As Yasmine sat in the winter sun, lost in her thoughts, deeper certainties arose within her. The whole team was driven, fast-thinking and fast-moving. They were doers, movers, achievers. How then, were they all to become polar opposites? Was the ranch really such a great idea?
Too late to turn back. Yasmine rose and headed into town. It didn’t take long for the local police to spot her, but that was mostly down to her long, shining black hair, tanned face and the overtight jeans she was wearing. It took something a little extra for them to realize who they were dealing with.
Yasmine left her old life behind at the wheel of a stolen, loud, lizard-green Alfa Romeo. It was a fitting goodbye. The future was an open highway, fraught with bumps, sudden turns and cliff edges with no barrier protection.
Yasmine hadn’t asked for this—she’d been caught in the turbulence of Eli’s passing, of Bodie’s energy and determination, and in particular... of relic hunting. Throughout her life, she’d known no equal. But where had it ultimately led? This termination, this final destination, was the sum of twenty years in law enforcement and over thirty years of living. Yasmine didn’t feel as if she could embrace the entirety of it. All it offered to her mind was the unknown quality.
No security, no future, no way back.
The ranch was the end of the line.
CHAPTER FIVE
January 17th was a dark and dismal day, even in Acapulco on the Pacific side of Mexico.
They were using their second set of fake passports. Bodie almost didn’t recognize Cassidy coming out of the airport wearing a blond wig, heavy makeup and gold jewelry, but she wasn’t hiding the way she moved.
“I’d recognize that sassy walk anywhere.” He fell in alongside her. “How’d it go?”
“In Moscow? Fine. Had a few laughs. Kicked some boys all the way back to their mommies.”
Bodie winced. “I tangled too. I let them get too close.”
“Really?” Cassidy glanced across at him. “I had ’em right where I wanted them.”
They took a cab to a predetermined meeting point: the lobby of the Hotel Marbella opposite Hooters, overlooking the famous curved bay and sandy beach. Once there, Bodie and Cassidy waited for the others while sipping from a glass bottle of still water.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” a voice spoke in Bodie’s ear.
He’d seen her coming and had deliberately not reacted. “Hey, Jemma. What is?”
“Well... Mexico. Acapulco. You know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I bloody well know.”
He remembered vividly the deadly Mexican prison he’d been dumped in and knew his friends had been plotting his escape right here in Acapulco when the CIA had swooped in to break him out. It was the first time he’d met Heidi Moneymaker. Many more firsts followed, but none that matched meeting the Special Agent. Sometimes he wondered if that was the real reason he’d stayed under the CIA’s shadow for so long.
Still... their world had moved on. Jemma was here and now he saw Yasmine approaching. Which left Lucie.
“Wait a minute,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t lose her,” Jemma said. “Though there were times I wished I could.”
“Did our Lucie adopt a schoolmarm attitude?” Bodie asked, feigning surprise.
“Did I what?” the whipcrack voice came from behind him.
Bodie winced but then jumped up, deciding this was the perfect moment to move off. They left the hotel behind and headed into town, away from the beachfront hotels. The sun was arcing across the eastern skies above, shedding winter warmth like a penny pincher spends cash. But it was blue and clear of clouds and they could walk around in their T-shirts so Bodie didn’t complain. The disguises stayed for now; they were still some way from their destination.
Buildings passed to both sides, getting gradually older, until finally they crossed a small square and entered the lot of a used car sales dealership. Bodie had hoped to find a decent old Mustang to squeeze the five of them inside, but the best car available for cash was a ’99 Chevy Suburban. Bodie swallowed his pride and took it, knowing it only had to complete one long journey to make the price worthwhile.
After inspection, cash was handed over, IDs shown but not recorded, and then the five of them were cruising through Acapulco with the windows down and the radio switched to a local channel. With no luggage, very little remaining cash on hand, and a full tank of gas, they were content to sit back and let Bodie drive them to their destination.
*
It took hours. The city dropped away at their backs to be replaced by motorways bordered by tree-lined, grass-covered hills. Bodie chose the busiest and most boring route, helping them blend in, and when they stopped, only Jemma left the car to gas it up and buy a few snacks and bottles of water.
Their plan was to pass through Mexico undetected and, so far, they hadn’t put a foot wrong. The sun shone down hard at midday, making Bodie flip down the car’s visor and mutter about forgetting his sunglasses. Cassidy threw him hers and the journey continued in silence for a while.
The third time they stopped they all stretched their legs. The fourth time they grabbed takeaway meals. The traffic was heavy, one motorway merging with the next, but they continued to follow the coast north, toward the US border.
*
Ten hours into the journey, Bodie gave the wheel to Jemma. Sixteen hours in, Jemma passed it along to Cassidy.
They didn’t stop. The whole point was to keep going, to disappear, to vanish in a Mexican wilderness despite believing 100 percent that their separate journeys hadn’t been tracked to this country. It was an extra layer of security on top of countless previous layers—a prerequisite when
