Sleeper Cell Super Boxset by Roger Hayden, James Hunt Read Free Book Online Page A

you wrap around your head in the desert, to protect yourself from the sun.”
    “That’s good. That’s helpful, Billy. What else? What else can you remember?”
    Falls returned with a bucket of water and set it between Cooper and Billy. He handed the boy a towel, and Billy took it absentmindedly. “Hurt.” The words came out as soft as a whisper. “They said they wanted to hurt us. Make us hurt,” he corrected himself. “They wanted to make us hurt.” Billy looked up at Cooper with tears in his eyes. “They killed Tank and tossed him overboard like he was a carcass. Like some rotten piece of fish!”
    “We’ll find them, Billy,” Cooper said, rubbing the boy’s shoulder. “I promise.” She left the boy to wash up and pulled Diaz away from Falls’s earshot. “This has terrorist plot written all over it. As much as I would like to steal the glory, we’re in over our heads here. We’ll have to get back in contact with Homeland, let them know there’s a threat.”
    “On it,” Diaz said then turned to make the call.
    Cooper grabbed the attention of Falls, who had let his eyes wander back over to the squad cars where Billy was being held. “I need the name of the hospital where the captain and first mate are.”

 
    ***
    The waiting room was filled with hospital announcements over the intercom and a whole lot of whispers and silence. Dylan bounced his knee up and down nervously, trying to figure out what happened. He checked his phone. Still no returned calls. He had to fight calling Evelyn again, but he knew she’d see the message when she woke up. Whether she actually listened to it was another story.
    “Mr. Turk?” A doctor with a clipboard in his hand and his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose stepped into the waiting room.
    “Yes?” Dylan asked, jumping from his seat and rushing over. “How’s Mark? Is he gonna make it?”
    “He lost a lot of blood and has some broken ribs, but we think he’s going to be all right.”
    Dylan let a long, slow breath escape him, and he bent over to rest his hands on his knees, letting the feeling return to his stomach. “Thank God.”
    “We’re going to keep him for a few days, make sure there aren’t any complications, but he should be able to go home by the end of the week.”
    Dylan shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” The doctor nodded then disappeared. Dylan slumped back into his seat, and the exhaustion from the past twelve hours permeated through his body. He rubbed his eyes then made his way over to the coffee pot tabled on the opposite end of the room. The black liquid was still hot, and it piped steam from the Styrofoam cup as he poured.
    “Dylan Turk?”
    Dylan rested the coffee pot back on the burner, and when he turned, individuals dressed in DEA uniforms had their badges out. “Can I help you?”
    “We need to speak with you about your boat, Captain. We have a place set aside where we can chat in private.” The female officer grabbed Dylan by the arm, but he jerked it back.
    “I’m not going anywhere until I have some answers.” Dylan’s voice rose, and he watched the woman’s partner circle him. “Those men killed one of my crew then tried to kill me.”
    The woman glanced around the room, and Dylan became aware that the other people in the waiting room were becoming wary.
    “Mr. Turk, we need to speak with you about this in private.” The agent pulled him in close, lowering her voice, and Dylan started to get the impression that whatever they found on his boat wasn’t drugs. He let them lead him into a small conference room and shut the door. “My name is Agent Cooper. This is my partner, Agent Diaz. We just spoke to one of your crew members. A Billy Costagan.”
    “How is he?” Dylan hadn’t given much thought to how the young man was feeling. The events of what happened were a lot for anyone to take in, let alone some kid on his first trip out at sea.
    “He’s fine,” Cooper answered.