the dark heap near his feet.
“That is my cousin. Suleiman Abdikarim.” He said this because everything on the ship belonged to Iris Cherlina, including the corpses.
She advanced at his raised blade. She brushed it aside, slipping past him in the narrow passage toward the stern.
“I owe you, Yusuf Raage. Get off this ship. Do it now. If you live, I will find you. I’ll send you money. Again, I’m sorry.”
She did not break into a run but walked away, confident that Yusuf had been settled. What sort of man did she take him for? A pirate, bought with the promise of money? He’d been that when he came on board the Valnea, yes, but that was when he had a ship to capture, men and kin beside him to do it. All that was gone now. Yusuf was not a pirate any longer on this ship. He was only Darood, the last living on board, and chieftain of his dead.
Yusuf surged at Iris Cherlina. Before she could turn, he’d wrapped her throat in the crook of his elbow. She struggled. He could squeeze until she choked, or cut her throat. But this woman had value greater than her own death.
Yusuf tightened around the woman’s long neck enough to still her. He tugged the walkie-talkie from his waistband and brought it to his lips.
“Americans.”
Chapter 51
LB started to answer, but Wally held up a hand.
“This is Captain Bloom. Yusuf Raage?”
“I am waiting for you on the bow.”
Wally sped his gait, carbine up and ready. LB followed close behind. On the port rail, Doc and Quincy would be sprinting forward right now.
“Captain.”
“Yes?”
“I have Iris Cherlina.”
Off the radio, Wally cursed. LB passed him in the narrow corridor to break into a run. They flew past the bodies of pirates. Nearing the end of the passageway, LB leaped across the corpse of the thin Somali he’d shot ten minutes ago up on the cargo deck. How did he get here?
Reaching the end of the companionway, LB and Wally pulled up. From behind cover, LB scanned the bow through the NVGs. Yusuf Raage stood in the open between two hawsers, at the point of the hull. In the milky light of the moon and the tall beacon on its mast, the Somali could not see the pair of infrared beams pinning him from Doc and Quincy standing to port, weapons trained, one to his cheek, the other on his chest. Both dots glowed dangerously close to Iris Cherlina’s head, framed inside Raage’s elbow, a knife at her throat.
LB raised his goggles and lowered his weapon. Wally did the same. Both walked into the open, closer. Doc and Quincy stayed back to keep the pirate covered.
LB spoke first. “Iris, this is Captain Bloom.”
Wally dipped his brow. “Ma’am.”
Yusuf Raage answered by tossing the walkie-talkie overboard. He yanked the back of Iris’s hair, stretching her white neck. He shaved the blade up her flesh. She breathed hard through her nose, blinking wildly.
LB held up a hand. “You don’t want to do that.”
Yusuf eased his head beside hers, as if to whisper in her ear. “Ah, Sergeant. You have no idea how badly I do.”
Wally asked, “What do you want?”
Off to starboard, the warship Nicholas approached with the great mumble of her engines. Yusuf tucked the knife tighter under Iris’s chin. She stood stiffly, quiet.
“Have your men lower their rifles. If they raise them again, I will kill her. You may do as you like after that.”
With a wave of Wally’s hand, Quincy and Doc lowered their M4s.
Yusuf shifted his dark eyes to LB. “Did you kill my cousin?” Wally gestured for LB to give no answer. LB ignored him.
“Yeah.”
The Somali nodded before returning his attention to Wally. “I will make a trade.”
“No.”
Yusuf Raage slid the blade sideways under Iris’s chin. She jerked at the sting. A dribble of her blood soaked into his sleeve.
“You will throw your weapons overboard. Then you and your men will get off this ship. He will stay behind. When I am satisfied, I will release the woman.”
Wally said again, flatly, “No.”
The Somali wagged his great head. “Captain. This woman has offended me in enough ways. I will slit her throat and take a bullet for it. So be it. She will die at my hand. Or he will. Either way, I am a dead man, I know that. The question is, who joins me?”
Wally did not hesitate. He raised his M4, looking keen to put a round between Yusuf’s eyes.
“Quincy, Doc. Dismissed.”
On the port