By this time all the terrorists forward were handcuffed and had been searched. The agents read off their constitutional rights while three of their number went into the boat to collect their weapons and other evidence. The Prince finally came up the ladder, with a heavy guard. He came to where the terrorists were sitting, now. He looked at them for a minute or so but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to.
“Okay, we have things contained aft. There seems to be four of them. That’s what the crew says,” one of the HRT people said. “They’re below somewhere, and we’ll have to talk them out. It shouldn’t be too hard, and we have all the time in the world.”
“How do we get these characters off?” Sergeant Powers asked.
“We haven’t worked that out yet, but let’s get the civilians off. We’d prefer you did it from here. It might be a little dangerous to use the aft ladder. That means the Marines, too. Thanks for the assist. Captain.”
“I hope we didn’t screw anything up, joining in, I mean.”
The agent shook his head. “You didn’t break any laws that I know of. We got all the evidence we need, too.”
“Okay, then we head back to Annapolis.”
“Fine. There’ll be a team of agents waiting to interview you there. Please thank the boat crew for us.”
“Sar-Major, let’s get the people moving.”
“Okay, Marines, saddle up,” Breckenridge called. Two minutes later everyone was aboard the patrol boat, heading out of the harbor. The rain had finally ended and the sky was clearing, the cooler Canadian air finally breaking the heat wave that had punished the area. The Marines took the opportunity to climb into the boat’s bunks. Chief Znamirowski and her crew handled the driving. Ryan and the rest congregated in the galley and started drinking the coffee that no one had touched to this point.
“Long day,” Jackson said. He checked his watch. “I’m supposed to fly in a few hours. Well, I was, anyway.”
“Looks like we finally won a round,” Captain Peters observed.
“It wasn’t cheap.” Ryan stared into his cup.
“It’s never cheap, sir,” Breckenridge said after a few seconds.
The boat rumbled with increased engine power. Jackson lifted a phone and asked why they were speeding up. He smiled at the answer, but said nothing.
Ryan shook his head to clear it and went topside. Along the way he found a crewman’s pack of cigarettes on a table and stole one. He proceeded out onto the fantail. Baltimore Harbor was already low on the horizon, and the boat was turning south toward Annapolis, chugging along at thirteen knots — about fifteen miles per hour, but on a boat it seemed fast enough. The smoke he blew out made its own trail as he stared aft. Was Breckenridge right? he asked the sky. The answer came in a moment. He got one part right. I’m not cut out to be a murderer. Maybe he was right on the other part, too. I sure hope so . . .
“Tired, Jack?” the Prince asked, standing beside him.
“I ought to be, but I guess I’m still too pumped up.”
“Indeed,” His Highness observed quietly. “I wanted to ask them why. When I went up to look at them, I wanted –”
“Yeah.” Ryan took a last drag and flipped the butt over the side. “You could ask, but I doubt the answer would mean much of anything.”
“Then how are we supposed to solve the problem?”
We did solve my problem. Jack thought. They won’t be coming after my family anymore. But that’s not the answer you want, is it? “I guess maybe it comes down to justice. If people believe in their society, they don’t break its rules. The trick’s making them believe. Hell, we can’t always accomplish that.” Jack turned. “But you try your best, and you don’t quit. Every problem has a solution if you work at it long enough. You have a pretty good system over there. You just have to make it work for everybody, and do it well enough that they believe. It’s not easy, but I think you can do it. Sooner or later, civilization always wins over barbarism.” I just proved that, I think. I hope.
The Prince of Wales looked aft for a moment. “Jack, you’re a good man.”
“So are you, pal. That’s why we’ll win.”
It was a grisly scene, but not one to arouse pity in any of the men who surveyed it. Geoffrey Watkins’ body was quite warm, and his blood was still dripping from the ceiling. After the photographer finished up, a detective took the gun from his hands. The television remained on, and “Good Morning, Britain” continued to run its live report from America. All the terrorists were now in custody. That’s what must have done it, Murray thought.
“Bloody fool,” Owens said. “We didn’t have a scrap of usable evidence.”
“We do now.” A detective held three sheets of paper in his hand. “This is quite a letter. Commander.” He slid the sheets into a plastic envelope.
Sergeant Bob Highland was there, too. He was still learning to walk again, with a leg brace and a cane, and looked down at the body of the man whose information had almost made orphans of his children. Highland didn’t say a word.
“Jimmy, you’ve closed the case,” Murray observed.
“Not the way I would have liked,” Owens replied. “But now I suppose Mr. Watkins is answering to a higher authority.”
The boat arrived in Annapolis forty minutes later. Ryan was surprised when Chief Znamirowski passed the line of moored boats and proceeded straight to Hospital Point. She conned the boat expertly alongside the seawall, where a couple of Marines were waiting. Ryan and everyone but the boat’s crew jumped off.
“All secure,” Sergeant Cummings reported to Breckenridge. “We got a million cops and feds here, Gunny. Everybody’s just fine.”
“Very well, you’re relieved.”
“Doctor Ryan, will you come along with me? You want to hustle, sir,” the young Sergeant said. He led off at a slow trot.
It was well that the pace was an easy one. Ryan’s legs were rubbery with fatigue as the Sergeant led him up the hill and into the old Academy hospital.
“Hold it!” A federal agent took the pistol from Ryan’s belt. “I’ll keep this for you, if that’s okay.”
“Sorry,” Jack said with embarrassment.
“It’s all right. You can go in.” There was no one in sight. Sergeant Cummings motioned for him to follow.
“Where is everybody?”
“Sir, your wife’s in the delivery room at the moment.” Cummings turned to grin at him.
“Nobody told me!” Ryan said in alarm.
“She said not to worry you, sir.” They reached the proper floor. Cummings pointed. “Down there. Don’t toss your cookies, Doc.”
Jack ran down the corridor. A corpsman stopped him and waved Ryan into a dressing room, where Ryan tore off his clothes and got into surgical greens. It took a few minutes. Ryan was clumsy from fatigue. He walked to the waiting room and saw that all his friends were there. Then the corpsman walked him into the delivery room.
“I haven’t done this in a long time,” the doctor was saying.
“It’s been a few years for me, too,” Cathy reproached him. “You’re supposed to inspire confidence in your patient.” Then she started blowing again, fighting off the impulse to push. Jack grabbed her hand.
“Hi, babe.”
“Your timing is pretty good,” the doctor observed.
“Five minutes earlier would have been better. Are you all right?” she asked. As it had been the last time, her face was bathed in sweat, and very tired. And she looked beautiful.
“It’s all over. All over,” he repeated. “I’m fine, how about you?”
“Her water broke two hours ago, and she’d be in a hurry if we weren’t all waiting for you to get back from your boat ride. Otherwise everything looks good,” the doctor answered. He seemed far more nervous than the mother. “Are you ready to push?”
“Yes!”
Cathy squeezed his hand. Her eyes closed and she summoned her strength for the effort. Her breath came out slowly.
“There’s the head. Everything’s fine. One more push and we’re home,” the doctor said. His gloved hands were poised to make the catch.
Jack turned as the rest of the newborn appeared. His position allowed him to tell even before the doctor did. The infant had already started screaming, as a healthy baby should. And that, too. Jack thought, is the sound of freedom.
“Boy,” John Patrick Ryan Sr. told his wife just before he kissed her, “I love you.”
The nearest corpsman assisted the doctor as he clamped off the cord and swaddled the infant in a white blanket to take him away a few feet. The placenta came next with an easy push.
“A little tearing,” the doctor reported. He reached for a painkiller before he started the stitching.