Pitt had been ruminating on that question since they had cleared the dock. Sitting weaponless in a seventy-year-old boat with a woman who could barely walk did not give rise to many options. The obvious course of action would be to storm into the Navy facility and request help. But such an assault would more likely get them shot or arrested than gain them immediate assistance. Peering ahead, he spotted a marina dock close to the lab’s fenced security entrance. The road from Heiland’s cabin intersected the town’s main street just a short distance away. He pointed out the dock to Ann.

“I’ll run us in there,” Pitt said. “See if you can make it up to the guard hut and convince them to call for some security to seal the road. I’ll see if I can find something to slow them down.”

“Okay, but be careful.” She reached into the rear seat for her lone crutch and braced herself to exit the boat.

The old speedboat roared through a no-wake zone and past the main marina. Angry houseboat residents ran to their windows, staring at the noisy source of their homes’ rocking. The shoreline dock was filled with small fishing boats, but Pitt spotted an empty berth and barreled toward it. Cutting power at the last second, he slid in with just a slight bump to the side of the boat. He popped from his seat and leaped to the dock, helping Ann up after him.

“I’m fine,” she said, tucking the crutch under her arm and hobbling down the dock.

Pitt sprinted ahead of her and ran toward the main road, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him. Ann cringed when she realized the damp prints weren’t created from lake water.

The streets of Bayview were deserted and the town almost silent. In the distance, Pitt detected the sound of a speeding car, and he looked down the inlet. Sure enough, headlights glimmered through the trees on the road from Heiland’s cabin.

Pitt scanned the roadway where it entered town, searching for something he could use as a barricade. The road was lined by the Acoustic Lab’s tall security fence on one side and a sloping hill on the other. There were no rocks, logs, or even other cars within view that he might use as a blockade. The only vehicles in sight were for construction, parked up the hill, a gravel truck and a yellow earthmover.

He glanced again at the approaching lights; they’d arrive in less than a minute.

“Road crew it is,” he muttered, then ran up the hill as fast as he could.

Chapter 25

25

ANN CHARGED INTO THE ACOUSTIC LAB’S GUARD station with all the subtlety of a Kansas tornado.

“The lab’s been robbed!” she shouted. “I need your help out front now!”