Chapter 24

I reached out and had a satellite phone in my hand as we moved to the beach. It was already dialing Mr. Black.

He answered on the third ring. I explained the situation and he informed me that the submarine was already being tracked as a potential smuggling vehicle. He would call me back with its direction and speed. We had the yacht headed back to Florida.

It took us an hour and a half to get back. Mr. Black had informed me that the submarine was headed into the Atlantic and on its current route would be intercepted by a large ship traveling the other direction. It was estimated that they would meet in four hours. Mr. Black was trying to identify the ship while we moved to an airfield where Mr. Black had a plane and equipment waiting.

We would take the plane out to the position where they would meet and skydive just out of visual range then move to the ship hoping that Brandi would be transferred from the submarine to the ship. We would only have a 30 – 45-minute window before the two vessels would meet. Our plane would have just over an hour of fuel to allow observation. We also had a ship speeding to the location to pick us up once we were done. Its ETA was two hours after the vehicles would meet. This was the best we could do under the circumstances.

I did not like the speed we were operating in as it left us too few options with even less information. This could get any or all of us hurt or killed including Brandi. The two ex-seals were friends of Mr. Black and it seems that they are related to a girl that went missing a year ago. Jeff was her uncle and Rich was her stepbrother. These guys were checking gear and talking us through the whole process to make sure we had no troubles while we flew to intercept the submarine. Even though I did not know them I liked them, and the girls seem to trust them so that was good enough for me. Mr. Black didn’t even say anything about them they were on the plane when we got to it.

Mr. Black contacted us just before we were going to jump and let us know the submarine had just rendezvoused with the ship and seemed to be transferring cargo. We were in the ocean and swimming toward the ship 15 minutes later this was going to be close.

We were climbing the side of the ship with just over 30 minutes until sunrise. The submarine pulled away while we were climbing aboard the huge yacht which gave us the perfect distraction. This was the Dubai it is the world’s second largest private yacht, measuring 162 meters long, with seven decks, a wealth of sunbathing areas: a striking mosaic swimming pool and several Jacuzzis. She can accommodate a 9.5-ton helicopter and carries two 10-metre-long tenders. This was not going to be easy to search and with a crew of 80 to 90, not to mention easily housing 115 people. Our little group of 9 was not nearly enough if this turned into a real shootout. So far, we had surprise on our side. We swept through the main deck and found four crew members. They were more than happy to tell us everything we asked them. Looking at my girls I would have spilled my guts too! They even scared Rich and Jeff!