Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

pretty boat, it could be called anything,” Mia said, coming closer.
He couldn’t yet see her, but he could smell her.  “You smell like the wheat fields after the rain,” Mason said.  “Did you parachute in?”
“Maybe.”
“How many are here?” he asked.
“Four. Five, if you include Murphy.  Out, Murph,” Mia ordered.  “I know you hate boats, but it’s the best I can do right now.”
Mason felt a crisp wind move by him.  He heard a fluttering of feathers, and then Mia walked into the light.  She was wearing all black - he suspected Kevlar.  She had on metallic boots that she had stretched black knee-high slipper socks over.  Mason guessed it was to protect the deck of the ship or to give her a soundless landing.
“Looks like you have cold feet, girly girl.”
Mia was pleased that Mason had gotten his attitude back.  He was an unknown commodity when he was under fire.  Mia would rather have him back to his own smart-alecky self that she was used to dealing with.
“Damn, did I hear Burt say Ted?”
“Yes.”
“Patrick is going to be pissed.  Ted can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“He can when it counts,” Mia argued.  “I need him here.”
“Why are you here?”
“Trying to stop you three from unleashing hell on earth.”  Mia extinguished the other two flashlights and led her cousin away from the edge of the boat.  “Why is she walking around in her nightclothes?” Mia asked.
“It wasn’t for my enjoyment, I assure you.  Don’t be getting all jelly on me.”
“Asshole,” Mia said, trying not to smile.  She gently led Sabine to a cushioned lounge chair and settled her down.  “She’s probably still under Komal’s control.”
“Who the hell is Komal, and again, I ask, why are you here?”
“Excuse me a moment,” Mia said, touching her ear.  “Ted says the ship isn’t bugged, but Jake says there are eyes on us from 500 yards to the west.  Do you think they have a parabolic dish?” She stopped and listened to the answer.  “K.  Sorry. Yes, I do read too many spy novels.”  Mia took Mason’s hands and pulled him deeper into the shadows.
“I’m beginning to feel a bit uneasy, Mia,” Mason said.
“Burt or Ted will update you and your brother on who, why, and where, but I need to ask you, where are Kevin and Fergus?  I don’t sense them here.”
“They wanted to stay on the island.  Kevin gets seasick.”
“Shit.”
“You sure cuss a lot when you’re not around the little ones.”
“Shut up.  Where on the island do you think they are?”
“The low cave behind the waterfall.  We found a piece of a French uniform there.”
“Bait,” Mia said to herself and continued her one-sided conversation, “Fergus is wily.  He’ll keep Kevin out of trouble.  We’re going to extract Sabine now before she can be used as a vessel.  I was hoping the ghosts could travel with her, but we’ll have to improvise.”
“You’re going to have to tell me what’s going on,” Mason insisted.
“You were moments away from being part of the biggest jailbreak in the history of the world.  You and your idiot brother were going to give the demon-with-no-name a way of exiting the island of Lucifer’s Lip.”
“How?”
“By way of Sabine.  She’s a very powerful vessel.  She can open herself up and carry entities over water, more importantly, over saltwater.”
“Do you think this was all planned?”
“No.  I think it got lucky.  There was no way for it to know you three were coming here or that you were going to come ashore.  Although, I’m sure it read your intent before you disembarked.  It planted a clue to draw you into the caves.  Fortunately, Sabine felt something was wrong and alerted me.  She made me call Angelo, and that set me off on a mission to find out what this island is.  Long story short, there are more people headed here.  We have to extract Sabine and keep the Feds from stepping foot on that island or plan C is going into effect.”
“I haven’t heard anything about plan A or B, and now you’re talking plan C.  Girly girl, you’re worrying me.”
“I need to go down and make sure Nicholai is fed and rested before he leaves with Sabine.  He has to leave before first light.  I’ll leave Murphy up here with you,” Mia said and left.
“What’s a Nicholai?” Mason asked.
Murphy, who was watching Sabine sleep, said, “A flying fortress.  Big wings and an ego to match.  Don’t be smarting off to him, or you’ll find yourself picking your teeth out of your eyebrows.”
“Ouch.  So, you guys didn’t parachute in?”
“No, we were flown.”
“Did this guy fly all of you here? He must be ginormous.”
“No,” Murphy said but didn’t elaborate.
Mason knew that Murphy sometimes traveled inside of Mia, so he just had to account for two more people’s transportation.
Mia climbed up the ladder and dropped a pile of clothes on top of Sabine’s sleeping form.  “I think Komal is holding on to her to make sure the demon can’t hitch a ride.  How about one of you gentlemen helping me dress her?”
“Not it,” Murphy said, getting up and disappearing.
“You know I can’t see you, Murphy, but when I do, I’m punching you in the mouth,” Mason said, picking up some underthings and tossing them to Mia.  “You do the under, I’ll do the over.”
Mia snickered.  “Coward.”
Patrick woke to a hand shaking his shoulder.  “Mason, what’s wrong?”
“Not Mason, and plenty is wrong,” Burt Hicks said, staring down at him.
“Jesus, Mary, Joseph, how did you get here?” Patrick asked.  “Sabine, she shouldn’t have called you.  The ghosts here we can handle.”
“It’s not because of the ghosts that we’re here.  We’ve come to save your butt.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Evidently, if you took more time researching, you would