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Of course, there were no explosives, but that was the beauty of it. The threat was everything. He continued, trying to calm people down. “These explosives will not be used. They will not be used if you do what you are told and let us accomplish our goals. When we are finished, we will leave this ship and you will all be safe. When I speak to the President you will be allowed to hear the conversation as it is happening. As you will see, what we are asking for is fair and long overdue, and unless people like ourselves take a stand, nothing will ever change.”

When they were told that Max was going to talk to the President, people calmed down somewhat, thinking that maybe the President would be in control and there would be negotiations, and that this would end peacefully.

“I know many of you are hungry,” Max continued. “And we will allow certain crew members to feed you and keep you comfortable. You may use the bathrooms in the dining area but you may not leave to go anywhere else. Again, you will not be hurt. And some of you may even agree with what we are trying to accomplish.”

Brad Miller was sitting next to Barbara, who for some reason was ultracalm. “What do you think they want?” Brad asked her. “Are they going to blow up the ship?”

“He said no. He doesn’t seem to want to hurt us.”

“He hijacked the goddamn ship, honey. That’s not a good way to say, ‘I like you.’”

“I’m not going to panic yet. And I don’t know about you but I’m starving. I wonder if they’ll set out the buffet?” Brad couldn’t help but smile. Barbara was so Zen. But she had a point. At least maybe while they were being held hostage they could get the eggs Benedict they liked so much.

Walter Masters recognized Max Leonard the second his face came on the screen. And Masters was probably the only one in that room who had a real sense of what this was about. How interesting, Walter thought, that his conversation with Max Leonard those many months ago had led to today. In a strange way, Walter admired him. Whatever was going to happen, Max would make his point. And that took guts.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

While Kathy was driving to work, very early, Clyde Folsom’s face appeared on her windshield. She could see through it without being distracted from the road, and it provided a safe way to communicate while driving an automobile. “You heard what happened, I’m assuming?” She didn’t know what he was talking about. Her first thought was that a new seven-bedroom house that she was sure she would sell this week had gone to someone else.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Your boyfriend hijacked a boat.”

“What? What boyfriend?” For a minute Kathy thought Clyde was talking about Brian Nelson, but that was impossible, he didn’t even know him. Then it hit her. “Oh my God! What happened?”

“Why don’t you turn to the news and you can see. Thank God you’re not with him.”

Kathy reached for a button on the wheel to cut off the conversation and put a news channel on in its place. She continued to drive, looking through the story as it unfolded. Even though she could focus on the road, she had to pull over. She started to feel sick. She stopped the car on the right side of the highway and sat there, just watching it unfold. It looked so confusing, there was so much going on, but it took only a minute to see Max’s name and his picture. She heard a commentator say, “That is all we know right now. There are six of them and this one seems to be the leader.”

Kathy turned it off. She didn’t know whether to go to work or go back home, but she didn’t want to be alone.

Clyde Folsom and the other two employees were at the office, watching the news on the big screen in the waiting area. Kathy walked in and sat down with them, and Clyde could see she was in shock. He told the others to go back to work, leaving him and Kathy sitting by themselves. “I hate to say it,” Clyde told her, “but I knew he was trouble. Did you suspect this?”

Kathy could barely speak. She was