Page 75 of Fighting Salvation

The team was amassed around the large island with Reaper and Duchess at the front.

“We managed to get some heat signatures from a drone Watchdog sent up.”

“Wait, Watchdog is working?”

Duchess pursed her lips and nodded. “He insisted. He wants to help and, honestly, we need all the help we can get. We had Dr Decker check him over. His injuries are mostly superficial and will heal. As for any psychological trauma, that remains to be seen. I’ve spoken with Peyton and she’s agreed he can work if it’s what he needs right now.”

Peyton Lawson, a PTSD specialist and, not to be confused with Lopez’s daughter Payton, was a friend of Shadow and probably the leading expert on trauma of this kind.

“So what did the drone give us?” Titan folded his arms and leaned back crossing his ankles. He looked calm but he was also a pretty closed book and the quietest of the group.

Reaper stepped up when Duchess nodded to him and an aerial image of the island popped up on the television screen behind them. “This shows ten guards on the edge of the island, here. Four people in the main house and another six in this block here. From studying the images, we think that these four are prisoners. There’s been zero movement from them and it’s away from the house so it makes sense.”

“That’s not so bad then. We can manage that.” Hurricane looked around as he spoke and his shoulders sagged. “Or maybe not?”

“We believe Hansen has explosive devices set up around the island to keep intruders at bay but also to keep his own men from fleeing.”

“And we know this how?” Val didn’t like where this was going.

“Because one person did escape and we found him. Or should I say, Watchdog overheard Hansen talking and then found him.”

Titan leaned forward, surprise and respect in his eyes. “In the last twelve hours after being almost beaten to death? Is our boy even human?”

“Do you remember Brand and his team? They helped Adeline escape Ravelino’s compound?”

They all nodded and Reaper continued. “Well, Brand, Hustle, and Santa were picked up by Hansen six months ago but there’s a fourth member of their team called Sutton, and he got out.”

“How if there are bombs set up?”

Reaper pointed at the north end of the island behind where the prisoners were being held. “This part of the island is deadly with rock formations and the current, which makes it impossible to approach the island. You’d need to swim in and these waters are notorious for great white sharks, so it was almost suicide for anyone attempting to escape or enter the island.”

Val folded her arms. “I’m not hearing any positives here.”

“Apparently Sutton was a former Olympic level swimmer but he also had a keen interest in marine science and in 2017, two orca whales hunting in a pair killed eight great white sharks by ripping their livers out.”

“Oh my God, I read about that. It was unprecedented to see that kind of thing and it led to the sharks avoiding the area.” Val began to pace as she spoke, fragments of memory coming back as she walked.

“Yes, exactly.”

“So the great whites are gone but two killer whales are now a risk? I’m not sure those odds are better. Don’t be fooled by the cute shows you see on the internet. They have that moniker for a reason.”

“Sutton made it out that way, so its possible. Watchdog tracked his possible locations and tracked him to a nearby island. He’d stolen some tourist’s wallet and was holed up in a cheap motel.”

Duchess grimaced in distaste and Val agreed. Those shows were horrific on so many levels.

“We’re aware but we see no other option.”

“And how do we extract Bás?”

Val’s heart beat fast as she waited for an answer which Jack gave her.

“The same way we go in, by swimming until we can get him to a boat.”

“And if he’s injured or unable to swim?”

“That is why only Reaper, Me, Bein, and two others will be attempting this.”

“Who?”