Fatal Tide - Iris Johansen [43]
“Maybe it's my Native American heritage. Or it could be slum-kid mentality. Either way it works for me.”
“You're proud of your Indian heritage, aren't you?”
“If you're not proud of who you are, then you're in trouble.” He smiled. “I joke about it, but I can see myself back in frontier days stalking, tracking. The hunt always excites me. It could be that was why I became a SEAL.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Kelby took the punishment during those days of basic training and didn't back down. He was stubborn as hell.” He grinned. “And later he got back at every one of us.”
“It sounds like he has a good deal of endurance.”
“Endurance?” His smile faded. “You could say that. You want to hear endurance? We were on a mission inside Iraq during the Gulf War, and aerial reconnaissance had located a small underground biological-warfare facility in the north. They sent our team on a hush-hush mission to destroy it. They didn't want to arouse public disapproval of the war by exposing the fact that the troops could be subjected to germ warfare. Everything went wrong from the get-go. We blew the facility, but we had two dead and Kelby and I were captured by local tribesmen before we could reach the helicopter site.
“They were still lying about biological facilities, so they stuffed us in this tiny jail in the desert and sent word to Saddam that they'd captured two American SEALs. Saddam sent word back that he wanted confessions and repudiation of the American war effort. I'm not sure why they chose to work on Kelby first instead of me. Maybe they found out his background and wanted to show the weakness of capitalist moguls.”
“They tortured him?”
“Big time. Three days. They didn't allow him food or water and kept him in a hot box for most of the time. He had two broken ribs and was a mass of bruises when they tossed him back in the cell. But he didn't break. Like I said, too stubborn. I didn't think he could survive an escape, but he did and took two guards down. We hid out, trekking through the hills and over the border. We weren't able to radio for a helicopter until five days after we escaped.” He smiled crookedly. “Yes, I'd say he has a certain amount of endurance. And I don't envy Archer having him on his trail. Is that what you wanted to know?”
It was more than she wanted to learn. She didn't like the idea of Kelby as a victim—even one who'd overcome all odds. The mental vision of Kelby in that cell, bruised and in pain, was too disturbing. “Yes, that's what I had to know.” She poured another cup of coffee. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He pushed his chair back. “Now, what are we going to do this morning?”
“We?”
“Kelby says I don't let you out of my sight until he gets back.”
“I don't need you. I'm safe here on the island.”
“I'll just make double sure. Are we going to go play in the water with the dolphins?”
“Play?” She tilted her head, considering. “That wasn't my intention, but why not? Go put on your swim trunks. Pete and Susie would positively love playing with you.” She smiled slyly. “Ask Cal.”
“Archer was in Tobago,” Kelby said curtly when Nicholas answered the phone four hours later. “At the Bramley Towers. He's not now.”
“He flew the coop?”
“Hell, yes. Cobb was the guy on the stakeout, and he said Pennig was nervous about you leaving the island and heading for Tobago. Evidently Archer got a little uneasy and took off.”
“Do we know where?”
“Cobb was hired in Miami. I called Detective Halley in Nassau to see if he could put a trace on Archer in Miami. And I told him to come and pick up Cobb and his buddy Dansk.”
“Didn't Cobb know where Archer could be located?”
“Believe me, if Cobb had known, he would have told me.”
“I don't doubt it,” Nicholas said. “I'm just surprised you decided to turn Cobb over to Halley.”
“He's small potatoes. I got what I wanted from him. You go pick up Dansk and deliver him to Halley at the airport.”
“Delegating at last? I suppose I don't get to have fun like you did?”
“Dansk doesn't know anything either. It wouldn't be worth your time. Just give him to