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why he thinks his life’s in danger if the police get involved.”
    “Well, I’m a sworn law enforcement officer,” said Holly. “Not reporting a murder doesn’t sit well with me.”
    “I understand and we’ll definitely call them—” His cell chimed. “That’s Harv calling . . . Hey, I’ve got you on speaker again, Holly’s right here.” Nathan heard Harv’s car-door alarm bong three times.
    “Sorry, I got dressed during Toby’s call. It should switch to the Bluetooth in a few seconds.”
    “So what do you think?” Nathan asked.
    “Let’s talk in person,” Harv said.

CHAPTER 6
    Philippine Sea—fifteen days earlier
     
    Seven hundred miles northeast of Palau, the Republic of Korea container ship Namkung Khang slowed to three knots as a small skiff approached its hull. The night watch wasn’t worried because the Khang wasn’t being attacked by pirates—quite the opposite. After all, no sane pirates attacked the Khang unless they wanted to meet their creators. This ROK vessel didn’t employ water cannons; it employed large-caliber machine guns.
    Atop a mountain of precisely stacked containers, Crewman Ryang secured a climbing rope to a hold-down corner and stepped into his rappelling harness. With a second rope slung over his shoulder, he descended past five levels of containers and found the unit he wanted. Unlike its surrounding neighbors, this particular container wasn’t secured with lashing rods. Their absence didn’t look out of place, as not every container needed them.
    Ryang removed his gloves, activated his helmet light, and unlocked the four padlocks securing the container’s dual doors. Inside were hundreds of wooden crates containing AK-47s and several dozen boxes of ammunition. Eleven green duffel bags sat atop the ammo boxes. Ryang ignored the rifles and ammo and went to work on the duffels.
    Using the second rope, he lowered the bags down to the skiff one at a time.
    The operation took just under ten minutes. Per the captain’s arrangement, one of the bags didn’t make the descent; it ended up tied to the end of his rappelling line, where it dangled in the breeze. While Crewman Ryang attached his ascension pulley system to the rope, the skiff pulled away from the hull, but stayed alongside the container ship, matching its speed. Ryang was a little puzzled, but shrugged it off. Perhaps the skiff remained behind to make sure he made it safely up the vertical wall of containers. He verified his ascension device was installed properly, and he began his climb up the man-made cliff. It was slow going because each pull of the ratchet system only yielded twenty-five centimeters of height.
    He focused on the rope, not the foamy black water sliding by the steel hull. A fall into the water from this height would break bones.
    Back atop the containers, he left his harness attached for safety and began pulling the rappelling rope up—tough work because the duffel weighed twenty kilograms. Once completed, he took a knee and rested his hands and arms. He sensed a presence and turned around.
    “Captain! You startled me.”
    “I thought you might need help hoisting the bag, but I see you’ve handled it.”
    Ryang smiled. “Yes, sir.”
    The captain nodded toward the bag. “Let’s have a look. Here, you’ll need this to cut the plastic seal.” The captain extended his knife.
    To Ryang’s astonishment, the knife shot past his outstretched hand and plunged into his abdomen.
    Ryang’s mind registered the betrayal, but it seemed like a waking dream.
    He felt the blade cleave through his flesh, but it didn’t hurt at first. A former member of ROK’s army, Ryang was no stranger to knife fighting, but he’d never been on the wrong end of one.
    Before he could react, the captain stabbed him again. Then again, and again.
    Now pain invaded his mind. It started as a mild stinging sensation, but rapidly grew into a horrible burning ache. It was odd what the human mind thought of at times like