Page 113 of Radar

The woman stood to the side, gripping the fireplace poker in her hands, looking like she was willing to jump and defend should the tangos make it down the stairs.

Suddenly, the lights stuttered, then flashed on.

The television blared.

Elyssa, too, was beginning to rouse when Xander’s phone buzzed.

Xander grabbed it from his thigh pocket. “Hiro. What have you got?”

“I’m in the situation room at the White House. The lights are coming back online. The Pentagon reached out to our allied nations about the submarines. Sweden had detected submarine movement of four of the Russian nuclear class before losing capability. They sent a NATO warning via satellite to the subs, and Norway is, in real time, watching them turn. You destroyed the trunks?”

“Elyssa and I.”

“Well, looks like you thwarted the Zoric attack. It was bad. It could have become catastrophic. The gratitude of a nation,” Hiro said. “You did it.”

“We did it for now,” Xander said quietly. “You get that, right? They have the science.”

Xander lifted his gaze as the police in SWAT gear swarmed into the castle.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Xander

Monday

Sainte-Mère-Église

“Xander,” Anna gasped, looking pale and haunted as she stared into the camera on her laptop.

“Elyssa, this is my cousin Anna. Finley’s fiancée, and the reason that we met.”

“Thank you,” Elyssa said.

“Good work. Much appreciation to both of you. It’s hard to believe that it’s over. And I mean really and truly over.”

Xander knew that all he had done was buy them a short window of time. Months at most. The Zorics had the science to rebuild their destructive machine. And if what Elyssa was saying about the study of revenge addiction, the Zoric family would come at the world hard and fast. Xander wasn’t sure how he could keep Elyssa safe. But right now, he was confused by Anna’s tone, by how pale she was. So he just came out and labeled what he saw. “You look like you’re in shock.”

“That’s putting it mildly. I … there … It …” She put her hand on her forehead, then bent at the waist and blew out hard.

“Take your time, Anna. Sit down on the ground before you fall down.”

She picked up the computer and sank to the floor. From the new angle, she must have her laptop balanced on her knees. “Adele just called from Singapore. There was an explosion.”

“Breathe.”

“The Family was on a ferry boat at what was late afternoon in Singapore, about the time you were on your boat in the Seine. That ferry was bringing The Family to Davidson Realm.”

“An explosion?”

“The family was bringing auxiliary boats that held the servants.”

“An explosion, Anna?”

“Adele had someone tracking The Family as they crossed so she would know when The Family landed and what happened next. They were set up like a fishing boat, and they were filming. I’ve seen the video.” Her voice squeaked, and Anna clutched at her heart, much like Elyssa did when she was in pain. “There was a cigarette boat. It was aimed at the ferry and was going super fast. The video was very clear. Very crisp. On board, two people, dressed in full scuba gear, held underwater propellers. The driver pushed the throttle forward, aimed at the center of the ferry. Then the men jumped into the ocean. They went underwater and disappeared. But the speedboat.” She gasped. “Oh god, the speedboat.”

“Take a breath. Take your time,” Xander said. “Is that a glass of water beside you? Take a sip.”

“The speedboat was full of boxes. It went straight into the side of the ferry. And when it did, there was an explosion. It was so big that the blast wave flipped some of the pleasure boats that the Zorics were having shuttled over. The person filming was thrown backward, and moments later, he was back on his feet, filming again. He filmed as the captain of his boat made a circuit to pick up the living people in the water. Without much space, I guess that’s all they could do. They left the dead.” Tears were running down her face. “The live people from the water were the servants. Adele says her person thinks he got all of them.”

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