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They were approaching an older man, and the hair on Ben’s neck began to stand on end. He was maybe five-foot-six and had once been very muscular. Age was stealing his physique and replacing it with fat and wrinkles as his muscles receded. He was wearing a combat harness over an off-white sweat-stained wife beater t-shirt, camo army pants, and army boots. He had thick hairy arms.
Ben realized what was setting off his nerves were the man’s eyes. They were cold and contained no humanity at all. They were placed a little too close together, and once they passed over Ben, he snorted in contempt.
“This is Kadir Yavuz. He worked for my uncle since he was a boy and now works for me. He is a specialist and highly skilled at managing our stock for another business interest I have. This may be the most profitable branch of all.” While Kaan was smiling, his eyes matched the soulless gaze of the older man.
He gestured to a large cage connected to the wall.
Ben’s mouth went dry.
Inside were roughly two dozen children, all wearing dirty white t-shirts, some of the smears being dried blood. The children were silent, watching Ben, Kaan, but mostly Kadir. Ben could see the fear in their eyes, the trembling of their small bodies, and his stomach cramped. He walked ahead of the others, closer to the cage, and his eyes focused on the face of a small boy near the front who looked to be Christopher’s age and had similar features, except his skin was a lovely chocolate brown, and his black hair was dense curls, cut close to his scalp.
It was the utter despair in the boy’s eyes that captured Ben. He’d given up.
That could have been Christopher.
Soon, nothing existed in the room except for Ben and the small child.
Ben began to tremble.
-=-
Kaan was delighted he’d finally wiped the smug bravado from the big man’s face.
“You see, Ben, you did nothing. A few children rescued from a nothing like Shakir achieved nothing. That’s what you are, Ben. Nothing.” Kaan felt so much better now that he’d set Ben straight on his place in the grand scheme of things. Watching him tremble in dismay was candy for Kaan’s soul.
He grinned at his security men, who returned the smile.
Kadir’s contempt for Ben was plain on his face as he flicked a smirk at Kaan and moved forward to push Ben away from the cage.
When Ben turned to face them, his eyes were filled with rage, and his teeth were clenched. His left hand shot forward and grabbed Kadir’s harness, yanking him closer as his right fist savagely hammered the center of his face three times before the frozen guards had time to react. The sound of snapping bones and the wet slap of Ben’s fist turning Kadir’s face into hamburger sent a spike of fear through the gathering.
The two guards closest to Ben raised their shock batons only to have them knocked away as Ben swung the lifeless body of Kadir around like a broken toy.
When Ben’s teeth finally unclenched, he released a roar of rage so intense, it sent an icy shock down Kaan’s spine, momentarily freezing him in place. He stumbled back when one of his team yanked his arm.
Kaan watched in horror as Ben smashed Kadir’s skull against the heads of the two unarmed guards until they fell to the floor. Ben then stomped on their throats before leaping after the next two guards who were trying to push Kaan toward the exit.
One turned and jabbed back with his weapon, but it tangled with Kadir’s body uselessly as Ben was still flinging the corpse around by the leather straps. Ben surged forward and slammed his fist against the guard’s temple, knocking him down.
Kaan’s last security man was almost carrying him toward the exit, so he missed seeing Ben breaking the neck of the fallen man, but Kaan saw it and heard the bones pop.
He was stunned by the viciousness of the attack. Ben Shepherd wasn’t supposed to be like this! He’d read everything he could find on the man. Ben was a white knight with an unshakable moral code. He always played by the rules and never told a lie.
Now, in a twist of fate, the scales had been removed from Kaan’s eyes to see Ben was a terrifying monster, savagely ripping through his men!
Kaan finally got his nerve and turned his back on Ben to run away as his last guard turned to fight. When he heard the sharp snap of shock batons firing, Kaan risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Ben standing over the last guard, jamming two of the weapons against the throat of the fallen man, whose eyes were rolling back.
Ben suddenly looked up at Kaan and threw the drained weapons aside. Kaan spun and leaped through the hatch, slamming it shut and activating the lock with his bracelet ID. It gave him priority access to everything on the ship and could lock doors-Shit! Kadir’s ID allowed him through this one. Ben might figure that out!
Kaan raced for the stairwell. He’d send the remaining five men from his security team down to deal with Ben once he reached the safety of his personal level. Even Kadir’s ID couldn’t open those doors.
The irony of an arms dealer refusing to equip his security team with guns was not lost on him. He wished he could, but his ability to elude pursuit on the open seas depended on the hugely expensive optical camouflage panels attached to the exterior surfaces of his yacht. This tech enabled him to be invisible to pursuers. The ship’s hull was also designed to deflect radar, giving them the tiniest profile on the sea.
The ship designer had insisted he take all precautions to avoid damaging the panels or their delicate fiber optic data feeds strung throughout the ship’s interior.
This meant no guns. Allowing his security team to use guns aboard the ship risked a stray shot damaging their sensitive data and power conduits or potentially penetrating or deforming the ship’s hull sufficiently to disable those panels. His answer had been stun batons which to date had proven to be highly effective. His people were experts in their use but against someone able to swing a dead man around as a weapon? Kaan shuddered as the memory of Kadir’s death flashed through his mind again.
Kaan got himself inside level A and set the lock. He rushed over to his desk and contacted his security team. “Neval! I need you to get down to level E. Ben has killed the others and Kadir. I’ve locked him in the main hold. He should still be inside. Contact me when you are ready, and I’ll open it from here.”
“Are we authorized to kill?” the man’s harsh voice said through the speaker.
“Yes. Kill him but be careful. He killed the others in less than a minute,” Kaan gasped.
“Consider him already dead. My blades will drink his blood!” The line went dead.
He dropped into his chair and started punching buttons to pull up the camera for the main hold. All he saw was static. Ben disabled the camera. Cunning as well as savage. Another shiver went down his spine.
Kaan suddenly recalled a childhood memory of Kadir. The man taught him so much, and now he was dead. It made no sense!
Bringing Ben on board had been a big mistake. He stood up and walked into his bedroom. Behind a portrait of his uncle was a wall safe. He punched in the code and pulled the door open to see his SAR 9 handgun. He loaded a clip into it and tucked it into his belt. This was a last resort weapon he would use when he couldn’t miss hitting the big man.
He needed to speak to the captain.
He was climbing the stairs when the lights went out. The emergency lights came on, and Kaan rushed up the remaining steps to reach the bridge.
“What’s happened?” Kaan demanded, and the crew was startled by his sudden shout. The captain stared at him with wide eyes, then he looked across the bridge controls before looking back to Kaan.
“The ship has lost power to most of its systems. The comm panel seems to be the only one left active. We’ve lost control of the ship and are no longer moving. The camo panels are also no longer active,” he reported.
“Send someone downstairs to investigate!” Kaan snapped.
The captain opened his mouth silently in surprise, then his expression darkened. “What’s happening, sir?”
Kaan heard the disrespect in the officer’s voice and glared at the sudden belligerence. Perhaps it was time to find a new captain.
“My security team is currently containing the source of the issue. Send someone downstairs to investigate the loss of power. Now,” Kaan said, locking eyes with the captain.
“Marco,” the captain called out.
Their comm officer looked at his captain with a worried expression, then quickly moved to the stairs.
With a final glare at the crew, Kaan moved to the rear of the bridge and stared out the angled windows toward the stern.
Somewhere out there was the largest predator Kaan had ever tried to elude.
His ship’s state-of-the-art protective measures were disabled, and even his ability to flee was crippled.
Why hadn’t Neval reported back?
-=-
Ben panted as he straddled the corpse of a brute who favored blades over shock batons. He had a few new shallow cuts that would likely become scars, but sparring with Liliya and Evelyn helped him turn his opponent’s blades against him. After slowly forcing the weapons deep into the man’s chest, Ben watched the hate in those eyes turn to fear, desperation, and finally despair as life left them. That would be a memory to haunt Ben’s dreams in days to come.
He stood in the dim red emergency lighting and took one more look at the electrical control panel he’d found in the engine room. He was done here.
After Kaan locked him in the hold, Ben’s rage no longer had a focus, and his rational mind returned to retake control. He found himself trembling and panting over the bodies of the five men he’d just killed.
He heard the whimpering of the children, and his resolve hardened. While he wanted to release them now, they were actually safer where they were.