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Back Blood in the Water
Chapters (82)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. Praise for Blood in the Water
  81. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  82. Newsletter Sign-up

They slipped the small vessel over the transom and into the water. The three of them were dressed all in black waterproof SD Combat wet/dry suits, with black neoprene hoods and gloves to help protect them from the cold, but even the high-tech gear could not really keep them warm. They slid from the Citacea’s stern into the inflatable and paddled the twenty yards into shore. The entire way, Cormack scanned the hill on the back side of Fort Strong, expecting at any minute to be engulfed in a hail of gunfire.

The bullets never came, though, and within a matter of minutes, the three men were pulling the inflatable up onto the beach and lashing it to a large boulder to prevent the incoming tide from taking it out to sea.

They silently emptied their small raft of the weapons and slipped them into the vests covering their foul-weather suits. Cormack motioned for them to follow him as he crept along the beach, toward the northern end of the island.

It took only two minutes for them to reach the spot at which the southeastern side of the hill met the shoreline. Cormack pointed up the hill, and in the moonlight Cicero and Buddy could see the dim outline of a concrete rectangle, roughly ten feet wide by six feet high, identical to the entryway they had seen from the Citacea on the northern side of the fort. Cormack nodded at them and started up the hill, through the heavy vegetation.

The progress was slow, as they tried to make as little noise as possible. It was rough going, and the cold cut through their gear, leaving their extremities near frozen. They made their way inexorably up until they were on a small cement ledge outside of the concrete entryway. A heavy metal door clung to its hinges, but there were no locks, and the latch had fallen away. Cormack looked from Cicero to Buddy and back. Then he reached into his vest and pulled out a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Buddy followed Cormack’s lead, and pulled out an identical gun. Cicero pulled out his knife, and motioned for Cormack and Buddy to position themselves so that they could shoot in at the entryway. Cicero then took hold of the door and gave it a pull. It creaked softly, but to the three men it sounded like a screech. The door swung outward on its hinges, and Cormack and Buddy pointed their guns into the dark abyss beyond the entryway, ready to shoot if they sensed any movement.

They stood there for a moment, barely breathing, listening intently for any indication that someone inside had heard the door open and Soh and his men were coming to cut them down, but there was no noise, and once enough time had passed for them to feel encouraged, Cormack lowered his pistol slightly and stepped through the opening and into the darkness.