Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [96]
Cole glanced at Tom and shook his head. “My friend isn’t feeling too well. Choose someone else.”
“I choose him,” Henderson said. “Now he either helps you or else I’ll put a bullet in your friend’s heart. Your decision.”
“Well, when you put it like that.” Cole looked at Tom. “You up for it?”
Tom shrugged. “What choice do I have?”
“That’s the spirit,” Henderson said. He nudged Annja. “If we could just move closer to the dock while the rest of your party comes up the slope and away from me, then I’ll know there’s no monkey business about to take place.”
Jax, Tom, Holly and Cole moved past them while Henderson kept Annja between them. Then Henderson backed down the slope and stood on the dock with Annja still in front of him.
“There, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?” He turned to Cole. “Now, you and the young man there go and fetch my bomb. Stow it aboard and I’ll be off.”
Cole and Tom headed to the lower level. Annja shifted a little bit.
Henderson poked her in the back. “Stand still, Annja. I don’t want to shoot you just yet.”
It took Cole and Tom just over twenty minutes to bring the yellow case back down the slope, grunting and heaving as they did so. Henderson chuckled as they struggled with it. “Be careful. I assure you that cost me a great sum of money to have built.”
“I hope you got your money’s worth,” Annja said.
“Actually,” Henderson said. “I didn’t. As you could obviously tell, it didn’t detonate. So now I’ll have to take it with me and have someone examine it to find out what went wrong. I’m assuming you didn’t tamper with it?”
Annja sniffed. “I’m a dirt digger, not an atomic-weapons specialist.”
“Indeed.” Henderson called out to Cole. “Can you and the young fellow get that on board?”
“We’ll have to come down there,” Cole replied.
“Do so, then.”
Cole looked at Tom and nodded. They hefted the bomb and carried it farther down the slope. At the dock they stepped onto the gangway and then eased the bomb up and through the conning tower hatch.
Annja watched them while Henderson kept her in front of his body as a shield. Cole and Tom emerged a few seconds later.
Cole looked at Henderson. “We left it on the bridge.”
“That’s fine. All the easier to get off when I reach my people again.”
Cole flexed his hands. “All right, we did as you asked. Now let Annja go and get the hell out of here.”
Henderson shook his head. “It’s not that easy.”
“Seems like it would be to me,” Cole said. He took a step and Henderson shot him in the thigh.
Cole screamed and went down to one knee. Annja started forward to help him but Henderson’s voice was sharp in her ear. “Not so fast, Annja. Stay where you are.”
Blood poured out of Cole’s leg. Annja wondered if the bullet had struck the femoral artery. If it had, then Cole needed immediate medical attention. Tom hadn’t moved.
Henderson turned to Jax. “You and the other girl can see to your friend. I expect he’ll need a great deal of pressure to stop that wound.”
Jax and Holly moved to Cole and got him off the deck of the submarine. He grunted as they laid him down on the dock. Jax examined the wound and her face looked pale. “You nicked his artery by the look of this.”
“Shame, isn’t it. You see what happens when you don’t do as I tell you? People get wounded.”
Jax put direct pressure on Cole’s inner thigh and glared at Henderson. “What do you want us to do now?”
“I’m leaving,” Henderson said.
“So go.”
“While I’m sure I’ve given you something to occupy yourselves in my absence, I can’t risk leaving anyone behind who might feel inclined to come after me. So I’m taking some insurance.”
Annja’s stomach ached. Great, she thought. I know where this is going.
Henderson spoke again. “Annja will come with me, as will that fellow there.” He pointed at Tom.
Jax shook her head. “We need Tom’s help to take care of Cole.”
“It wasn’t a request,” Henderson said. “He either comes with me or he dies here right now.”
Tom looked at Jax. “Forget about me, just take care of Cole.” He stepped forward and looked