There was a long period, and the connection crackled and hummed in her ear. She adjusted the thin wire leading from her ear to her mouth. “Tits, if you’re there, I could really use you right now.”
She looked over at Eli in the darkness. “Is there a secure frequency I can upload to him?”
He reached over to the glove compartment and dug around, his arm pressed against her leg while he kept the other hand on the wheel. He dragged out a pen and a pad of paper, placed the pad on her knee and quickly jotted down a series of numbers.
“Tyana, long time no hear. You okay?”
“I’m fine, Tits. Look, I need you to switch to a secure frequency. I don’t have my equipment on me.”
“Yeah, I noticed it wasn’t you flashing at me. Fire when ready.”
She punched in the numbers. “I’m switching over. Holler when you’re there.”
She entered the numbers on the small keyboard and went through the complicated series of gateways. The static and interference in her earpiece died as crisp silence replaced it. A few seconds later, Tits’ voice boomed over the connection.
“Now, what is it you need? I hope you’re not wanting me to come pull your ass out of some shithole somewhere.”
“You wish. I need intel on Esteban Morales. I need to know where he is, what he’s doing and who he’s doing it with. Once you figure that out, I need a safe house as close to him as you can manage.”
“I don’t like the sound of this, Ty.”
“You don’t have to like it. Just do it. It’s important, Tits. You know I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”
He grunted. “Yeah, I know.”
“E me the info when you get it. I should have a decent enough signal to be able to read it by the time you collect it. I’d rather not do this live. Make sure it’s encrypted.”
Tits snorted. “I don’t tell you how to do your job, baby girl.”
“Yeah, yeah, do this for me and I’ll give you another kiss.”
“I want tongue this time.”
“You got it last time, asshole.”
He chuckled then broke the connection.
She pulled the receiver from her ear and pushed the unit off her lap and into the space between her and Eli.
“He should have the info we need by the time we reach Buenos Aires. At least then we’ll know where we need to fly. Are you going to be able to get us out of Argentina?”
Eli smiled in the dim light. “Yeah, sugar. Just leave that part to me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tyana dozed fitfully as they drove through small villages and a few larger towns. When Eli stopped for petrol, she dug around in one of the bags they’d packed for food.
They drove on, eating in silence, tension settling over them like a cloud.
She knew she hadn’t been fair. But then it wasn’t her job to be fair. If Eli wanted to unload on her, fine, but it didn’t mean they had to have some mushy meeting of the minds and a therapy session starring her.
Still she could sense something in his attitude toward her. Disappointment? She slouched further down into her seat and turned so she couldn’t see him or his occasional glances in her direction.
“I’m not going to stop tonight,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “If I drive through, we can hit Buenos Aires by tomorrow afternoon.”
She turned to look at him, his profile as he concentrated on the road in front of them. He pushed his hair back behind his ear and occasionally fidgeted with his earring.
“And what then?”
His gaze skittered sideways for a second. “Then we wait for your friend to tell us where we can find Esteban. I’ll work on our flight details in the meantime.”
“Do you have a place we can stay?”
He grinned. “Of course. Buenos Aires is a big place. Easy to lose yourself in the crowds. Though it would help if you got rid of the bloody jacket sometime between now and then.”
She glanced down, realizing she hadn’t even bothered to change since they’d left the compound.
“I’ll change when we stop again,” she murmured.
The hours dragged on. Even the scenery, which at first had offered an interesting diversion to Tyana, blurred in one unending line. She hated the silence but knew better than to try and draw Eli into conversation.
When darkness fell, she succumbed to sleep more out of desperation than fatigue.
When Eli shook her awake, though, bright sunlight streamed through the windshield, nearly blinding her. She blinked as she sought to get her bearings. She felt heavy and lethargic, like she was coming out of a coma.
“Where are we?” she mumbled.
“Reaching the outskirts of Buenos Aires,” he replied.
She sat up straighter in her seat. “Shit. You should have woken me up.”
“Why? You needed the rest. When was the last time you got more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep?”
She didn’t bother responding, because they both knew the answer to that one.
“Did the others make it yet?” she asked.
“Talked to them a while ago. They’re a couple of hours behind. They’ll meet us later.”
She scrubbed the sleep from her eyes and focused on the direction they were heading. Sleek skyscrapers dotted the horizon and traffic around them increased as they drove further into the city.
It reminded her of European cities. Crowded. Similar architecture. It could be one of any of the major metropolises. It could swallow you whole. A person could be as obscure or as noticeable as they wanted.
But she was out of her element, and she knew she had to rely on Eli. This was his turf. Not hers. That dependence made her uneasy.
She absorbed the hectic pace around her as they continued to navigate the busy streets. Beyond the more stylish, modern buildings, they entered an older, more rundown part of the city where the shadows grew and the new and shiny faded.
Eli pulled into a three-story parking garage and parked on the top level. She eyed him curiously as he opened his door.
“Get your stuff. From here we walk.”
She got out and hoisted her bag over her shoulder then walked around the back to get the bag containing their weapons. He took two duffel bags with clothes and electronics and headed toward the stairs.
They exited the garage into an alleyway, and he set off at a brisk pace. After four blocks of dodging trash bins and refuse thrown onto the streets from windows above, he stopped at a battered door and pulled out a key from his pocket.
She looked up to see there was no unit above this one and a glance to the side told her that this apartment adjoined a closed business. The windows of the business were busted out, and it looked as though no one had occupied the building in years.
Eli unlocked the door and ducked in, motioning for her to follow.
It was a simple one bedroom efficiency-style apartment with a small kitchen and a rag-tag couch straddling the space between the bedroom and the kitchen. A small television rested on a rickety stand by the window, but other than that, the apartment didn’t boast much else.
“Home sweet home,” he said as he dropped the bags onto the floor beside the couch. “At least until we hear from your friend.”
And hopefully that would be soon. This place made her uneasy. Reminded her too much of things better forgotten. Even the smell was familiar. Dirt, poverty, pain…
She gripped her arms with her hands, rubbing up and down, trying desperately to make the fear go away.
“Hey, are you okay?” Eli asked softly.
She yanked her gaze to him. “Yes, I’m fine. What do we do now?”
“We wait,” he said. “Are you hungry? There’s a place a block or two away. We could grab something and bring it back here. It would give me a good chance to scope out the area.”
She nodded. Even the unsavory reality of what lay out there on the streets was better than this place.