by Dale Mayer
“I’m not sure,” Jerricho said. “I’d rather do a military base.”
“We can do that too,” Diesel said, and, with that plan set, they set down to work on the details.
“It’ll be even more important to make sure we’re not seen,” Jerricho warned.
They thought about it for a long moment. “We still have to take a chance.”
“Or we hook a ride on a submarine, take a slow boat out,” he said.
Diesel smiled at that. “She might go for it, but I think she’s already biting at the bit to get home.”
“Not that she has a choice,” Jerricho murmured.
“We could pick up some followers, if we end up cutting through the Philippines,” he murmured.
“We could anywhere.”
He shook his head. “Let’s just do it.”
With that agreed, he got up and walked back down to Eva’s room. He knocked on the door, and, when a sleepy voice was heard on the other side, he winced.
She opened the door, stared up at him, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I probably needed to anyway,” she said, smothering a yawn. She pulled the door open wider and motioned for him to come in.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” she said crossly. “I won’t be okay for a long time. It’s hard to have seen Paul killed but now to know about Marge’s cancer death sentence?”
He nodded and said, “And now I’ve got more bad news.”
“What could possibly be more bad news?” she asked with a gasp.
He winced and said, “Come on. Sit down.”
As she sat back down again, she looked at him. “What could possibly be wrong?”
“I hate to say it,” he said, “but it’s more bad news about Marge.”
Chapter 9
Eva watched as Diesel opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Spit it out,” she murmured.
“The plane carrying her, two doctors, and two pilots has crashed.”
She stared at him, as she felt all her insides pulling in, tightening up, and shaking. “Marge was on board?”
“Yes, all five lost their lives this morning,” he said quietly.
She looked at him and then looked down at her trembling hands.
He grasped her hands and tugged her a little bit forward.
She immediately got up and, following his movement, sat down in his lap, where she could bury her face against his neck and chest. She didn’t even realize she was weeping for the longest time, but her sobs rocked her body up and down, as he slowly massaged and stroked her back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
When she finally regained her voice, she sat up slightly, wiped her eyes, and said, “I mean, if it makes her ending easier, then fine,” she said. “But I know she really wanted to go home to Australia. I don’t know if she had family or something there that she was trying to get back to one more time. That’s just so sad.”
He nodded. “And we agree on that.”
She looked at him for a long moment, then she said, “Please tell me this has nothing to do with what was going on in our lives first.” He looked at her steadily, and her heart sank. “You’re not telling me anything to the contrary, are you?” she whispered.
“I can’t,” he said. “Officially it’ll be a freak accident, but, according to the captain, it was quite possibly a rocket launcher.”
“Oh my,” she said, her hand slowly going to her mouth, as she stared at him, wide-eyed. “What chance is there that I’ll never get out of here alive?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, “because we don’t know how widespread this is. The bottom line is, we have a plan, and we’ll head toward the Philippines, lose ourselves in Manila, and catch a flight out.”
“We’re hardly the right coloring.”
“But we’re not that far off,” he said.
Then she nodded. “I didn’t even notice,” she said, reaching out for his now jet-black locks.
“All it does is give us a chance,” he said. “We need every chance we can get.”
“I’ll take anything right now.”
He said, “We might have another option, but it will take a long time. And I’m not exactly sure what we’ll do.”
“Meaning?”
“We could take a submarine back toward US waters.”
“Oh, wow,” she said, staring at him. “But that’ll be weeks, won’t it?”
“Exactly.”
“Yes, okay. Let’s try Manila,” she said. “You’ll look after me, right?”
“I certainly will,” he said. “And, if Manila doesn’t look good, we’ll find another way home.”
“Fine,” she said, staring at him, dry-eyed. “When do we leave?”
“Now,” he said gently.
She looked at him in shock. “As in now now?”
“As in now now,” he replied.
She nodded, glanced around, and said, “Well, I don’t have anything to bring with me, so it’s not like packing’s a problem.” She took a long sharp, deep breath, and said, “Sorry, Marge. That’s not the end I would have wanted for any of us.”
But Eva knew it was all too possible that her future was uncertain too. She didn’t want to put any more pressure on the men because she knew that they were doing the best they could. But she really didn’t want to end up in Marge’s position. “I really hope we make it,” she said, “and it makes me angry that I’m having to ask for somebody’s help to stay safe. This nightmare shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“Another one of the reasons we’re changing course.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll use the washroom, and then we can leave.”
She quickly used the facilities, and then, as he opened the door, she saw Jerricho, waiting for them on the other side. He led her out to the surface of the destroyer, where she was immediately buffeted by strong winds. She looked around for Diesel, who immediately grabbed her arm and tucked her up close. Shielded her with his body, he led them to a helicopter. She was assisted inside, and Diesel sat down beside her, quickly buckling her in. She snuggled up close, loving the security of having him here, knowing she shouldn’t depend on that.
With the high winds, she wasn’t even sure that they should fly. She wanted to ask them if it was safe, but then suddenly they were up in the air. She didn’t understand that, but, as soon as they were skyborne, she realized that a lot of the wind she had felt on deck came from the rotors themselves.
As soon as they were up in the air, she settled down slightly, so she could look at the view. “Do you think any rocket launchers face us right now?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“I hope not,” she said. As it was, they ended up on a huge yacht several miles away. She looked at him. “This isn’t military.”
“No, it’s just a stopping point.”
The yacht quickly approached another craft, where they were put into a speedboat. At that, he lifted a hand in a goodbye wave, and then the three of them took off. Jerricho remained quiet but alert.
She twisted to look back at what could have been a multimillion-dollar superyacht. “Do you know them?”
“We might have touched bases once in a while,” Diesel said, with a smile.
“You guys have friends in strange places.”
“Strange friends in high places, all over the place,” he corrected. “It’s a good way to run a business.”
“Maybe,” she said, “just a little confusing.”
“Only for those of you trying to make sense of it,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Just look after yourself.”
“I’m trying to,” she said, with a little more spirit. “I’m determined to live. Paul and Marge didn’t get a chance, but I refuse to become the third victim.”
“Good,” Diesel said. “I want you to hang on to that thought, even when things get tough
.”
And she realized that, as far as he’s concerned, things would get a lot tougher, and she wasn’t sure she was prepared for it in any way. The speedboat bounced over the waves, even as the clouds moved in above them, and she felt a chill settling in.
Diesel noticed and sat close to her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her up tight against his heavily muscled frame. “I’ll make a windbreak for you, if you sit on this side.”
She quickly changed positions and then noted he sat sideways, and he tucked her up between his legs and then wrapped his arms and legs around her—like being wrapped up in a heating blanket. Almost immediately her shivers settled down. “How come your body heat is so extreme?” she murmured. He laughed, his voice warm and deep against her ear. She leaned into it ever-so-slightly, a smile tickling at her lips, as she heard that voice.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve always been the warm-body type.”
“And I’m always the socks in bed type.”
He burst out laughing. “Not my style,” he said. “I have great circulation.”
“Is that what the problem is?” she complained gently.
“I think so,” he said, with that endearing smile of his.
She nestled in closer, greatly appreciating not only the strength but the heat and the emotional support and the surreal sense of just knowing she wasn’t alone and that these guys were handling it, that they had it under control. And even though she didn’t know what the heck was going on or how to stop this craziness in her world, they did. And that was good enough for her. She was willing to trust them right now, and, as long as they were willing to keep looking after her, she’d take all the help she could get.
As she watched the ship go through wave after wave, she asked, “Should we even be out here?”
“Yes,” he said. “A ton of people won’t be out here, but a lot who are will be racing to avoid the weather. A storm is coming up in the ocean.”
At that, she twisted to look behind him. She saw the dark clouds gathering. Even as she watched that and studied the open water around her, she saw the white plume of other boats racing for shore. “Good timing,” she said. “It really does look like we’re just one of many.”
“Exactly.”
She settled in for the ride. But it did get colder and colder. She sat, numb, waiting for this to end. Finally they pulled up to one of the harbors and coasted along the shoreline, until they got to a spot that they had previously picked out. As they pulled up here, they were let off, and the pilot immediately raised a hand, turned around, and headed back out.
“Should he be going back right now? Is it safe?”
“He knows what he’s doing,” Diesel said. “I think he’ll dock at another place on shore and then head back out, when the storm’s over.”
Feeling better about that, she nodded. “Well, that’s good,” she said. “I don’t want him to get hurt because he had to bring us here.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Diesel said. “They know what they’re doing.”
Since those were the same words he’d used a few minutes ago, she just nodded. Next, she found herself shuffled down the pier toward land, where they climbed up a winding path, past a series of huts, up to a road. A vehicle sat waiting for them. She stared at the vehicle, looked at them, and said, “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Jerricho hopped into the driver’s side, as she slid into the back seat, along with Diesel. She looked at him. “What’s next?”
“Hoping to hit an airport tonight,” he said. “We’re checking availability.”
“You didn’t do that before?”
“We did, but no seats available. We need three.”
“Right. We don’t have to be together though.”
He explained. “But we do need to have three on the same flight.”
She nodded. “It’s all about safety, isn’t it?
“Absolutely,” he said. “Remember. We got this. It’s okay. If three aren’t available today, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“So, in other words, you’re expecting cancellations?”
“That’s what we’re hoping for, yes. There could be all kinds of reasons for not getting a flight,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we have everything locked down.”
She settled in beside him, happy to have him handle the details.
As it was, they pulled up to a small motel. She looked at it and said, “Hardly your terrorist-type hotel.”
“We don’t want one of those,” he said. They parked around back, and she was escorted inside and straight to a room.
“So all you ever do is put out a request on your phone and get instructions back about where to go?”
“Sometimes it’s a little more complicated.”
“Like?”
“Like, when we have no communication at all,” he said.
She winced at that. “I don’t think I’d like that.”
“It’s happened several times to many of us already,” he said. “So we take the communication when we can get it because it makes life easier. But we’re fully prepared to go underground, if we need to.”
She didn’t want to ask what that meant because it sounded horrible. As it was, they were doing what they could do, and she would be okay with that. She walked into the room and counted just two beds. She took the one farthest from the door and threw herself down full length on it.
“Do you want to sleep, or do you want to eat?”
“I want to fly home,” she said, “but, if that’s not an option tonight, food would be good.”
“Food’s on its way,” Jerricho said. He looked over at the two of them. “I’ll step outside and check out the lay of the land.” And, with that, he disappeared.
“What does that mean?” she asked, sitting up and brushing the hair off her face. She still wasn’t used to her newly dyed dark locks, when she caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye. Not that she cared. It just was an unusual sight.
“He’ll check to see if we’re safe,” he said, without pulling any punches.
She winced. “Meaning, we could have been followed?”
“I doubt it, but it’s possible, or somebody has been alerted that we’ve left the country and are looking at all options.”
“Still not a good answer,” she murmured. She reached up and rubbed her face, then looked down at her clothes and sighed. “Any chance of a change of clothes?”
“For morning, yes,” he said, studying her. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea for the flight anyway.”
“Well, jeans and a black T-shirt are pretty universal,” she said, with a laugh.
“But that’s also what they’re likely looking for.”
“Right, so something completely opposite.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve got an answer for that too.”
She walked into the bathroom, desperate for a shower and a refreshing mind shift. So she shed her clothes, hopped in the shower, and closed her eyes, as she stood under the hot relaxing water. If nothing else right now, at this moment in time, she was safe. She was okay and, although everybody else in her world apparently was messed up, she would be just fine. And, if she told herself that often enough, she might believe it.
Diesel sat and waited while she had her shower. In the meantime, he checked in on the Mavericks chat window and asked for information and an update on Marge’s death. The information started to flow, so he sat back and read. No doubt that it had been murder, but the details were still sketchy. They also couldn’t confirm that it was connected to Marge and, therefore, possibly connected to Eva. Or was it connected to any of the other four people on the helicopter or just somebody who was disgruntled and chose a target?
In Diesel’s mind, he figured it was most likely connected to Marge, but that was also just thinking and looking for a boogeyman everywhere. He asked for an update on the Russians.
No update. They haven’t been seen.
He stared out the window and t
hen muttered to himself, “Could mean they’re underground. Could mean they’ve been taken out. Could mean they’ve booked it and are safely home.”
There was really no way to know. Outside of keeping track of his own mission, he couldn’t do a whole lot. He had the photos of the two guards he had killed in the lab, both were Chinese though and could be tough to track. The Russian team that had been there would likely be easier. Shane had facial recognition on some of the Russians. On a whim, Diesel texted, Can you run the Russians through the facial-recognition system in Manila?
Sure, but not a whole lot of tech here.
I’ve got us booked on the last flight out tonight. We’ll head to Australia, and then we’ll take a flight back over the ocean.
Good enough, send the details.
With that done, he closed the laptop, got up, and stretched. He was hot, tired, and could use a good 10K run or, even better, a good hard swim. But those were not available, so this is what he had. He dropped to the floor and did several push-ups and then held a plank for a few minutes before doing several long yoga stretches. By the time he was on his last one, the bathroom door opened, and Eva stepped out, wrapped up in two towels.
He smiled. “Now,” he said, “you look completely refreshed.”
“Just don’t look in my eyes,” she murmured.
He nodded. “The soul takes longer.”
“It does, indeed. But that’s okay,” she said with a smile. She motioned at him. “You’re not the kind of person I ever thought would do yoga.”
“Don’t make judgments,” he said with a grin.
“Not so much judgments,” she said, “it just never occurred to me.”
“It’s really good for easing up the kinks in your system.”
“Well, I’ve got plenty of that,” she murmured.
He nodded. “And any time I can’t get in a run or a swim,” he said, “yoga offers at least something to help stretch and relieve some of the tension.”
“Well, tension I definitely understand.” She sagged onto the bed beside him, while he did several downward dog movements. “I used to do Sun Salutations every morning,” she said. “I don’t know why I stopped but after being in captivity I started again to save my sanity.”
