A.J. and the guys stopped just before going below deck when Harper announced, “Delta One is boarding a Princess 30M yacht, and they’re already moving. Heading down river,” Harper reported. “Do you copy?”
“Roger,” A.J. said, his heart in his throat before heading for the stateroom.
Once in the cabin, he eyed the dive gear and set his weapons bag on the bed next to it.
“They must have a frequency jammer. We lost connection with Ana,” Harper said as static cut in. Reception wasn’t stellar since they were rapidly moving away from her location. “The drone can’t pick up sound either. You’re going to . . . have to follow . . . and go in dark.”
More like go in hot and fast.
“We just lost Harper,” Wyatt said. “I’ll go on deck and call her.”
A.J. sat on the full-sized bed once Wyatt left, his stomach muscles tight and sore like he’d been punched more than once by a pro boxer. “This is gonna work, right?” he asked Chris while Echo Three slipped on his suit, minus the fins. Since when do I have doubts?
They had to be ready to swim, which was A.J.’s preference to the alternative—jumping from their speedboat onto the Volkovs’ yacht at too fast a speed. He didn’t have that much faith in the grappling hook he’d need to toss to hold his weight. He’d done a similar maneuver outside San Domingo back when Marcus was still alive, and he wasn’t itching to do it again. His face had smashed against the fiberglass of the boat that night like he was a slapstick comedian, and his jaw had hurt for weeks. Marcus had laughed his ass off about it, too.
Chris leaned forward, setting a hand on A.J.’s shoulder. “Everything will be good. No worries. And nothing like a nice little swim in the Danube to cool us off, right?”
But Chris’s humor was lost on him right now. Ana was surrounded by dangerous men, her status currently unknown.
The boat began to slow, and A.J. stood, throwing his arms out to the sides for balance. He caught sight of Wyatt rushing back their way, a panicked look on his face. “Get ready. Get on deck now!” he yelled, then turned and disappeared back up top.
“What the—” They picked up speed again, cutting through the water. Shit, this can’t be good.
A.J. hurriedly got dressed into his dive gear and followed Chris to the deck as their boat passed by the lit-up Hungarian Parliament building.
“What’s your status?” Wyatt had a hand to one ear to better hear out the other as he talked on the phone. “We need you now. Hijack the boat if you have to. That’s an order.” He ended the call, his rifle slung over his shoulder, a pistol strapped to his thigh and one at his hip. His dive gear in a pile on the couch off to his side.
The boat lights were dimmed to prevent being spotted by the Volkovs. “What’s going on?” A.J. grabbed a handlebar when the boat suddenly slowed down, and he was nearly tossed overboard.
“Two more boats are joining the party.” Wyatt pointed out at the water, then his gaze cut to the FBI agents at the helm. “I think it’s safe to say someone on the FBI team tipped off the Russians.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Five Minutes Earlier
“You’re alive.” Ana stood inside the salon on the yacht and peered at a man who’d been assumed dead for the last fifteen years. Adrik Volkov met her stony gaze with one of his own and casually crossed one leg over the other as he sat in a black leather barrel chair. “You’ve been in hiding for so long.”
Grigory and Dominick Volkov were situated opposite Adrik, one guard was posted at the entrance to the galley, and one near the stairs leading to the top deck. And by her count, there were five more Volkov guards strategically located outside.
She didn’t imagine it’d be a hard entry for A.J. and his team, but she’d need to find a way to let the guys know her position in order for them to safely board.
Ana stepped closer to Adrik, remembering him from her teenage years now that she was standing before him. He hadn’t changed all that much. Gleaming brown eyes that were almost black, framed by thick, dark lashes. A pointed nose that led down to a full mustache now threaded with silver. As was his black wavy hair, pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck.