The Hostaged Island Read Online Free PDF

will then force the submarine's crew at gunpoint to transport the gang to some foreign country."
    "Has any of this crazy stuff actually been confirmed?" asked the benign Blancanales. "Isn't there any chance it could all be..."
    "No chance. It is confirmed. Though officially we're saying it's a prank. A Deputy Sheriff managed to make a shortwave Mayday call. The ships that reported the message have been told it was a loony tune.
    "But when a Coast Guard helicopter flew over the town, it was fired on by light and heavy caliber machine guns." Hal sighed.
    "The gang leader has threatened to kill ten hostages the next time any ship or aircraft approaches the island. His people control the port's radar station. Anything comes within three miles, he kills ten people.
    "He has given the Governor forty-eight hours to deliver the ransom."
    Lyons spoke. "How many people have they killed?"
    "That's not known. However, he had a captured Deputy Sheriff — apparently the same officer who put out the Mayday — speak to the Governor. As the Governor listened, he heard the officer begin a prayer, then there was a shot."
    Lyons closed his eyes for a moment. "That's the Outlaws. That's the way they work. Murder and mutilation," he murmured. "Once, when they were moving in on the East L.A. drug trade, they captured one of our undercover officers. They sent his skin to us in a box. With a cassette tape. They had skinned him alive and recorded the entire procedure.
    "And we never got them for that. You know how it is, a case has to be textbook perfect to prosecute."
    "The Outlaws' constitutional rights," Brognola commanded, "are hereby suspended..."
    "Kayaks!" Gadgets blurted. "We'll take a boat as close as the three-mile limit, then paddle in. Fiberglass or canvas kayaks, with fiberglass paddles, a few inches of plastic foam over the equipment. There won't be any radar bounce off of plastic. And besides, a kayak rides only a few inches above the water. The equipment will actually be below the waterline.
    "I was thinking of wind-surfing, but there might not be any wind, so..."
    Gadgets' enthusiasm made Lyons grin. He glanced to the others, pointed at Schwarz. "You know, this guy is a wizard. Sometimes I wonder why he isn't a millionaire."
    "Government work doesn't pay that good," said Gadgets. "But the benefits are okay. Travel, education, meeting interesting people, a good pension..."
    Chances were they'd never collect a pension. Blancanales changed the subject.
    "What about the media?"
    "It is impossible to keep the press from investigating," Brognola said. "The first reporter who tries to check out the prank story will know something is wrong. We will need to cancel the tourist boat that shuttles back and forth between Los Angeles Harbor and the island. And the Coast Guard will be preventing any private craft from approaching the island. The most we can hope for is a few hours before the questions start. After that... " Brognola shrugged.
    "And what happens if we can't break them?" Blancanales continued.
    "Ask the Governor."
    "That's not going to happen!" Lyons shouted. "I owe those scum from way back. As far as I'm concerned, this is do or die."
    Gravity shifted as the helicopter banked. Blue sky filled one side door window. Blancanales glanced down at the concrete runway and parked Air Force jets, to the jet waiting for them. He turned back to Lyons.
    "They don't call us unless it's do or die."
    Still wearing sweatsuits, Lyons and Blancanales carried their bags into the forward cabin of the Air Force jet that would take them to Los Angeles. A man waited for them at the conference table. Behind him was a stack of aluminum cases in anodized black.
    Wide-shouldered, thick-necked, with huge forearms and large hands, his hair clipped to a stubble, this man looked like a Marine Corps drill instructor.
    But when he stood to greet them, he first pushed himself up with his arms, then used two forearm-clamp crutches to rise to his full height. His