Cold Vengeance - Lincoln Child [130]
“Let’s go,” said Esterhazy.
For a moment, nobody moved.
“Constance,” said Pendergast, “wait for us at the tender in the stern.”
“Just a minute,” Constance said. “Surely you aren’t going to believe—”
“Please go to the tender. We’ll join you in a moment.”
With a single, lingering stare at Esterhazy, she turned and walked aft, disappearing into the dark.
“There are two men on the bridge,” Esterhazy said to Pendergast. “We have to neutralize them and get off this boat.”
When Pendergast did not reply, Esterhazy took the lead, pushing open a cabin door and stepping over a motionless body. They passed through the main saloon and then ascended a stairway. Arriving at the sky deck, he opened the sliding glass doors and crossed the sky lounge. Pendergast took up a position next to the bridge door, drawing his weapon. Esterhazy knocked.
A moment later the captain’s voice came over the intercom. “Who is it? What’s happening? What was that shooting?”
Esterhazy put on his calmest voice. “It’s Judson. It’s all over. Falkoner and I have got them immobilized in the saloon.”
“The rest of the crew?”
“Gone. Most of them killed or incapacitated—or overboard. But everything’s under control now.”
“Jesus!”
“Falkoner wants Gruber below for a few minutes.”
“We’ve been trying to raise Falkoner on the radio.”
“He ditched his radio. That man Pendergast got his hands on a headset and was listening in on our chatter. Look, we don’t have a lot of time, Captain, Falkoner wants the mate below. Now.”
“How long? I need him on the bridge.”
“Five minutes, tops.”
He heard the bridge door being unbolted, then unlocked. It opened. Immediately, Pendergast kicked it back, knocking the mate senseless with the butt of his handgun while Esterhazy rushed the captain, jamming his weapon into his ear. “Down!” he shouted. “On the floor!”
“What the—?”
Esterhazy fired the pistol to one side, then put the muzzle back against his head. “You heard me! Face down, arms spread!”
The captain dropped down to his knees, then lay prone, stretching out his arms. Esterhazy turned in time to see Pendergast tying up the mate.
He walked over to the helm, keeping his pistol trained on the captain, and throttled the twin diesels back into neutral. The boat slowed on its way to coming to rest in the water.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the captain cried. “Where’s Falkoner?”
“Tie this one up, too,” Esterhazy said.
Pendergast stepped over and immobilized the captain.
“You’re a dead man,” the captain told Esterhazy. “They’ll kill you for sure—you of all people should know that.”
Esterhazy watched as Pendergast went to the helm, scanned it, lifted a cage enclosing a red lever, and pulled the lever. An alarm began to sound. “What’s that?” he asked, alarmed.
“I’ve activated the EPIRB, the emergency position-indicating radio beacon,” Pendergast replied. “I want you to go below, launch the tender, and wait for me.”
“Why?” Esterhazy was disconcerted at how suddenly Pendergast had taken control.
“We’re abandoning ship. Do as I say.”
The flat, cold tone of his voice unnerved Esterhazy. The agent disappeared off the bridge, heading to the lower decks. Esterhazy went down the stairs to the main saloon and to the stern. He found Constance there, waiting.
“We’re abandoning ship,” said Esterhazy. He pulled the canvas from the second tender. It was a 5.2-meter Valiant with a seventy-five-horsepower Honda four-stroke outboard. He opened the stern transom and threw the windlass into gear. The boat slid off its cradle into the water. He cleated it at the stern, climbed inside, started the engine.
“Get in,” he said.
“Not until Aloysius returns,” Constance replied.
Her violet eyes remained gazing at him, and after a moment she spoke again in that curious, archaic way. “You will recall, Dr. Esterhazy, what I told you earlier? Let me reiterate: at some point in the future, in the fullness of time, I will kill you.”
Esterhazy snorted in derision. “Don’t waste your breath on empty threats.”
“Empty?” She smiled