SEALs of Honor: Troy, Page 4

  Would somebody do that just to avoid a rape charge? Mind you, anybody who was up for rape wasn’t too worried about anybody else’s feelings or actions. It was all about the violence of the sex act or for the sense of power. Bullies of the worst sort. So, in a situation like this? Then, hell yeah, the criminals were protecting themselves.

  As Troy and Axel walked through the rig, it was sobering to see that the entire side of the station listed to one side. The anchors in some of the steel had been jolted apart, making walking treacherous on this damaged side.

  Axel grabbed one of Troy’s shoulders to get his attention. The winds had picked up, splashing sea spray over them. Waves pounded up against the steel girders of the rig. Troy twisted around to look and saw his partner pointing. On the side of the drilling rig itself were signs of buckling from the inside. He didn’t understand what that was all about.

  Axel bent forward and yelled, “Looks like the C-4 went inside the casing.”

  “The housing around the anchors?”

  He nodded. “Part of the support structures. Just enough to cause some damage.”

  “But this here,” Troy yelled back, motioning at the whole area where the walkways were damaged, “was a separate blow.”

  Axel nodded, his face grim. “This was definitely sabotage,” he hollered. “How anybody could say it isn’t is beyond me.”

  “And that’s another consideration,” Troy called out. “Why would anybody try to make this look like anything other than what it was?”

  “It’s a question of who they’ll blame.” After taking a good look and managing to get as many photos as they could, they made their way back inside.

  As soon as the door shut, the pounding from their eardrums came to a complete stop. Troy took several deep breaths, letting his ears adapt to the relative silence of being inside again. “Pretty ugly out there,” he commented. He opened his coat, shaking off some of the ocean spray.

  “Yeah,” Axel said. “I want to do a full search down here.”

  “What are we looking for?” he asked. “Do we care about the cameras?”

  Axel hesitated at that. He looked down at him and asked, “Can you shut them off?”

  “Yeah, I can.” He pulled out his phone and accessed the system. As soon as he got into the spot he wanted, he immediately shut them down. “Okay,” he said, “we’ve got about eight minutes before the emergency override kicks it back up again.”

  “Let’s go.”

  They quickly raced through the lower section but found absolutely nothing to see. Rooms for equipment, yes. Rooms for storage of food and parts and basic medical supplies, yes. And a whole lot of industrial storage rooms, but not a whole lot else. And yet no signs of damage here or any equipment here that might have led to some damage like this.

  At that point Troy said, “Okay, the cameras are back on.”

  “Let’s grab a coffee,” Axel said, “and then check the other side at this level.”

  Making their way back to the dining area, Denny still muttered over his stoves. He shot Troy and Axel an absentminded look and then glared when he realized who they were.

  “Just after a hot coffee,” Troy said. “We made the mistake of venturing outside.”

  “That’s your fault,” Denny said.

  They grabbed coffee and immediately disappeared.

  “Friendly sort, isn’t he?” Axel said.

  “Not very often, I don’t think,” he said. “Typical. Nobody works on these rigs if they have a preference to work anywhere else.” And that was so true about a lot of it. But they paid well, so guys were usually here for the short term not the long term. Except for … “So what’s the story on Chucky and Winslow?”

  Axel shrugged.

  “Probably two bros who never could make it in the real world,” Troy said, having seen guys like that before too. They didn’t fit the norms; they didn’t deal with the modern digital world. This place here had completely stepped out of whatever the universe was like around the big cities. Those two old-timers would be stuck here until they died.

  “I guess,” Axel nodded. As they headed to the bottom level to search the other half, he whispered, “We’ll need the cameras off.”

  As they stepped forward, one of the regular guys stepped out of a hallway and glared at them. “What are you two doing down here?”

  “Any reason we can’t be here?” Troy asked.

  “It’s off-limits.”

  “We’re repair crew too,” Axel said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I don’t give a shit who you are,” the guy said.

  The name embroidered on his shirt pocket read Phil. This was the one pressuring Berkley. The one she called Idiot. “So, what is it that you’re hiding?” Troy asked cautiously.

  “I ain’t hiding nothing,” he said, as he turned and spat on the ground, “but you’re not fucking coming in here.”

  “Actually we are,” Troy said. “So, it’s the easy way or the hard way. You choose.”

  At that, Phil’s eyes lit with a hot fire. Just a stage short of madness. But it was better than the dead look that Berkley had described so well.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a man behind Phil.

  Daniel stood there, leaning against the wall, coffee in his hand.

  “Finished your cinnamon bun, huh?” Troy asked.

  Daniel sent him a sour look.

  But Phil spun to look at Daniel and said, “What the hell? Did you eat a cinnamon bun? I was up there, and Denny wouldn’t let me have one.”

  “I got it before he took them away,” Daniel said.

  Swearing fluently, Phil stared at Daniel and then disappeared.

  “Interesting character,” Troy said.

  “You get used to him after a while but don’t rile him. Something’s wrong with him on the inside.”

  “Yeah? What was your first inkling?” Axel asked. At that, Troy cracked a bit of a smile.

  “He might not seem like much,” Daniel said, “but he does his job.”

  “Does he though?” Troy asked.

  “Yeah, he does,” Daniel said, “and nobody is supposed to be down here.”

  “Why is that?” Axel said.

  “It’s off-limits. When there’s no crew, we keep this area closed.”

  “And yet you’re here, and Phil’s here,” Axel said, once again in that same mild tone.

  “Maybe,” Daniel said, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not the way it’s done. If you want to get along, follow the rules,” he said, “and don’t start by being one of those guys who says, Rules are for fools.”

  “It’s not like we’re causing any trouble,” Axel said. “Just getting the lay of the land. Seeing the damage, so repairs can be done.”

  “Maybe so,” Daniel said, straightening up, “but go find the lay of some other land to look at.”

  “Will do,” Troy said, turning around to leave. “It’ll be interesting to see if the company guys want to come look at this place.” He heard the strangled sound coming from Daniel’s throat and pivoted toward him. “Unless you’re hiding something too,” he said, in a smooth tone.

  Daniel narrowed his gaze at him. “You look like you’re nothing but fat-ass trouble,” he said, his face turning a florid red.

  “Can’t say I’ve ever liked being told what I can and cannot do,” Troy said. “So I suggest you get out of my face.”

  With that, Daniel went for Troy. One second before it had gone completely quiet, and, in the next, Daniel’s hands reached for Troy’s throat. Except Troy no longer stood there. He had stepped to the side and tripped Daniel and he went down.

  As soon as he hit the ground, Daniel let out a weird sound.

  Axel picked him up and, as if he were a little kid, dusted him off and said, “Looks like you tripped there, bud.”

  Daniel stumbled back several feet and glared at the two men with hate in his eyes; then he turned and disappeared.

  “Interesting,” Axel said. “Y
ou know how to make friends, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Troy said, with a smile. “I’m really good at that.” At another odd sound, he turned to see Berkley standing there. “You do get around,” he said.

  “You mean, you do,” she said. “I’ve never seen Daniel move so fast.”

  “Well, he and Phil both told us that we couldn’t come into this area,” Axel said. “Do you know why?”

  “It’s always been an off-limits area,” she said. “I’ve never been allowed in there either.”

  “I suggest we take a look then,” Troy said. When he turned, they immediately headed into the area they supposedly weren’t allowed access to.

  “Life raft, life preservers, emergency vehicles, emergency kits,” Berkley noted. “So why would nobody be allowed in here?”

  “Maybe to avoid anybody tampering,” Axel suggested.

  Berkley shot him a hard look. “Then you’d think that one of the first things they would be doing is checking down here.”

  “Not Phil. Maybe that’s what Daniel was doing,” Troy said. “Just because he seems and comes off like he’s guilty and an asshole, like Phil is, doesn’t mean Daniel is one. Maybe he was looking to see if his brother was still alive out there.”

  “It’s possible,” she said. “Let’s check the inventory.” She brought up a tablet in her hand. She clicked away for a minute. “According to the database there should be four of those emergency submersible life rafts. The ones that can handle the ocean conditions here. Are there?”

  It didn’t take Axel but five minutes to confirm that.

  “Life jackets?”

  “How many crew on board normally?”

  “All staff and crew, 180 at a time,” she said.

  “So, at least two hundred life jackets, you’d think.” Axel walked up and down, checking. “I’d say that they’re all here. Who knows what their stocking level is, but at least 180 are here.”

  “Also some extra oxygen tanks for the medical facilities.” She walked forward and opened a door. “Right, this is where the medical clinic is.” She frowned. “I wonder why Daniel doesn’t want anybody in here.”

  Troy stepped inside and looked around. His heart slammed against his chest. “Probably because two body bags are in here on the floor. And they are full.”

  Axel stepped in to confirm and said, “Body bags. So they’re probably from the accident itself.” He looked at her. “Why has nobody come to collect them?”

  She looked at them in surprise. “I had no idea they were even here.”

  “Does the company not know?” Axel asked. “I understood no fatalities were declared, but four remain missing.”

  “Looks like two missing and two fatalities. Or potentially not even two missing,” Troy said, nodding toward the very large cooler in front of them. “If that’s a temporary morgue, I suggest we check it out.”

  Axel was already there. “It’s got a lock,” he said.

  “I’ll take care of that in two seconds,” Troy said, and he had it open almost that fast. From behind him, he heard Berkley sucking in her breath. He looked at her, smiled, and said, “It’s all right. Standard skills in this line of work.”

  She nodded once and said, “Great. Now open up that thing.”

  He opened it, and they all stood there, stunned.

  Chapter 4

  “Six more bodies?” Berkley said softly. “Plus the first two we found?”

  “Exactly, so what the hell?” Troy asked. “How come we have eight dead bodies, yet we were told only four were missing?”

  She walked over to the original two body bags on the floor, took a deep breath, and slowly zipped open the top of one of the body bags.

  “This is Daniel’s brother,” she said. “This is Lionel.” She took a picture of his face, then closed it up, and walked over to the next one.

  She took a photo of his face. “Why are they hiding the fact that they have eight dead bodies? Or does no one know because the communication here is such a mess? Or do we have eight fatalities and four missing?”

  “Because they most likely didn’t die in the same accident,” Troy said quietly. “It’s starting to sound like a whole lot more is going on here, and none of it makes any sense.”

  “I hear you,” she said. “I hate to ask, but can we pull these bodies out of the cooler so that I can take photos and try to confirm ID?”

  One by one they pulled out the trays, until she had photos of all six men’s faces. She looked at the bodies inside the cooler, then at the two body bags on the floor, and turned to Troy and Axel. “Any way we can combine two to a shelf, so we can get these two guys off the floor and in there too?”

  Axel nodded. “Yeah, these two are pretty small.” They quickly shuffled bodies. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed to close that drawer with two inside, and then he reached for the next drawer.

  As he did so, Troy stopped, dropped to the floor, opened one of the body bags then the other. “Who are these two guys?”

  “That’s Charlie, I think,” she said. “The other is Lionel. Why?”

  Troy looked over at Axel and said, “Check for a pulse.”

  Axel frowned but knelt over Charlie, placed two fingers at his neck, then shook his head. He repeated the actions on Lionel and immediately looked back at Troy. “There’s no pulse, but his body is warm.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked. “Of course it’s warm. It isn’t in the cooler with the others.”

  “No. Warm, as in, he hasn’t been dead very long.” He slowly straightened, looked at her, and said, “This guy died today. He didn’t die two days ago in the accident. He died today.” On that note, he turned and looked down at the body bag that belonged to Daniel’s brother and slowly reopened it.

  “What about him?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  Axel looked at her and asked, “Is he special to you?”

  “No,” she whispered. “Not necessarily. But he was the gentlest of the group.”

  Axel reached over, checked him, and said, “Without any equipment, I can’t be real specific,” he said. “But I can tell you that he didn’t die two days ago because he is still warm now too.”

  “And what we need to know is,” Troy said quietly, “how did they die.”

  She stepped back, her hand going to her mouth as she stared down at Lionel. “There was a confrontation a week or so ago,” she said. “I wasn’t here, but it happened just before I arrived. They found out that Lionel was gay.”

  “Oh, shit,” Troy said, shaking his head. He stared down at Lionel and saw a young man, clean-shaven, with an almost feminine look about him. “That may not have gone over so well here.”

  “There was no may not about it,” she said. “A lot of people really hassled him.”

  “Not very progressive here, is it?” Troy said.

  “No, and it goes right along with the rape climate,” she said. “The men are the men—or are supposed to be—and nobody else counts.”

  “So we have what? Another motive?” Axel asked in disbelief.

  “But that outing happened several days ago,” she said, wide-eyed, as she looked at them. “If these two men died today, that means they died before you guys arrived. So I was here.”

  “Yes,” Troy said, “and what happened this morning?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “I slept like a log. I wasn’t expecting to sleep, but I did.”

  “Did you have anything with the guys last night?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Hot chocolate, coffee, whiskey?”

  “Yeah. We had rum. I just had the one though. Still, it seemed to have done the trick.”

  “Yeah. So where is the glass? Do you happen to have it?” Troy asked, his tone neutral.

  She stared at him suspiciously. “I don’t have it anymore. It’s likely gone through the dishwasher as well, since I brought it to Denny this morning.”

  “Too bad.”

 
She glared at him, but he could see fear taking root within her. “Why?”

  “Because,” he said, as if that was an answer.

  She looked at Axel, and he just stared back at her with that same patient look he always had, but now something indomitable had been added. She would do whatever they asked in order to stay safe. She groaned. “Are you done down here?”

  “We can’t fit this other body in,” they said, “but he needs to go somewhere.”

  She nodded. “Especially since it’s Lionel,” she said. And then she stopped, looked at them, and said, “Daniel was here, right?”

  They both nodded. “So does he know his brother is here?”

  “He told me earlier that his brother was missing,” Troy said, “so I’m not sure.”

  “Interesting,” she muttered. “What are the chances the killer or killers were planning on deep-sixing the bodies?”

  At that, Troy stopped, nodded at Axel, and said, “You know what? That’s not a bad idea. They could easily get them out of here that way, and nobody would know.”

  “But there are eight bodies. That’s a lot to dispose of.”

  “You think?” he said. “Looks like all we’re getting so far is lies. But I can tell you that Lionel and Charlie didn’t die in that explosion.”

  “We need to keep their bodies for the sake of that alone,” Axel said, looking around, as if wondering what the options were. He turned toward her. “What does the cook have, four freezers upstairs?”

  “Some freezer space is down here too, I heard,” she said. “Let’s take a look.”

  They headed over to the side and, on the back side of where the cooler was, sure enough, was a meat freezer. They came back, picked up Lionel, still in his body bag, and moved him into the freezer.

  “He’ll freeze solid, won’t he?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “He will. But he’s dead, and nothing we can do for him now. But it would be nice if we can keep him for the lab and get him home with the helicopter today.”