The Project 05 - The Tesla Secret

looking for them. They'd be in the middle of an international shit storm. The world saw Foxworth as a rich and successful businessman, a philanthropist, a man to be emulated and admired. The world had no idea who he was behind the public mask.
    Foxworth's villa appeared ahead on their left. Lamont throttled down and stayed in the middle of the river. The engines made low burbling noises. Nick watched the house though night vision lenses as they idled past.
    "One man on the garden terrace, smoking a cigarette. One headed topside on the steps coming up from the pier. His weapon is slung and he's looking at his watch. Bored."
    Then they were past and around a long bend in the river. Lamont continued up river for a short distance, then throttled down and brought the boat around. The engines idled. They drifted with the sluggish current downstream, toward the villa.
    "All right. We get around the end of the pier and up to the boathouse. Ronnie, someone spots us, be ready to take him out."
    Ronnie nodded.
    "Let's do it."
    Lamont touched the throttle. They came back down around the bend. The promontory and their target lay ahead. Most of the villa was dark. Dim lights showed behind tall French windows on the ground floor. The courtyard by the main gate was lit. The boathouse was shrouded in darkness.
    "Coming down the steps," Korov said in a low voice.
    A single guard started down the long flight of stairs from the villa to the pier. Ronnie had his MP-5 up against his cheek, tracking the unsuspecting man through the night scope. The gun was suppressed, but a silenced weapon wasn't all that silent. If he fired, the noise could be enough to alert others. Better if they didn't have to shoot. Lamont applied just enough power to keep headway and guided the boat toward the landing.
    Nick watched the guard. Once we reach the end we'll be hidden. Unless he comes to the edge and looks down.
    Lamont killed the engines. The boat glided silently into the dark channel of water leading to the closed boathouse gates. Momentum carried them forward. Lamont cut the helm over. They turned sideways and bumped up against the gates with a soft, scraping sound. Korov reached for the steel bars and held the boat steady. They waited.
    The guard's footsteps sounded on the landing above and stopped. A sudden stream of liquid splashed down into the water, ten yards from where they waited. They heard the man sigh, the sound of a zipper. The footsteps started again and receded.
    Nick felt a headache beginning. He unclenched tight fingers from his MP-5.
    The gates were made of stainless steel and opened in the middle. They didn't move when Nick pushed against them. They weren't chained or locked. There had to be a controlling mechanism somewhere inside. Like a garage door, operated by a remote when coming in from the river.
    Lamont stripped down to his shorts, rinsed out a pair of goggles and put them on. He lowered himself over the side, took a deep breath, another, then submerged into the black-green water.

CHAPTER FORTY- SIX

    Lamont kicked downward until he found the bottom of the gate. He swam under it and came up on the other side.
    "You look like a drowned rat," Nick said.
    "Called camouflage."
    Nick handed him a flashlight through the bars.
    "Find that control."
    "Aye, aye, Cap'n."
    The boathouse was long and high, a cavern of moldering brick and moss-covered stone. A wide stone landing ran along one side. White boat fenders hung down at regular intervals. Steps cut into the landing led down to the water and disappeared below the surface. A cabin cruiser was docked at the far end. Polished brass gleamed in the light from the flash.
    Lamont swam to the steps and climbed up on the platform. A switch box was mounted on the wall. Next to the box, a narrow flight of steps led to the villa above. His feet left wet prints on the rough stone as he walked to the box. It contained two switches labeled in Italian, one marked LAMPADAS, the other PORTA. Lights and gate.
    Lamont flicked the PORTA switch down and the two sides of the gate swung inward. He went along the platform to the open gates, caught a rope from Nick and pulled the boat stern first into the cavern and up against the bumpers. The others scrambled onto the platform. Lamont dressed and picked up his MP-5. They pulled black balaclavas over their heads.
    Nick said, "Korov, you stick close to me."
    "What if Foxworth is not here?"
    "He's here. I can feel it."
    Nick's ear tingled, his sixth sense,