot on Gianni’s gun. Either she was the most amazing hallucination he’d ever seen, or she was very much alive.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
In the second it took Sam to decide he really did see his wife, he heard the Asteri rumbling to life.
“What’s that?” Adrian asked.
“That,” Sam said, “is the sound of hostages who didn’t quite cooperate, like you hoped.”
“After them!” Adrian ordered.
Before anyone could make a move, the Asteri motored full-speed ahead. They all turned toward the speedboat. It was no longer tethered to the Odysseus, and was, thanks to Nikos, adrift.
“You did this!” Adrian Kyril said, his gaze landing on Sam.
“To be fair,” Sam replied, “I had help.”
Ilya turned to Kyril as he pulled a small remote from his pocket. “What are you doing?”
“What should have been done a long time ago.”
Ilya pointed his weapon at Kyril. “I’m not going to die for you, Adrian. I’ll kill you before I let that happen.”
As Sam kicked the air tank, the clatter drawing everyone’s attention, Remi slid the pistol toward Sam. He caught it, dropped and rolled over, shooting Ilya in the head. Gianni reached for Ilya’s fallen gun. Sam turned, and shot him square in the chest, then aimed at Adrian.
Holding the remote, Adrian gave a triumphant smile. “You really think you can shoot me before I press this?”
“You sure you want to do that? You’re on board and there’s nowhere for you to go.”
“I’ll die happy, knowing I’m taking you with me.”
He gripped the remote, then pressed the button.
Nothing happened. He pressed it once more, whacked the device against his hand, then tried pressing it again.
“I doubt it’s the batteries,” Sam said as he shifted his legs, then stood. “Something tells me it’s those two divers you sent down after us. I’m guessing they probably weren’t expecting us to live. Otherwise they’d have done a better job hiding those IEDs we found attached to the hull.”
The color drained from Adrian’s face as Remi stepped around the corner. He glanced at the two dead men on the deck, then glared at Sam, his jaw ticking. “I’ll see you in hell.”
“Probably not. But I’ll definitely see you in court. Nothing will make me happier than knowing you’re spending the rest of your life locked in a prison cell.”
Sam handed the pistol to Remi, then walked over to Kyril, dragging him down the stairs.
EPILOGUE
Sam had to admit that the feeling of satisfaction on seeing Adrian Kyril taken into custody was well worth the lump on his head, bruised jaw, and sore ribs. After days of police interviews, he and Remi were both grateful when it finally ended.
With Adrian Kyril and his surviving gunman being held without bail, the archeologists and the Fourni crew could finally begin the task of identification, mapping, and recovery of the artifacts.
A week later, they began in earnest. One of the archeologists who recovered the plate that Sam had used to fend off the spears, bemoaned the fact that there was a dent in it.
“It’s a small dent,” Sam said. “You’d think they’d be happy about all the gold coins they’ve uncovered so far. I’ll try to be more careful next time.” He put his arm around Remi’s shoulders. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to head back to California. I was thinking we could do with a little vacation. I know a great spot where we can go camping.”