Excerpt
Daniel could see the luminous hands of his watch--almost on the hour. Emilio and Vicente were expert at keeping the boat stable in the worsening sea, the rest of them holding to the gunnels. He’d been signaling out to sea every sixty seconds, as close as he could guess, and again removed the flashlight from where he’d tucked it in his life vest. This time he left the light on longer, waving it right to left.
“I saw something reflected by the light!” Vicente shouted.
“I did too. I think it’s the sub’s periscope!” Emilio said.
They began to paddle hard to the east.
They’d gone a short distance when a blinding light caught and held them for an instant. Then, it was gone, but now they could hear the sound of an engine revving to high speed.
Daniel thought first of their charge. “Major! Over the side!”
“What?”
“He’s right! You have to hide!” Riza shrilled.
They literally picked the man up and dumped him in the sea.
Now, twin spotlights came on, and stayed on, bearing down from high above.
“Don’t resist. They have us!” Emilio called.
Hoping to conceal Scott’s bobbing head in the waves, Daniel stood up, the flashlight still in his hand. He didn’t see the muzzle flash in the glare of the spotlights, but the bullet felt like a sledge hammer, as it knocked him backwards into the boiling sea.