Thorne: Far Horizons -Chapter 2

By Atonia Walpole

Part 1:

He was neither asleep or awake but somewhere in between. He could not focus his eyes on anything or put together a thought. Water squirted into his mouth and he drank thirstily. It would come now. He waited for it, wanted it. The burning up his arm was sweet, its rush taking him, and his eyes rolled back. He just wanted to run, had to run, could run forever…and ever...into the white…the white.

“The official position is,” Wyatt explained, “until we have contact we can do nothing. We don’t know for sure who has him.”

“Bollocks!”

“I quite agree, Max, and some progress has been made. I have a list of boats spotted on the Thames in this area between five thirty and six yesterday. None of them would raise an eyebrow. There are tapes we have watched along with the Thames Police this morning.”

“I want to see the tapes, Wyatt,” Dino spoke up. “Jack and I walked under the bridge this morning. There’s an old wooden wharf under there, perfect place for a boat to stop for a passenger.”

“All right. I’ll go down to the station with you. Also tenants of this building have been questioned and, of course, no one saw anything suspicious. No one was around between 5:30 and 6:00. Disgusting, really. All up and down Waterman’s Walk has been searched all the way to London Bridge. There is nothing to be found. The shop owner says Terry left there right after making his purchases and he saw him cross the street. That’s as far as he got. He had another customer. We talked to the pub owner, gallery owner and a souvenir shop owner. Those were the only shops open during that time. Came up with nothing.”

Dino stood up and put his jacket on. “I want to see the tapes. You coming, Jack?”

“Oh, well, yes, of course.” He looked down at his clothes, Terry’s running clothes fitting tightly around him, and straightened up. No time to be worried about appearances. “Max, you will stay?”

“Yes, I don’t think Toni should be alone.”

“Good man! Let us be away.”

Toni had been silent during the discussion and she wearily got up and walked over to the window. She could see the bridge they were talking about just to the right of their building, maybe half a block away. If she’d only been awake.

“See how wide it is,” Max spoke beside her. “A boat could be under there for some time and would not be spotted from the street because of the wall around that area blocking the site.”

“Where does it go, Max, all the way to the ocean?”

“Yes, it winds and twists and turns and finally spills out at Southend.”

“Oh, why would anybody want to do this to Terry? He’s harmed no one”

“The rebels might not agree with you but I don’t think they are behind this.”

“Then who?”

“I don’t know, love, but I think Dino and Jack are on the right track. Finding Terry is the most important thing now. Finding the culprit will come later.”

Jack was totally out of his element. He understood about cameras but he’d never seen anything like this. They watched an hour’s worth of tapes taken from the bridges. “Wait…oh, it’s gone.”

“What, Jack?” Dino asked.

“That boat there with the blue stripe down the side. He has veered off leeward as he comes back into view.”

Dino had them back up and roll it again. “I see. He comes in under the bridge on this side and comes out on the other. What an odd thing to do, as though he went straight across the river.”

“Impossible to tell how long he stopped if he did. He cracked on to the other side you can tell there. Look at the wake. He’s slowed.” Jack continued to watch the boat's progress until the tape ran out.

“What do you have on this boat?” he asked Wyatt, who’d been watching closely.

“It’s a water taxi, privately owned. He may have been in a hurry to get out of the way of the barge that passes.”

“Well then, he could have stayed put.” Jack replied.

“He could have dropped somebody off on the other side, too.”

“He would have had to be quick about it. Hardly time to jump ashore.”

“I say we find this boat and see what the taxi driver has to say.” Dino stood up, convinced there was nothing else to be gained from watching it over and over.

“You can’t do this as an SI employee, Dino.”

“I’m fuckin’ doing this on my own, Wyatt...and, Wyatt, pay close attention at the office today, who’s there who isn’t, how interested who is. You know what I’m talking about.”

“You think it’s come from inside?”

“A hunch, Wyatt. You remember hunches, don’t you, before you mentally retired from this business?”

Wyatt picked up his jacket. “Retirement is a myth, Dino. I retired a long time ago and have worked more since then than you have. I thought you had a broken jaw?”

“Magic fairy dust. Does it every time.”    

“I was going to ask you,” he said quietly, “about the other brother. He’s well, he’s different, ain’t he?”

“Who Jack? You have no idea just how different, but he’s one you want on your side. It was his ship’s doctor that found us in Brazil.”

“Oooh, right! He was a bit different, too, as I recall.”

Jack had waited patiently in the hall for Dino. “Do ye think I might find a pair of trousers?”

“Your brother’s missing and you want to go shopping?”

Jack pulled the knit pullover as far down his front as he could. “It’s not a question of wanting to, Dino, but if I have to be out on the streets in this day I cannot go around in these tight knitted pants. I’m getting a few strange looks.”

Dino laughed.

Max had cooked Toni a boiled egg and some toast and with another cup of tea  and she was feeling better. “My body still is on EST but at least I’m feeling human again. Thank you, Max. I had no idea you were so handy.”

“Well, I’m no chef but I won’t starve with a stocked pantry. We may have to make a food run today unless you want to eat out?”

“I honestly don’t want to go anywhere. I guess it’s crazy but I keep hoping he’ll turn up at the door.”

“I can understand that, Toni.”

Dino knocked on the door and they came in, Jack with shopping bags. “Had to take him shopping. Worse than a woman.”

“I beg your pardon,” Toni said. “What have you bought, Jack?”

“Trousers that fit, small clothes and a shirt.”

“He was tired of the pinches on his bum from all the blokes at the station.”

Toni smiled, knowing exactly what Jack’s problem was. She was so glad they were here. She would have been lost, completely lost, without them to relieve the worry. “What did you find out, Dino?”

“It’s down to a water taxi, and Jack and I are going to find it and take a ride.”

Jack took a quick shower and dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue shirt. Terry’s shoes would do. He tied his hair back and came out of the bathroom still uncomfortable in the jeans but there was nothing for it. He would blend in now and that’s what he wanted to do.

Max was on the phone, strolling around in the kitchen. “It’s up to you. I know it’s a long haul for you.”

John was on the line with him. “That doesn’t matter. I’m coming anyway. I’m at the airport now, so I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

“John’s coming,” he told Toni.

She nodded, “I thought he would.”

“We’re going to do whatever it takes, Toni. I want you to know that,” Jack told her.

“Thanks, Jack. I know you will.”

He stood up. “Are we away?”

“I’m ready.” Dino picked up his jacket and followed Jack out of the door.

“When is John coming?” Toni asked after they left.

“He was at the airport trying to get a flight, poor guy. I told him it wasn’t necessary but you know John.”

“Yes, he told me in Virginia he didn’t feel a part of it anymore because he left at the beginning of his season. Did I tell you what Jack said about the elements, about water blocking fire and that’s why Terry couldn’t remember me?”

“No, you didn’t. Strange, isn’t it,” he sat down on the sofa next to her, “the power of the elements? Terry scorched John, you know. I think I only fanned the flames.” He smiled slightly.

“But you as air could also put out a flame. You didn’t. You never have.”

“No, because you loved him, and I love you too much to blow out that candle. Now Jack on the other hand will do what he wants.”

“I’m not so sure about that, When he realized what was happening at the House after you left, he made quick work of our wedding and was off.”

“Wedding?”

“Oh, you don’t know. Well, let me tell you…”

Part 2:

Following the information Wyatt had gotten from the police, Jack and Dino found the water taxi and had to wait for forty-five minutes for it to come back to its berth. Dino paid for their ride as far as the pilot said he went up the Thames. They watched how he worked, picking up people from designated waiting areas and dropping them of at others. He seemed to do a pretty good business. As they neared the bridge with the wharf, Dino approached him.

“What’s on the other side there? Is there a landing?”

“Not a proper one. T’is end of street comes down t’ bank.”

“Could a person get off there?”

“Some do.”

“Did you pick somebody up on that wharf last evening, the one just ahead there?”

“Why d’ye want t’know?”

“I’m asking a question, you are supposed to answer not ask another. Did you?”

“I did. Were two blokes carryin’ another. ‘E were pissed like, couldn’t stand up. Said they’d been at pub.”

Jack, listening behind Dino, stepped up. “And where did you let them off?”

“Wait just a minute! Who are ye, askin’ questions?”

“Somebody who wants to know. Where did you let them off?”

“I only goes down to Wapping.”

“Wharf’s there?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, Wapping Wharf. They got off there.”

“All three of them?” asked Dino.

“No were t’only two got off.” With Dino on one side and Jack on the other side of him he was understandably nervous.

“What happened to the third guy?” Dino persisted.

“’E got off at  t’other side, didn’t he, at bridge.”

“I dunno. You’re the one with the story. Who got off, the pissed guy or one of his buddies?”

“It were one of ‘is buddies got off. ‘E was in a hurry t’get somewhere.”

“So you took the drunkard and his buddy to Wapping Wharf. How did he manage? You said it took two of them to get him on the boat back at the bridge.”

“Well er it t’were the man in the fancy boat. ‘E come an ‘elped ‘im.”

“Oh, fuck!” Dino ran his hand through his hair. “What fancy boat?”

“Yes, describe the vessel.” Jack was paying particular attention.

“It were long like, like that one over there, but taller.”

“It was a yacht.”

“Did it have sails, a mast?”

“Sails…no, weren’t no sailboat.”

“What happened to the boat?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t stay to find out. I let ‘em off and turned around. Fog were in.”

“Did they talk at all, hear any names?”

“They talked some t’one ‘nother. I couldn’t hear what was said. Didn’t listen.”

“Speak English, did they?” Jack asked.

“Oh, yeah, proper like.”

“About what time did you let them off at Wapping?”

“It were that dark, eh, ‘bout seven I think. Takes 'bout an hour to get to Wapping and it were foggy.”

“When do water taxis run in the fog?”

“When they pay triple like.”

“Take us to Wapping, triple like,” Dino said.

Jack and Dino moved away from the water taxi driver, allowing him to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

“What are you thinking, Jack?”

“They’re at sea and so shall I be as soon as we get a description of the vessel. I was afraid of this.”

“I just can’t get a grasp on this.”

“Perhaps the kidnappers have requested payment.”

“Wyatt would have called me.” He touched the phone on his ear. “No, they won’t do that, Jack, until they’ve got him where they mean to keep him. They like pictures and videos. Something will come through. I’d like to get there first. It won’t be pretty.”

“This man has suffered enough...enough.”

“I agree and don’t think I’m not going to put somebody on him night and day when he gets back. I think I know just the man, although I hate to lose him. Maybe I could call on him if necessary.”

“You have someone in mind, then?”

“A Mean Marine.”

“Ah, a good choice, Dino, but I wonder if he will let you.”

“He ain’t got a choice.”

Jack smiled to himself and silently wished Dino luck. Terry was a man who minded his own business and would not appreciate what Dino was trying to do.

The pain was intense. His whole body arched with it. His lips were dry, his mouth was dry; he couldn’t swallow. He opened his eyes but his befuddled brain couldn’t make out where he was. He was moving, swaying, was going to be sick, and turned his head as far as he could and vomited. He was so thirsty. He could hear voices but he didn’t know if they were real or in his head. Nothing was real. Someone shouting…were they shouting? He moved his head and was roughly wiped with a wet cloth, trying to catch it with his teeth for the moisture. Oh…water in his mouth again…water and then the hot sweetness again that would take him where he wanted to go.

Toni was lying across the bed trying to take a nap. Her body wanted a nap but her mind wouldn’t stop. It had been twenty-four hours since she’d seen him. She wanted to hold him and never let him out of her sight again…oh, sweet Jesus, she wanted him.

Max heard her sobbing and it went straight to his heart. There was nothing he could do but comfort her. He went to the bathroom, got a wet cloth, then sat down beside her, wiping her face. He took her in his arms and rocked her, making soothing sounds and holding her close, finding his own eyes wet with tears. “Toni, Toni, love.”

“I’m so afraid for him, Max, so afraid.”

“Give him strength, Toni, all you can spare…I am.” And he was trying to channel something into Terry, wherever he was, give him strength to fight. It worried Max that no word had come about him. He’d just disappeared as into thin air. The connection he had with him was gone, like somebody turned off a light. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

“Toni, let’s get out of here, go for a walk or something. We’ve got enough cell phones between us where we can be reached.”

“I don’t want to leave…”

“I know what you want, baby, but it’s not going to happen like that. This is not good lying here crying, not good for you, Terry, or little Terrence. It’s not good for me, either. I hurt for you and Terry but there’s nothing I can do. It’s frustrating.”

Toni reached for the cloth but Max picked it up and wiped her face again. His face was inches from hers and she put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Max gently eased her back. This would not do. One more of those and….”We can’t do this. Come on, get your shoes on. Let's go walk.” It wasn’t him she wanted, he knew that. He was there. That was all, but on his side was a different story, and damn-it she’d just told him earlier about her marriage, a real one, not some magical coming together. “Shoes,” he said and fished around on the floor, coming up with one and handing it to her. The other one he located under the bed. “You have a sweater or jacket or something?”

Toni hadn’t unpacked and the suitcase was open on the floor. She looked toward it, sniffing. Max found her a sweater and pulled it over her head. He kissed her when her head popped out and smiled, “You know I love you. Now then, up on your feet and we are out of here.”

They were walking hand-in-hand down Waterman’s Walk. “I’m sorry, Max, I didn’t mean to…I know it’s difficult for you.”

“It is and you will try and make it harder.”

Toni stopped. “I love you too, Max, and it doesn’t take away from Terry at all, but I do love you. You can’t just turn something like that off like a faucet. But he’s my husband and I appreciate that you respect that.”

“Don’t pin honors on me I don’t deserve. I was that close, Toni.”

Toni leaned against his arm a moment then continued on walking down the sidewalk with him.

Part 3:

It took a while, questioning different people around Wapping Wharf, but Jack and Dino had the description of the boat that had been at the wharf the night before. Their main thrust was to get Terry back. Neither one of them cared who the boat belonged to. Jack was most anxious to be away, feeling deep inside himself that every moment counted. Dino, however, did call Wyatt with the information they had gained that day.

“Fish and chips, you say?” Jack looked into the cone of newsprint he was carrying.

“Hell, yeah! That’s what Limeys are famous for.”

Jack tasted and chewed. “It’s not proper food.” He did finish it and tossed the paper in a dust bin. He’d had nothing since breakfast and was a might sharp.

They caught a taxi to take them back to the flat. They arrived as Max and Toni were walking back up the side walk. Max had persuaded her to stop for a meal. He, too, was famished.

Toni wanted to know what they’d found out and Dino and Jack told her.

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“Jack is going after them.”

“Would you like to come along?” Jack asked Dino as they let themselves into the flat.

“Oh, man, would I!”

Jack walked into Terry’s office and began removing his clothes, pulling on his uniform. “Be advised, Dino, this is not just a cruise. I mean to find him and God help those in the way.”

“Hey, I’m in.  So how do we get to your ship?”

“I expect a boat to be sent for me.” He half buttoned up his vest, reached for his sword and buckled it about his waist. “You understand magic is about to happen so do not be surprised. “

“Not much surprises me anymore, Jack. I’ve seen too much and experienced too much.”

“You will not have experienced what you are about to undertake.” He reached for his coat and walked into the lounge to Toni. “I will find him, pet and return him to you…once again.”

Toni put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I know you will and I love you for it. Be safe, Jack.”

“I don’t really want a kiss, Toni. I’m just hanging out here.” Dino looked sad.

Toni smiled and kissed him, too. “You take care of yourself, Dino.”

Max shook hands with Dino and hugged Jack. “Somebody let us know when you have him, Jack.”

“We will do that. Dino, you are in charge of communications.” With one last look and a smile for Toni, Jack and Dino left the flat.

Toni and Max walked over to the windows and soon saw them on the street heading down to the wharf below the bridge.

“Oh, look! There it comes, a sailboat of some sort.”

“It moves pretty fast for a sailboat.”

“Oh, Max, but it’s a magic sailboat,” she smiled. “And do you know it is not visible. Jack told me that when he took me sailing one spring. But I do wonder how an invisible ship will find the one that Terry’s on and rescue him.”

“You have complete faith in Jack, don’t you?”

“Yes…of course I do. He’s never let me down…ever.”

Max thought she was probably right. Out of the four of them, if you counted in Terry’s trips to the edge, Jack was the only one who had never let her down. He was sure she didn’t count Terry’s trips to the edge, however, and this one was not his fault.

A phone began to ring and as they scrambled around picking up one then another, she answered Terry’s. It was Henry and she didn’t know what to tell him. Holding the phone, she pushed mute. “It’s Henry, Terry’s son. I’d forgotten he was going to call back today. I don’t know what to tell him.”

“Where is he?”

“At his school. He can only call once a day.” Max reached for the phone.

“Hello, Henry, this is your uncle Max. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Toni sat down at the table and listened to Max calmly talking to Henry. She winced when he told him Terry was on a secret mission and would call as soon as he got back. “Do you think that was wise telling him something like that?”

“Did you want me to tell him is father was missing? Terry can explain it however he wants to when he’s home.”

“Home? I wonder sometimes where home is, Max. Virginia, London or Gloucester?”

“Home is where you are, love. I’m sure Terry would agree. You are his home.”

“Then he needs to stay there then…oh, God!” She put her face in her hands.

“I know something we can do. I have to go home and get some clothes. Come with me. You’ve never seen where I live. Yes? Yes, let’s go.” He didn’t want her sinking again and he did need clean clothes.

A taxi brought them to the door of his building and he walked over and picked up his mail from the man behind the desk. Toni went to the elevator, looking around the large lobby. It was a modern new building, not like the one Terry had.  The elevator brought them to Max’s floor and he opened his door. “Here it is, all mod cons.”

“My God, Max, this is huge!”

“Umm, I don’t know about that. It’s on two levels and spread out, probably not much difference in size than Terry’s.”

Toni walked to the railing. “What a view! Hard to believe it’s the same river on the other side of the city.”

“Same water. Would you like something to drink…glass of wine?”

“Okay.”

“Downstairs, everything is downstairs." Toni was trying to take it in, large open space, great view, but it didn’t look lived in, not warm like Terry’s did even before she added a few things. Maybe it was the modern furniture, everything new and shiny.

“How long have you lived here, Max?”

“Um, about six years.” He opened a bottle of wine from his cooler and found her a glass. “I know what you’re thinking but I don’t spend that much time here. I work all the time.” He handed her the glass. “And I had a decorator do it up. I gave her full rein. ‘Whatever you think I’d like’ I said to her over a very early breakfast one morning and this is what I got, a cold bastard of a flat.”

“You aren’t like this at all. I know you, very well, in fact.”

“I know you do,” he said, meeting her eyes and touching her glass. “I know you very well, too.”

“I don’t think you and I can ever just be friends, Max. We’re lovers once removed. That will always be there.”

“You may be right, Toni, but I am trying.” He gave her a sweet, engaging smile.

“You’re a devil, Max,” she smiled back.

“That, too.” He looked toward the glass wall. “I wonder how far they’ve gotten in their little sailboat?”

They had, in fact, reached the mouth of the Thames, pushed along by a wind that came from nowhere. The water was choppy here and Dino was getting wet and cold. He noticed Jack didn’t pay any mind to it so he tried to ignore the damp working its way down his back. He could see the ship now, half in fog and shook his head. It was a sight to behold.

Dino was pulled aboard by strong hands and Jack behind him after climbing a rope ladder. This was a first for him. He’d been on boats, even ships before, but nothing like this. He looked up and the tops of the masts were in the fog. All of a sudden things began happening around him and he moved with Jack, who was giving orders he couldn’t decipher, to a different deck. He watched men climb like monkeys up the ropes and soon sails appeared as the anchor was drawn up. They were moving and Jack said to him to follow him down to his cabin. and did he have the maps with him.

Jack spread the maps they’d picked up near Wapping Wharf. “I liked your idea, Dino, out of the shipping lanes and far enough out not to be spotted. Now to study this map…what a lot of detail…wherever are the coordinates?” He bent over the table moving his glass around and getting a feel for the unfamiliar maps.

Dino was holding on to whatever he could reach while Jack stepped around the table as if on land. He figured out quickly Jack was a different man on water. He was in complete control and everyone around him stepped to his tune. He seemed to grow in stature before his eyes.

“Here, We shall have a go at this area. Set our course nor’ nor' west.”

 Nor’ nor' west it is, sir,” answered Mowett.

Jack walked with Mowett to the door of his cabin, explaining what they were looking for and why and when Terry’s name was mentioned Mr. Mowett’s mouth dropped open.

“But, sir, he was just married.”

“That he was. All the more reason to make haste.”

“Killick, Killick, there! Light along a pot of coffee.”

“Which it’s ready and waitin’,” Killick replied, bringing in a tray and placing it on the table.

“Now then, Dino, please to have a seat.” Jack pulled up a chair. “We shall find him and when we do we will demand that Terry be handed over. If they do not comply we’ll put a shot over her bow to let them know we mean business.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then we shall come alongside and board her. A round of shot might do. We shall see.”

“They might do something with him, Jack. I’m saying they’ve had him, he’s seen them, they’ll kill him.”

“Not if their boat is sinking.”

“You plan to sink it?”

“If I have to…I have no qualms about sinking their boat and their crew. They have my brother and God knows what they have done to him.”

The light was blinding. The white was gone, his breathing shallow, and the pain was back...and the thirst. He tried to move his head away from the light but it was forced back. He wanted to shield his face with his hands but he couldn’t bring them up. They were too heavy, but he tried something, pulled at them. His feet, too. He closed his eyes. He was cold under the bright light and began to shake. He was cold…wasn’t he? He wanted the warmth, wanted the heat, wanted to go there again. The light went off and he was given water again, laughter…the voices were back. He wanted them to go away…go where…he didn’t know. The fire, he was fire, he was burning and then it was good, it was….good.

Toni sat on Max’s leather sofa and watched the lights over the city while Max took a shower and changed.  He was so different from Terry and yet something about him brought Terry closer to her. She couldn’t think what it was. Maybe it was as he said, he fanned the flames.  Dear Max, he’d been there for her, always, and she’d walked away from him. For that one meeting, she’d walked away. How different her life would be with him…or would it?”

“I’m all clean and shiny now, with bag packed.” He emerged from his bedroom with a bag over his shoulder. “Do you need anything, love, before we go, or do you want to stay for awhile? I like having you here.”

“I’m glad I came. Now I know where you are when you aren’t around me.”

“I should have taken you to M&S. That’s where I am…mostly.”

“Except for when you go to France.”

“Yes…but we’re starting all over, you see.”

“You’ve come from France, though, when you came in the little car to the House.”

“Yes, I have.” He sat down beside her. “France never held anything over you. You do know that?”

“Yes, Max, I believe I do know that.”

He was quiet for a moment and looked toward the glass wall. “We’d better go, Toni, before I do something I will regret.”

“What were you thinking about doing?”

Max smiled and stood up, pulled her off the sofa and picked up his bag.

Brian stood behind Wyatt, both men catching their breath when the images came across the screen. “What have they done to him?” Wyatt asked.

After a moment, Brian spat, “Drugs! Bloody hell!”

“Brian, how did they know where to send them? This is a secure network here.”

“Yes, it is, Wyatt. We have a stinking rat. I checked on the boat. It was leased by somebody who evidently doesn’t exist.”

“False name. Why am I not surprised. Do you know who it is?”

“If I did, I’d kill the son-of-a-bitch. Okay, get on with it. We’ve got the POL. What do you want?” He spoke to the screen.

“Ten million fucking pounds? Do you want to work this, Wyatt, or do you want me to?”

“You do it. I can’t stomach this. We’re talking about Terry Thorne here. He’s been my mate for too many years, been drunk in too many countries…I can’t do this.” Wyatt got up and rubbed the back of his neck, the images of Terry still in his mind. He wanted a drink.

Dino heard Jack call out “Where away?” as he climbed up on deck, blinking his eyes. He’d tried to sleep a little and wondered if Jack had even been to bed. It was the middle of the night. Somebody above him, lost in the ropes and canvas, called down to Jack and he lifted his glass again.

“Have you spotted him?” he asked.

“I‘m not sure. There’s a boat out there”

Dino looked out at total darkness. You couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the water began. Jack handed him his glass and Dino strained his eye. Yes, he could see something. It looked a long way off. “How far is it?”

“He appears to be dead in the water, anchored. I can see no wake.” He called out for more sail. “With any luck we should have him in a few hours. I hope to meet up with him before daybreak.”

“How do you know that’s our boat?”

“What is it you have, Dino, a hunch?” he smiled and closed his glass.

Dino grabbed his ear and pushed a button. “Phone.” He walked away and came back in a minute.

“Jack, a video has come through to the office. Wyatt says he looks like hell. He’s being shot up with some kind of drug. He’s handcuffed to bed, looks like a hospital bed, has rails on the side.” He pulled out a hand-held computer. “Wyatt’s gonna send it to me, not that I want to see it.”

Jack watched his face in the light of the lantern over his shoulder. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see it either but then it would give him an idea of what he was going to have to deal with. He watched it in silence as Dino had done but inside it had lit a fuse.

“He is below decks. Do you have any idea of the layout of such a vessel? “ he asked Dino, his voice tightly controlled.

“I will find out right now.” He began searching the net for information on the boat in question. “It may have been modified.”

“It was a smallish cabin, was it not?”

“Yeah, it ain’t the master suite. Probably a member of the crew’s quarters. Here, this is it, same model boat.” Jack looked over his shoulder as he brought up the layout.

“Engines are here and right next to them is the crew’s space, two rooms.”

“Three decks and he’s on the bottom next to the engines.” Jack stepped back, if she got her engines going there was no way he could catch her. If he blew them, he’d lose Terry. They would have to board. And then he had another thought. “Tell me, Dino, how high does she ride in the water?”

ON TO THORNE: FAR HORIZONS, CHAPTER THREE

BACK TO THORNE: FAR HORIZONS, CHAPTER ONE