“Holy shit,” Alex said again. He surged up out of the chair. “We've got to rescue her.”
“Of course we do.” Jessie glanced at her watch. “We'll have to get moving. It'll take time to get to the islands and arrange to rent a boat. Do you know how to operate one?”
“No. Damn.” Alex swung around, his eyes frantic. “We've got to find someone who knows how to pilot a boat. Someone who can keep his mouth shut.”
Jessie thought for a moment. “My cousin, David, spent a few months on a fishing boat up in Alaska. He knows about boats.”
“Think he'd help us?”
“I think so. I'll call him.” Jessie reached for the phone.
“After you get hold of him, you'd better call Hatch,” Alex said.
Jessie winced. “He's going to explode when he hears what we're planning to do.”
* * *
She was right. Hatch exploded.
“I don't know how I let you three talk me into this. I must be going crazy.” Hatch stood at the helm of the small cruiser as David let it drift silently toward the buoy that marked the small cove. The heavily forested island rose like a great black blot against the starry sky.
It was close to midnight and there was a moon. The night air was crisp and there was no fog. When they had gotten near the island David had shut off the running lights, eased back the throttle, and used the lights from the mansion as a guide. The buoy had been right where Susan Attwood had said it would be. A good twenty-minute walk from the house. Maybe longer, given the rough terrain.
Hatch had been uneasy since Jessie had phoned him that morning. If he had not known better, he'd have thought he'd developed a few psychic abilities himself lately. But it was nothing that fancy or complicated. Just his common sense trying frantically to reassert itself.
“We couldn't call the cops in on this,” Alex said from the back of the boat, where he sat beside Jessie. “I promised Susan.”
“He's right, Hatch. She seemed to think she would be in even more danger if we called in the authorities,” Jessie said. “She just wants off that island.”
“What can go wrong?” David asked in reasonable tones, his attention on the entrance to the cove. “We just go in, pick her up, and leave. Piece of cake.”
Hatch heard the thread of excitement in David's voice and groaned. “Haven't you three learned yet that anything that can go wrong will go wrong?”
“Come on, Hatch,” Jessie said in bracing tones. “Don't be such a spoilsport. David's right. We just get in and get out. No problem.”
“I'll remember that.” Hatch looked at her. All four of them were wearing dark clothes, on his instructions. But the attire definitely did the most for Jessie. She looked like a sexy little cat burglar in her tight black pullover sweater and black jeans. He suddenly wished she were anywhere but here, somewhere safe.
“Ready?” asked David. “Here we go.”
“No.” Hatch gazed at the cove, straining to see something, anything, in the thick darkness ahead of him. The sense of wrongness was heavier than ever. “Not here. It's just a little too damn obvious. Let's put in somewhere else along the shore.”
“But this is the spot, I'm sure of it,” David said.
Hatch nodded. “I know it is. But let's see if there's another place we can go in. We can hike back overland to the cove and see if she's waiting where she's supposed to be waiting.”
Alex left his seat and rushed forward. “We're wasting time. Susan will be scared and cold. We've got to get her out of there.”
“If she's there, we'll find her,” Hatch assured him. “Sit down, Robin. Let's go, David.”
David shrugged and fed the engines a bit more power. The boat churned quietly through the cold black water. A few minutes later they were out of sight of the cove.
“What about here?” David asked, indicating another small indentation in the shoreline that was just barely visible in the moonlight. “We can tie up to those rocks and walk back to the cove.”
Hatch studied the natural jetty formed by a rocky out-cropping. “All right. Let's try it.”
David eased the craft slowly and carefully toward the rocks. He called out soft directions to Alex and Jessie, who scurried to obey.
A few minutes later the boat was bobbing gently next to the jetty. Alex jumped out to secure it with a line.
David turned to Hatch. “Okay, boss. We're all set.”
Hatch set his jaw. Now came the hard part. He turned to Jessie. “Alex, David, and I will go ashore and find Susan. Jessie, you will stay here with the boat.”
The mutiny was immediate and expected.
“No way,” Jessie snapped. “I'm coming with the rest of you.”
“I want you to stay here,” Hatch said in his most reasonable tones. “That way, if something happens, you can go for help.”
“Nothing's going to happen. We're just going to get Susan and leave.”
“Leaving you behind is what's known as Plan B,” Hatch said.
“I'm the one who organized Plan A. I have a right to be a part of it.” Jessie looked at the other two men. “I'm going with you.”
David glanced swiftly at Hatch and then shook his head at Jessie. “He's right, Jess. Somebody should stay here.”
“Yeah,” said Alex, nodding in agreement. “Makes sense.”
“Then one of you stay here,” she retorted. “You're trying to leave me behind because I'm the only female in the crowd, and I won't have it.”
Hatch got out of the boat. “We're wasting time. You're staying here, Jessie. If we're not back in fifteen minutes, you radio for help.”
“I don't know how to use the radio.”
“Show her how to call for help, David.”
David nodded and began giving concise instructions. Jessie listened but she looked distinctly annoyed. When she finally muttered reluctantly that she understood, David leapt out of the boat to join Alex and Hatch. They all stood there gazing down at her, a united masculine front.
Jessie scowled up at them, her hands on her hips. “This is my big case and you three are taking over. It's not fair.”
Hatch felt a pang of guilt that lasted no more than two seconds. “They also serve who only sit and wait,” he reminded her.
“Get out of here before I fire the lot of you.”
“Right. We're on our way.” Hatch started off immediately, followed by the other two.
The night breeze rustled overhead in the boughs of the trees. Water slapped softly at the rocky shoreline. The soft sounds muffled their footsteps. Hatch glanced back once or twice, making certain Jessie had obeyed orders. She and the boat were soon out of sight as the three men moved into the thickly wooded landscape.
It did not take long to reach the cove. Hatch put out a hand, silently halting the others as they reached the point where the trees thinned out. Not caring for the sparse cover in that region, he motioned Alex and David toward a jumble of tree-shrouded boulders. There they crouched, concealed amidst the drooping branches and disordered rocks, and scanned the beach.
A tiny, blond figure dressed in jeans and a sweater huddled near the water's edge. She carried a computer-printout-size folder under her arm. Her back was to them as she anxiously searched the dark horizon.
“There she is,” Alex said triumphantly. “Susan. Over here.”
“Shut up”, Hatch snarled softly, making a grab for Alex's arm. But Alex eluded him. He broke out of the trees and raced toward the figure.
The blond whirled around. She was wearing glasses. Definitely Susan Attwood.
“Green? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it's me. Green. I mean, Alex.”
“Dammit, Robin, come back here, you ass,” Hatch muttered under his breath, knowing that it was too late to stop the younger man.
“I think he's in love,” David murmured. “Kind of touching, isn't it?”
“Kind of stupid, is what it is.” Hatch watched as the pair on the beach dashed toward each other, arms outstretched. ??
?Looks like something out of a television commercial. All we can do now is hope Susan is here alone.”
“Hey, you don't think this is some sort of setup, do you?” David asked.
“How should I know? I'm in the nuts-and-bolts business. This isn't exactly my field of expertise.” But he'd seen enough street fighting, both in and out of the corporate world, to know that it always paid to keep an ace in the hole.
The couple on the beach were embracing now. Hatch could not hear what was being said but he was relieved when Alex turned Susan toward the trees and started forward.
“Here they come,” David observed, drawing back deeper into the shadows. “We'll be out of here in a couple more minutes.”
But at that instant a dark figure stepped out of the trees on the far side of the cove. He had his arm extended and there was no mistaking the object in his first. The gun glinted in the moonlight.
“That's far enough, you two,” Rick Landis announced. “Hold it right there.”
“Damn,” Hatch whispered. He felt David freeze beside him.
“Christ, who's that?” David asked in the softest of voices.
“One of Bright's people. A guy named Landis. I had a feeling he was more than a tour guide.” Hatch watched intently as Landies moved closer to his captives. “I knew this was not a good idea. Why in hell did I let Jessie talk me into this?”
“Don't feel too bad about it,” David said consolingly. “Jessie can be very persuasive.”
“Yeah, I know. Come on.”
“What are we going to do? Go for help?” David followed as Hatch faded back into the forest.
“I have a nasty feeling that by the time we got the authorities here, Susan and Robin would have disappeared.”
“So what do we do?”
Hatch made an executive decision. “Something simple and straightforward, I think. This is the shortest route back toward the mansion. We wait until they go past us and then one of us jumps down on top of Landis and bashes his head in.”
David considered that. “Who does the bashing?”
Hatch shot his companion a sidelong glance and made another executive decision. “You're the one who studied karate.”
“Damn.” David sounded both thrilled and appalled. “I sure as hell never tried to use it on anybody.”
“Did you learn enough to drop that guy?”
“Well, yeah. Maybe. Theoretically. Under the right circumstances. Like I said, I've never been in a real fight.”
“This won't be a real fight. If we do this right, Landis won't know you're on top of him until it's all over.”
“What are you going to do?” David asked softly.
“What I do best: supervise. And keep an eye out for a guy named Hoffman.”
“Who's he?”
“Someone who reminded me a lot of Landis. Quiet.”
“Come on, you two,” Landis was saying in a loud voice. “Let's move. We haven't got all night.”
Susan's response was soft and tearful on the night air. “Please let us go. I won't tell anyone a thing. I promise. I just want to get away from here.”
“Too late for that now, you stupid little bitch. You should have stuck to inputting the data and not gone snooping.”
“Stop threatening her,” Alex said fiercely, placing himself squarely in front of Susan.
“You must be the famous Green, huh? We figured you had to be a hacker. Nobody else could have gotten into that data base. Bright was worried for a while that you might be someone dangerous. But when Susan here started making arrangements for the dramatic rescue at midnight, we knew we weren't dealing with the cops. Just an amateur.”
Hatch prayed Alex would have the sense not to mention the fact that he had not come here alone tonight.
“What are you going to do with us?” Alex demanded.
“The boss has a few questions to ask you. After that, I think it's safe to say we won't need either of you around anymore.”
“Don't you dare hurt Alex,” Susan wailed. “He was just trying to help me.”
“It's all right, Susan,” Alex said soothingly. “He won't hurt either of us.”
“Give me a break,” Landis said. “You're both dead meat. You think Bright can afford to let you live after what you found out, Susie, baby?”
“I told you I wouldn't tell anyone. Please, Landis. Let us go.”
“Shut the fuck up and move. Back to the house.”
Hatch glanced back at David, silently telling him to be ready as the other three started toward the pile of boulders. Landis was making his captives keep as close to the shoreline as possible, Hatch noted with relief. That route would bring them past the jumble of boulders where he and David were hiding.
With one last reassuring nod at David, Hatch faded back into the trees. An ace in the hole.
Hatch sensed David's nervousness as the younger man flattened himself against a boulder, but he also sensed the determination in him. David was going to do his part, come hell or high water. Jessie's cousin was no wimp.
David waited until Alex and Susan had gone past. Then Landis was below him, cursing as he pushed aside a swaying branch.
David did not hesitate. He came down off the boulder feetfirst.
The gun Landis had been holding went off. The shot roared through the woods, louder than thunder on the night air. It was followed by a heavy thudding sound and a stifled shout that faded out quickly.
Silence descended.
The hair on the back of Hatch's neck stirred. He glanced to his right and saw a lone figure slither out from a heavy veil of tree limbs. Moonlight glinted on the gun in his hand.
Hoffman.
The pilot was being cautious, waiting to assess the situation before he moved in.
“Hey, Hatch,” David called, his voice infused with the euphoria of the victorious male. “I got him. It's okay. Come on out. I got him.”
The figure Hatch was watching froze, the gun still aimed in the general direction of the activity. But it was obvious the second armed man now realized there was another presence in the woods. He started to turn, nervously searching the undergrowth.
Hatch knew it was the only chance he was going to get. Hoffman had started his scan from the wrong direction.
Hatch launched himself forward. He struck solid flesh and threw a short, savage punch. The gunman choked on a groan, dropped the gun, and reeled forward. Hatch went in low and hit him a second time. Hoffman collapsed on the damp ground.
“Hatch?” David burst forth from a small stand of trees. “You okay? What's going on here?” He halted abruptly when he saw the man on the ground.
“His name is Hoffman,” Hatch said. “He's buddy of the one you just took out. These two must have comprised Bright's security force.”
“What are we going to do with them?” David asked, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Leave them here. I don't want to drag them all the way back to the boat, that's for sure.” Hatch scooped up the gun Hoffman had dropped. “Everything go all right back there?”
“Yeah.” David's voice filled with excitement once again. “Landis is out cold. Shit. I never thought that karate stuff would really work.” He was obviously awed at his own success.
Hatch gave him a faint grin as they moved back through the trees. “Nice job. You can cover my back anytime.”
“Thanks.” David's grin spread from ear to ear. “All right. Hey, it's a deal. Anytime.”
“You guys okay?” Alex demanded as Hatch and David reached them. He had a protective arm wrapped around Susan's shoulders. Susan was whimpering softly.
“We're fine.” Hatch shoved Hoffman's gun into his belt and handed Landis' to Alex, who did the same. “Now we all get back to the boat. Fast.”
“You didn't tell me you had anyone else with you, Alex,” Susan murmured to Robin.
“There wasn't time to explain. That bastard with the gun appeared out of nowhere,” Alex said.
“I should have known you'd have it all p
lanned out,” Susan said admiringly. “You're so brilliant, Alex.”
“Kind of a rough plan, but it was the best I could do on the spur of the moment,” Alex said modestly.
David slid Hatch a knowing look. “I told you the man's in love,” he muttered.
“You pegged it. Let's get moving here.” Hatch realized that the sense of urgency he was experiencing had not diminished. If anything, it had grown stronger in the past few minutes.
This was absolutely the last time he was going to let Jessie talk him into one of her crazy schemes, he vowed silently. The woman was a menace to herself and others. She needed to be kept on a tight leash, and from here on out, Hatch intended to do exactly that.
He kept that glowing promise before him like a talisman as he followed the others through the trees back to the little cove where Jessie and the boat were waiting.
Less than five minutes later, just as they were moving out of the trees and onto the rocky beach, a familiar voice split the night air.
“Don't come any closer,” Jessie yelled. “He's got a gun.”
But it was too late. Alex, Susan, and David had already moved out into the open. Hatch alone was still shielded by the thick foliage as he took in the scene on the shore.
Jessie was standing helplessly in the gently bobbing boat. Edwin Bright had one arm around her throat. In his other hand he held a gun to her head.
“By all means, let's have your friends come a little closer, my dear,” Edwin Bright said loudly.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
What happened to Landis and Hoffman?” Bright called from the boat.
“We left them back there in the woods,” David answered with astonishing calm.
“Who are you?” Bright demanded impatiently.
“A friend of Jessie's.”
“The one they call Hatchard?”
David was silent.
“Answer me,” Bright roared, “or I'll put a bullet through her head.”