didn’t—”
“You could have just tried talking to me,” Pax said.
Pax had been trying to start the bus he found when the guy named Jacob climbed aboard and pointed his rifle at Pax. He ordered Pax to drive to a building in the center of town, where they picked up the others before heading to the ferry.
“I know,” Kat said. “I’m sorry. Jacob, he…”
“He’s an asshole?”
“He’s kept us alive,” she said, almost defensively but not quite.
Pax said nothing.
“We were all on the cruise ships. Me and Aiden were on one, Luke and Avery on another, and Jacob by himself. He pulled us together, you know? Helped us to get organized.”
“He the one who came up with this brilliant plan?”
“We have to get home.”
“Do you really think this thing is going to get you all the way to the States? Do you know how far away it is? I don’t even know if we’ll have enough fuel to last us past tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll find more. We’ll keep going.”
“Maybe. But I’ve got to be honest, the reality of that happening isn’t very good.”
“Then we’ll get as far as we can,” she said, her voice level rising in anger. “We have to get home. I have a son. He needs me.”
Despite his situation, Pax felt his heart clench. The chance that her son was still alive was minimal at best. He could see in her eyes that she knew it, too, but needed to find out for sure.
If his captors had asked him for help instead of forcing him to pilot the ship, he would have told them about the plane that would be landing outside Limón in another hour or two, but holding a gun on him from the start had blown any chance of that—not because of some personal retribution, but because he couldn’t afford to mix them in with the others.
“I’m sorry,” Kat said. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that.”
“Ma’am, I believe everyone who has survived to this point couldn’t have done so without building up a lot of anger.”
“Have…have you seen others? I mean, besides the friend you were with?”
“I have.”
“How many?”
He was saved from answering her question by the creak of the staircase announcing Luke’s return.
“All right,” the man said, juggling his bowl and mug with his rifle. “I got him now.”
Kat took a step back and said to Pax, “There’s plenty more coffee if you want some.” She looked at Luke. “Yell down when you’re both done and I’ll come get your dishes.”
The man grunted a reply and set to work on his beans.
From outside, Pax started to hear the whine again, so he nudged the throttle forward once more.
TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE NICARAGUA
“E AGLE ELEVEN CALLING Rich Paxton. Pax, do you read?”
Static.
“Eagle eleven calling Rich Paxton. Come in, please.”
No answer.
The copilot of the passenger jet heading for the airport outside Limón, Costa Rica, looked at his partner. “I don’t like this.”
The pilot was silent for a moment before she said, “They’re moving a lot of people. Could be they haven’t gotten the radio set up yet. Keep trying.”
The copilot settled back in his chair and clicked his mic button. “Eagle eleven calling Rich Paxton.”
OFF THE EASTERN COAST OF COSTA RICA
R OBERT BEGAN CLOSING the distance between the skiff and the ferry as soon as the sky started to darken. Though he knew he could quickly overtake the larger boat, he approached at a much more gradual speed to minimize the chances of the others hearing him.
As he drew closer, he could see that most of the lights that were on were contained to the front portion of the main passenger level. He was still much too far away to discern any people on board, but he caught a few flickers of light near the front end that he guessed were caused by people moving around. There had been no similar flickers along the stern, leading him to hope no one was back there.
He was about four hundred yards away when the ferry seemed to pick up speed. At
“You could have just tried talking to me,” Pax said.
Pax had been trying to start the bus he found when the guy named Jacob climbed aboard and pointed his rifle at Pax. He ordered Pax to drive to a building in the center of town, where they picked up the others before heading to the ferry.
“I know,” Kat said. “I’m sorry. Jacob, he…”
“He’s an asshole?”
“He’s kept us alive,” she said, almost defensively but not quite.
Pax said nothing.
“We were all on the cruise ships. Me and Aiden were on one, Luke and Avery on another, and Jacob by himself. He pulled us together, you know? Helped us to get organized.”
“He the one who came up with this brilliant plan?”
“We have to get home.”
“Do you really think this thing is going to get you all the way to the States? Do you know how far away it is? I don’t even know if we’ll have enough fuel to last us past tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll find more. We’ll keep going.”
“Maybe. But I’ve got to be honest, the reality of that happening isn’t very good.”
“Then we’ll get as far as we can,” she said, her voice level rising in anger. “We have to get home. I have a son. He needs me.”
Despite his situation, Pax felt his heart clench. The chance that her son was still alive was minimal at best. He could see in her eyes that she knew it, too, but needed to find out for sure.
If his captors had asked him for help instead of forcing him to pilot the ship, he would have told them about the plane that would be landing outside Limón in another hour or two, but holding a gun on him from the start had blown any chance of that—not because of some personal retribution, but because he couldn’t afford to mix them in with the others.
“I’m sorry,” Kat said. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that.”
“Ma’am, I believe everyone who has survived to this point couldn’t have done so without building up a lot of anger.”
“Have…have you seen others? I mean, besides the friend you were with?”
“I have.”
“How many?”
He was saved from answering her question by the creak of the staircase announcing Luke’s return.
“All right,” the man said, juggling his bowl and mug with his rifle. “I got him now.”
Kat took a step back and said to Pax, “There’s plenty more coffee if you want some.” She looked at Luke. “Yell down when you’re both done and I’ll come get your dishes.”
The man grunted a reply and set to work on his beans.
From outside, Pax started to hear the whine again, so he nudged the throttle forward once more.
TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE NICARAGUA
“E AGLE ELEVEN CALLING Rich Paxton. Pax, do you read?”
Static.
“Eagle eleven calling Rich Paxton. Come in, please.”
No answer.
The copilot of the passenger jet heading for the airport outside Limón, Costa Rica, looked at his partner. “I don’t like this.”
The pilot was silent for a moment before she said, “They’re moving a lot of people. Could be they haven’t gotten the radio set up yet. Keep trying.”
The copilot settled back in his chair and clicked his mic button. “Eagle eleven calling Rich Paxton.”
OFF THE EASTERN COAST OF COSTA RICA
R OBERT BEGAN CLOSING the distance between the skiff and the ferry as soon as the sky started to darken. Though he knew he could quickly overtake the larger boat, he approached at a much more gradual speed to minimize the chances of the others hearing him.
As he drew closer, he could see that most of the lights that were on were contained to the front portion of the main passenger level. He was still much too far away to discern any people on board, but he caught a few flickers of light near the front end that he guessed were caused by people moving around. There had been no similar flickers along the stern, leading him to hope no one was back there.
He was about four hundred yards away when the ferry seemed to pick up speed. At
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