Page 76 of Murder Island

We were leaving the five giants with enough cash to cover their salaries for a year, time enough to hire and train some local guards for when they moved on. They were mercenaries at heart, but they were also men of honor. Ilooked each of them in the eye as we shook hands. Marley. Fenwick. Harper. Blodgett. Tagaloa. I knew I could trust them. So did Kira.

Vanda brought us a sack filled with bananas and berries for the trip. I gave her a hug, then stepped back as Kira wrapped her up in her arms and whispered into her ear. Something in Swahili. Just between the two of them.

“Sure you don’t want some extra muscle, Aladdin?” asked Fenwick.

“No, thanks,” I said. “We need to do this alone.”

“It’s a family matter,” added Kira. She gave each of the giants a quick hug then stepped back. “I want you all to remember who you work for now.” They all nodded like obedient schoolboys. Marley turned and gave Vanda a proper salute. Vanda patted her heart with the palm of her hand.

It was time to go.

Blodgett handed me a nylon duffel wrapped in plastic. It was packed with weapons and ammo. “Happy hunting,” he said.

Kira had already strapped herself into the pilot’s seat. I heard the engine whine. The rotor started to turn. I tossed the duffel into the back with my own bag. I ducked under the rotor and climbed into the passenger seat from the other side. I fastened my shoulder harness as Kira flicked switches on the control panel. We both put on our headphones. She wiggled the stick and welifted off, spraying dust and trash as we ascended. When we cleared the trees, Kira banked hard and headed east.

“Ever flown one of these before?” I asked.

Kira gave me her cocky little smile. “How hard could it be?”

CHAPTER 97

WE REFUELED IN Mbala, and again in Dar es Salaam. We waited at the airfield there for nightfall. Now we were out over open water, heading north toward the Arabian Sea. Kira stayed low, barely brushing the waves. We could see the lights from oil tankers and cargo ships glowing the distance.

“What am I looking for?” I asked, scanning the horizon.

“An invisible yacht,” said Kira.

I glanced over to look at her in the glow of the cockpit lights. One of the young mine workers had donated a tank top and a pair of gym shorts to replace Kira’s bloody clothes. I could see the puncture wounds on her thigh below the hem. The bruises looked red and angry on her pale skin.

“How’s the leg?” I asked.

Kira shrugged. Since the day I first met her, she’d never talked about injuries. Never complained about pain. Shejust sucked it up. “If it was poison,” she said, “I’d already be dead.”

I felt a lurch as she dropped the airspeed. In a few seconds, we were hovering over the water like a huge dragonfly. Kira pointed through the cabin bubble into the distance. “There.”

The moon was casting bright reflections on the water. For a few seconds, I couldn’t see anything else. I shifted in my seat and leaned forward. I squinted. Wait. Yes! I could make it out now—a faint unnatural outline blending with the sea and sky, about a half mile away. The camouflage was nearly foolproof, especially at night.

“That’s thePrizrak,” said Kira. “Cal Savage’s ghost.”

I felt a bitter taste rising in my throat. I thought about the assassins who tried to kill us in Chicago and the murdered boys on the beach. I now realized that it was Cal Savage who had sent Aaron Vail to find me. I thought about being dragged and nearly drowned behind that speedboat. I thought about what Cal Savage had done to Kira, kidnapping her, then sending her off to one of the deadliest places on the planet. All to serve his maniacal plans. Who knows how many deaths he’d been responsible for along the way?

“Are you ready?” Kira asked.

I nodded. Eighteen hours ago, I didn’t even know Cal Savage existed. Now, relative or not, I wanted to wipe him off the face of the earth. The world would be better for it.

“Is there a helipad?” I asked.

Kira shook her head. “They’d shoot us down before we even got close.”

She was right. It’s hard to sneak up on somebody in a helicopter, even in the dark. But we were now hovering over the sea, with no land in sight. What did she have in mind?

“Grab the duffel,” she said.

I reached behind my seat and pulled out the plastic-wrapped bag. I felt the chopper descending even closer to the water.

“Open your door,” Kira ordered.

Was she kidding? I yanked the handle and let the door fly open. The chopper tilted hard to the right.