Free Cold Blooded Assassin Book 6: Red Horizon (Nick McCarty Assassin) by Bernard Lee DeLeo Page A

stationary ‘Mother Ship’ that moves only rarely, a skeleton crew of around fifteen would be about right. Maybe crewing with John Harding’s people would be close to the only way we could go on a cruise safely. Even if we hired Issac on a permanent basis, we would need a lot more people. Vetting them to sail with us would be nearly impossible. I could train all of you, but we’d still need Harding’s people too. It’s probably a bad idea.”
    “Don’t discount it yet. I’ll talk to John and see what he thinks,” Nick said. “It would mean an armed assault on the boat against nearly twenty killers. I had planned a full on kill mission. I would mine the ship to blow. After the explosions, we would move in for weapons free destruction until nothing was left. An armed assault to take the ship would mean a bloody battle or my getting on board with some form of toxic gas after everyone is asleep, depending on sentries. I would have to kill them first from long range before going on board with the gas. It would be a tricky mission for one guy.”
    “You and John mined Port Chabahar together,” Johnny said. “The Tempest is a three decker nightmare to assault, especially crewed by killers. I think it’s a bad idea, Muerto.”
    “Did you just insult me, Johnny?”
    That drew laughter from even Rachel. Gus was the first to speak. “When Muerto went on board to end Jason Bidwell and Max Stoddard, he rigged the whole thing by himself, including the interrogations. After that gig, if Muerto says he can do it, he will. If the sentries are roving around the inside of the yacht instead of standing watch, they’ll be tough to spot.”
    “I’ll talk to John. As you pointed out about the crew, we may not have enough able-bodied people to sail a yacht the size of The Tempest. What if we took care of the crew and flew on our own crew of professionals to sail the yacht to ‘Monster Island’. They wouldn’t know what happened to the crew. You could captain your new vessel to the island then, Payaso. I can use CIA people through Paul to make ‘The Tempest’ under a completely different registry. We’ll create a dummy corporation to be the front desk owners of the yacht.”
    “Damn, Muerto… that’s brilliant,” Gus admitted. “Talk to John. We’ll need him on board for this. We’ll need a well-built docking facility. They may already have one built for their own boats. A 240 footer would require a dock far larger than even their ‘Valkyrie’.”
    “No harm in finding out. I’ll call John today before we empty the freezer and go hunting for The Tempest tomorrow. Can you prepare our fish food for tomorrow morning, Cleaner?”
    “Of course, Muerto,” Cala answered. “Johnny will help me. We’ll be going now though. We need some sleep. Although Johnny has only had one coffee, I am designated driver for Payaso and T-Rex too. Let’s go lushes. We must prepare for our cruise.”
    “Don’t you be issuing orders, Nurse Ratchet! Kabong? You need to keep ‘Crabby’ in line. She’s been hanging out with you cartoons too much.”
    “My love,” Johnny said, taking Cala’s hand. “Don’t aggravate the T-Rex. She will take it out on Payaso and he’ll whine all day tomorrow.”
    “You are right. I am so sorry. Please take your time joining us at the humble Groves mobile,” Cala replied, waving at Nick and Rachel. “See you tomorrow, Muerto.”
    “Viper? This is Payaso,” Gus called out on his com unit. “Return to base.”
    “Understood, over,” Jean replied in his ear.
    “They’re on the way back. Nice morning.” Gus handed his com unit to Nick.
    “Yep. It was a good one, Gus. We’ll be a bit busier tomorrow. I’ll let you know later how John feels about our boat plans. Would you like to come along on the cruise, Cousin Itt?”
    “About as much as I’d like to be put in a closed box full of Tarantulas, Gomez.”
    “A simple no would suffice, Cousin Itt,” Nick replied.
    After their friends left,