Chapter 13

Jonathan Stone breeches he surface and takes several long breaths. Once his lungs recover, he turns his attention to the super yacht. He broke the surface right next to the jet skis hatch and quickly realizes his dilemma; there is no way in. Despair wells up in him as his mind races for a solution. Then something nudges his leg. No, not something. He knows exactly what it was. He is probably still bleeding, and if not, he is a target in the feeding frenzy taking place below the surface. He could try to swim, but his leg hurts like hell at the moment and he knows he won’t get far.

Just then the hatch pops open and a hand is thrust out. He gratefully accepts the hand and climbs inside. “Need a hand?” Melissa asks.

“Damned if I’m not glad to see you,” he says, trying hard to mask his excitement. “What happened to you?” he asks after getting a good look at the woman. She is covered in dirt, grim and dried blood. Her hair is a mess as well as her clothing and she has a rather large bruise just above her left eye.

“Long story,” she says gruffly. “And we don’t have time to tell it.”

“Trouble?”

“You can say that. Hop on.”

Jonathan does just that, sliding onto the back of one of the jet skis. He takes a quick examination of his leg. It has stopped bleeding, but he is going to need some stitches. Then he wraps his arms tight around his partner and the moment the jet ski hits the surface she guns it. They are headed inland away from the Cephalopoda and nearly a hundred and fifty meters when they hear the roar of a helicopter. Jonathan looks back and shudders.

“Black helicopter? Heavily armed?” Melissa yell over the wind and churning water.

“Friends of yours?”

“Not really. It seems we weren’t invited to the party.”

“Party crasher!” he jokes trying to relieve some of the stress and tension. He doesn’t know if it helps any so he just tightens his grip and hopes his partner has a plan.

Melissa smiles despite their current situation. Leave it to Jonathan to make a joke. He is a hard man to warm up to but once you do he is full of fun. She only hopes to make it out alive to enjoy that fun. She pushes the throttle to its max, pushing the jet ski for all it has.

The attack helicopter steadily gains on the two agents. Once it is in firing range it begins sending a stream of bullets in their direction. When the first set of bullets impacts the water around them, Melissa throws the small machine into a series of erratic behavior dodging left and right at random. Bullets hit the water spraying the two agents sometimes too close for their comfort. From what she can determine they are still sixty meters from the shore line and there is going to be no way for them to make it. Even if they did, once on foot it would only take seconds to gun them down. It is then an idea formed. “How well can you hold your breath?” she yells back at her partner.

He smiles and says, “I’ve been holding it all night!”

“Good! When I say jump, you drop into the water in your best impression of being shot!”

“Roger!”

She waits until the next volley of gunfire comes then gives him the order to jump. The bullets slam into the rear of the jet ski a second after Stone falls into the water. She joins him a fraction of a second later. The bullets cleave through the small watercraft and ignite the gas tank. It blows up sending pieces sprawling outward. The fireball quickly dissipates once the little bit of gas is consumed and leaves the surface scattered with wreckage. The helicopter does a couple passes scanning the water. Once the occupants are certain neither agent lives to see another day, it turns and heads back to the super yacht. Melissa’s and Jonathan’s heads break the surface seconds later.