Remi leaned over the railing of the Asteri, watching Dimitris work. “Can’t we just let the Star Catcher drift away?”
“If they find it empty, they’ll still come searching for us. We need to make them think we got away so they leave.”
Nikos, still holding the flashlight for Dimitris, looked over at Sam. “What if I draw them off with the Star Catcher, like you did before?”
“If I thought there was any chance—” His gaze landed on Remi’s suitcases lined up outside the cabin. “You don’t have anything with a hood packed in there, do you?” he asked her.
“No.”
Dimitris looked up as the engine started. “We have a couple of raincoats on board.”
“I’ll get them,” Nikos said.
“Sorry, Remi,” Sam said. “But we’ll need your clothes to stuff into them. Make it look like a couple of people.”
“You don’t think they’ll figure out they’re dummies?”
“I don’t intend to let them get that close. Dimitris, I’ll need you to climb up to the top of the hill. Let me know when they’re on their way. We may not have much time.”
Remi unzipped her largest suitcase, pulling out bulky clothing items. Zoe and Sam kneeled beside her to help stuff them into the yellow raincoats, grabbing whatever was closest.
“Not that,” Remi said, pulling a silk blouse from Sam’s hands.
“If we fail, that shirt will be the last thing you miss.” He finished stuffing the first jacket, then picked up Nikos’s much larger coat, realizing for all the clothes Remi had packed, there might not be enough. He nodded at her carry-on. “That’ll make a good body for Nikos’s coat.”
Remi emptied it, then handed it over to him.
“I think we’re good,” he said, eyeing the stuffed dummies. Grabbing his backpack, he climbed down into the smaller boat, which Dimitris had left idling. “Nikos.”
The older man put both dummies into the larger, empty suitcase and lowered it down to him. Sam positioned the dummies on the seats behind the wheel, then opened his backpack.
Zoe’s eyes widened as he took out the block of C-4. “That’s evidence!”
“Which will do us no good if we’re dead.”
“You’re going to blow up my stuff?” Remi said, looking close to jumping over into the smaller boat.
“If I win the lotto, I’ll buy you new everything.”
“Ha! Do you know what the odds of that are?”
“A heck of a lot better than us surviving if they find us sitting in this cove.” He dug into his pocket, pulling out the remote and the detonator. “Probably a bad time to ask, Nikos. What sort of batteries do you have on board? I need a few triple A’s.”
Nikos held up his flashlight. “Sorry. All I have is this and a spare nine volt for the radio.”
“I’ll take one of those.”
Nikos ran into the cabin, retrieved the radio battery, and tossed it to Sam. He used his knife to cut open the casing, revealing six triple A batteries inside. He took those batteries and inserted them into the remote and detonator.
“They’re coming!” Dimitris shouted.
“Let me know when they’re about a minute out!” Sam lashed the dummies in their seats, then set up the detonator and C-4. When Dimitris’s signal came, he set the detonator, shifted the motor to forward, then grabbed the ladder of the Asteri as he pushed the Star Catcher out toward open sea.
The two stuffed jackets looked like a couple of people sitting at the controls. None too soon. The Omega appeared. It kept pace as the Star Catcher continued out to sea. One of the men aimed an automatic weapon at the boat.
Sam, clinging to the ladder of the Asteri, counted the seconds. The gunman fired, the muzzle blast flashing yellow. Several shots hit the boat, ripping through the air tubes and hitting the dummies. When the smaller decoy came loose, flopping over sideways, Sam pressed the remote. A millisecond later, a blinding explosion rocked the air.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE