The sound of a thump caught his attention and he looked up as Barfoot staggered through the doorway and raised a speargun to take aim at his chest.

Jack immediately dived through the open doorway leading to the bow and ran around to face the wheelhouse through the glass windows.

Inside, Barfoot staggered forward, still aiming the speargun through the glass as Jack stepped back and forth sideways to make a difficult shot.

Barfoot scowled at him. He only had one shot and did not want to risk wasting it. He had the option of going out on the deck to pursue Jack, but knew in his condition that Jack could then try to run into the wheelhouse through the opposite door.

“Have it your way!” shouted Barfoot, before taking a seat at the helm. He placed the speargun on the dash in front of him and put the engine in gear.

“What are you doing?” asked Jack. “Let me take you to a hospital. There’s a bigger island just north of us, I’m sure they’ll have something.”

“I’m not going to any hospital in Thailand! Hang on for a fast ride, boy. We’re going back to Malaysia.”

“That’s two hours away! You’ll never make it!”

“I’ll tell you something,” snorted Barfoot. “Getting old is not for sissies!”

Moments later, the Malaysian Princess was cutting through the waves at full throttle.

Jack took Pike’s cellphone out of his pocket and Barfoot immediately picked up the speargun.

“Try to use that,” yelled Barfoot, “and I will come out there and put a spear through your gut!”

Jack stood for a moment, staring at Barfoot.

“It’s your call,” said Barfoot. “Do you want to chance it?”

“I’ll make the call after you’re dead,” replied Jack, putting the phone back in his pocket.

After a few minutes, Barfoot leered at Jack through the window and shouted, “So tell me, who the hell are you?”

“I’m a Mountie.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“Well I’ll be goddamned. Didn’t they teach you not to turn your back on a prisoner?” chuckled Barfoot.

“I thought you had passed out.”

“Well, I’ll tell you something. Youth, vitality, and strength are no match for old age, wisdom, and treachery,” cackled Barfoot.

“Don’t preach to me about life. You’re a psychopath. You know nothing about the essence of being human. You pretended to care about people and family, but that was all an act.”

“Damned good act, if you ask me. I sure as hell sucked you in, didn’t I?”

“That you did. I took you as being a lonely old guy.”

“Take a look at this yacht you’re on! Pretty good for a lonely old guy!”

“So what? To bad you didn’t believe in what you preach about family values. Tonight you’ll die a lonely old man on a boat. Some life that is.”

“Yeah? Well I don’t need a nobody like you to tell —”

Barfoot quit talking as Jack backed up to the bow of the boat out of earshot and yawned before looking at his watch, then sitting down and taking off his remaining sock. He tied it around the gash in his own shin, more for something to do, as the bleeding had slowed and only oozed when he moved. When he was finished, he folded his arms across his chest and stared blandly at Barfoot.

Forty-five minutes later, Barfoot was still slumped over the wheel, but he had not moved for over twenty minutes.

Jack stood up and walked to the wheelhouse. When he reached the doorway, he saw Barfoot’s hand inch toward the speargun, so he returned to the bow.

Another forty-five minutes passed and the lights of the island of Langkawi were clearly visible when the Malaysian Princess hit a large swell and Barfoot fell from sight.

Jack crept up to the wheelhouse and jumped inside and grabbed the speargun. He had no reason to hurry. Barfoot was dead, laying on the floor in his own pool of blood.

Jack’s first phone call was to Randy, telling him briefly what had happened and asking him to meet him back at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in half an hour.

When Jack glanced at his watch, he realized that it was only eight o’clock in the morning in Vancouver and he decided to call home.

“I love you, Natasha Taggart!” Jack yelled.

Natasha grinned. It was good to hear his voice and know that all was well. “I presume it’s clear to talk,” she said.

“You betcha!”

“Then, I love you too, Jack Taggart. How are you?”

“Great.”

“Good,” replied Natasha. “Where are you?”

“On a yacht approaching an island in Malaysia called Langkawi.”

“On a yacht? Really?”

“Yes, I’m acting captain at the moment. I went out on a cruise with the bad guys today and did some fishing and then went for a swim. After that, we had a bit of a beach party and now I’m heading back to Langkawi.”

“Must be nice,” replied Natasha. “I’m at home cleaning up breakfast dishes.”

“I think it’s one of those things that sounds nicer than it really is.”

“Yeah, I bet,” replied Natasha, sounding skeptical.

“The good news is that the investigation is basically wrapped up.” Jack glanced at Barfoot’s naked body. “Well, one more guy to wrap up, but it’s pretty much finished.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Did it go okay?”

“I think so. I should be home in a couple of days.”

“Good. Speaking of bad guys, Laura came and got the boys yesterday morning for that thing you talked about before you left. She brought them back in the afternoon, but I don’t know if she will need them again or not. She hasn’t called.”

“She called me late last night, your time. It’s over. Put them on and I’ll tell them.”

“Hang on, I’ll hold the phone between the two of them.”

Jack waited a moment, before hearing Mikey say in a serious voice, “Hello. This is Michael speaking.”

This was followed by Steve saying, “Hello, this is Steven speaking.”

“We’re clear to talk, guys.”

“Daddy!” exclaimed Mike. “Did Mommy tell you? Steve and I went with Mrs. Secord yesterday to work undercover.”

“I heard,” replied Jack, sounding excited.

“I lent Miss Secord my Batman picture like you told me,” said Mike.

“And I let her have some of my toys,” said Steve.

“That’s good. Tell me what happened.”

“She taked us to see another lady,” said Steve. “We pretended this other lady is our mommy.”

“That lady’s name is Miss McCormick.”

“Yes,” replied Steve. “Miss McCornynut is a police lady like Mrs. Secord.”

“That’s right.”

“But she’s not my real mommy. I only pretend I love her.” Jack heard Steve turn away from the phone and say, “But I love my real mommy. I was only pretendin’.”

“What happened when you guys were with Miss McCormick?” asked Jack.

“We went to a park to play where a bad guy was,” said Mike. “Then we went to Miss McCormick’s house and the bad guy followed us.”

“Policemen hide in the house, but the bad man stayed outside,” said Steve, sounding disappointed.

“After, Mrs. Secord took us back home,” added Mike, “but Miss McCormick kept my Batman picture.”

“You’ll get your picture and all your toys back real soon.”

“Okay,” they each replied.

“I wanted to tell you that your undercover worked. The bad guy came back to Miss McCormick’s house and the police arrested him.”

“It worked?” squealed Mike.

“It sure did,” replied Jack.

“I help catched a bad guy?” asked Steve.

“You guys sure did. He will go to jail for a very long time. Batman would be really pround of you guys, but not as proud as me.”

“Mommy! We catched the bad guy!” shouted Steve.

“He’s in jail!” added Mike.

Despite standing on a floor slippery with blood, Jack smiled all the way back to the marina.

Chapter Forty-Six

The following Monday, Assistant Commissioner Isaac stood up from his desk and gestured for Inspector Dyck and Staff Sergeant Rose Wood to join him as they all took a seat near the coffee table.