Page 49 of Spies Don’t Fall for Their Best Friend

“I don’t know everything.”

“But you know the code.”

His eyes move between Ledger and me. “They’ll kill me.”

“If you do nothing, they’re leaving you aboard a yacht they rigged to explode.”

That is the cruelest truth in the room, and he recognizes it. He gives us the code.

Ledger reaches the suppression system while I remove Jonah’s weapon and guide him behind the reinforced partition near the entry.

We shut down the fuel feed and isolate the section of the engine compartment surrounding the first device. Then we close the watertight doors, isolating the compartment around the area where the second charge is attached.

Ledger activates the emergency foam system. Thick white suppressant blasts from the ceiling, coating the engines and explosive charge.

The timer continues counting. Seven minutes.

“This should keep the first one from starting a major fuel fire,” Ledger says.

“And the second?” Jonah asks.

“If it breaches the hull, the bulkhead buys them time.”

It’s not perfect, but it’s better.

From Jonah’s radio, we learn that Anton’s people are gathering guests in the main dining salon. Celeste is being taken toward the stern. Anton’s group intends to leave aboard one of the yacht’s speedboats before the first charge detonates.

The explosives won’t take out the whole ship, so we tell Jonah where to shelter, then Ledger and I take the aft stairs two at a time. At the next landing, a guard rounds the corner. Ledger hits him before the man has time to raise his weapon. Another comes through the door behind him, and I slam him into the wall. The narrow passage fills with elbows, knees, and the kind of action no tuxedo is designed to survive.

Ledger takes the first man’s radio, and I take his access card.

We reach the dining salon with four minutes left.

Two armed men stand outside the locked doors, and at least fifty guests are trapped inside.

I lift Jonah’s radio. “Reznik says move everyone to the bow lounge. He wants the stern clear before extraction.”

One guard frowns. “He said keep them contained.”

“He also said the first charge is near the engine compartment.”

Both men glance instinctively toward the floor.

I add irritation to my voice, the kind used by people accustomed to carrying out orders other people are too slow to understand.

“You can confirm with him while the timer ticks down, or you can move.”

The first guard swears and reaches for the door controls.

Ledger looks at me, one eyebrow raised. People don’t like being told what to do. They like believing compliance was the most intelligent choice available to them.

The doors open.

Ledger takes the guard closest to us, and I disarm the second before he finishes turning.

Vale looks at the downed men, his face pale. “These men aren’t any of mine.”

“There are explosives near the engine compartment,” I call loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Move to the bow. Stay together, use the port-side stairs, and leave everything behind.”