Bodie thought the man had a point, but didn’t want to tax Gunn any further. Being the untested geek in a team of hardened combatants was difficult enough. The town sprawled below, filling a valley and running up into the lower mountains. They started to descend more sharply as a light drizzle began to fall.
“You think they’re still tracking us?” Jemma asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” Heidi explained something Bodie already knew. “This is the only road we can use. Hoods could be here already.”
Cross slowed. Gunn shouted out a location, a parking area next to a tired old building. Google Maps told him it was large, busy and hard to find. They might be able to lose themselves awhile there and come out looking somewhat different.
“Eight minutes.” Cross watched dubiously as Jemma leaned through to jab the coordinates into the Satnav. “That thing reliable?”
Gunn shrugged as the others all smiled. “Actually it depends who manufactured it. As I’m sure most drivers will relate to.”
Bodie watched through the side window, sharp droplets of raining drifting in through the shattered rear window. They asked Cross to turn up the heating and waited for the parking area. At last, it appeared up ahead. Cross found a space from which they could watch the surrounding area and they settled back, weary, stressed, worried.
Heidi took a big breath. “Sit rep? We’ve lost our Hood, the one with the map. Gotta assume he’s hours ahead of us, probably still in Hungary. If the Illuminati are sticking to their low-key policy.”
“I think they will,” Bodie said. “They’re immensely arrogant, it seems.”
“Yeah,” Cross said. “Almost as if when they make a decision they expect it will work, regardless.”
“They’ve had it that way for hundreds if not thousands of years,” Heidi said. “Depending which story you believe.”
“All right,” Bodie didn’t look away from the busy parking area and surrounding streets. “So how do we vanish, and catch up?”
Cassidy shifted a little, her job to scrutinize the windows of surrounding buildings. “New car. Balls out. Sound good?”
Gunn tapped his screen. “I can find a rental place.”
Bodie smiled at the kid’s naivety. “We’re already here, Sam.”
“But… some poor guy’s gonna lose his ride.”
“He’ll be compensated later, quietly. It’s happened before.”
Bodie wondered if that was strictly true. He guessed it depended on the morals of the agent in charge, but had no real reason to question Heidi’s. Besides, Jemma was the more morally driven one of the team. Her code of honor often kept them in check.
“I’m seeing three candidates,” Cross said. “There, there and there.” He pointed in the general direction of the vehicles. “All common. All battered. All dull colors. Perfect for what we need.”
“I’m seeing movement,” Cassidy said. “Right there.” She nodded at the seemingly abandoned building to their right. At the edge of the parking area it rose four stories and consisted of a dirty white façade and many broken windows.
“Third window along, third floor. You see it?”
Bodie had his hand on the door handle, ready to move. “Actually, I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”
“You don’t get to live this long and look this pretty by second guessing. Move.”
They pushed open the doors, jumped out of the car. At that very moment a streak issued from the window Cassidy had identified — a thin white streak that dissipated as it went.
“RPG!” Bodie cried.
They dived. They rolled. They scrambled clear, looking desperately for cover — a nearby bench, a badly parked BMW, a litter bin. Bodie half-ran, half-scrabbled clear. The missile flashed toward its target. In that few seconds Bodie could only hope everyone had their wits about them; even Jeff who had been seated across the other side of the SUV. Bodie saw it coming, saw its speed and power and the spitting fire it trailed, and was thankful Cross had chosen a quieter, more spacious part of the car park to stop in.
The explosion happened fast, the fire and wreckage shredding the air. Bodie didn’t stop rolling. The direction of the missile sent the debris away from him but the power blast shook his bones.
Screams immediately erupted from close by. People ran away from the chaos. Bodie pulled out his Glock and fired four quick shots into the suspect window. Nothing moved. He crouched behind a Jeep with big tires and looked back.
Cassidy was dragging Jeff along, just disappearing behind a red Prius. The rest were kneeling or crawling except for Eli Cross, who was flat out on the ground, unmoving.
Bodie felt a lurch deep in his heart. The older man of their team, the ex-military redneck, the careful forty-plus, world-class thief that kept them all rational and together had not fared well in the missile attack.
Furious, scared, he rose and fired the rest of his mag into the empty window.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
The chase was on; the battle lines drawn. There was nothing the Hood wouldn’t do; nothing his masters would not do. Their vehicle burned and raged with flames; two civilians lay hurt and groaning, luckily none worse than that. Eli Cross was down and unmoving, and Heidi was the first to make it to his side.
Bodie changed the mag, kept an eye on the main windows and all the other windows around it.
Shit, we still don’t have comms.
It would have been good about now to be able to communicate fast and efficiently. Behind him, Cassidy ran to Heidi’s side and the two women bent low over Cross.
Gunn, Jemma and Jeff looked around the side of a broken car. Their SUV was a ragged mess, smoking. Bodie watched the abandoned building like a hawk, torn between wanting to rush inside and track the Hood down, and the need to run over to Cross’s side. As he studied every blank space, every deep recess, a shout rang out.
“He’s okay!” Heidi sounded extremely relieved.
“Yeah,” Cassidy shouted, also reassured. “Just needed a nap.”
Bodie closed his eyes for half a second, the anxiety sloughing away. In another moment Heidi was at his shoulder.
“Anything?”
“Nope. I’m guessing he took off.”
“Yeah, me too. This chaos will enable us to slip away though.”
Bodie regarded her, surprised but then understanding. Nobody was badly hurt. The Hood, if it was their Hood, was close. Nothing had changed.
“That car?” He nodded at a nearby old Audi with many seats.
“That car.” Heidi nodded. “Round up the crew.”
In the aftermath of the attack, the team were quiet and a little subdued. Everyone except Gunn and Jeff was expecting another attack and actively scanning every side street, every pedestrian and the clouds themselves. The old Audi went well, high on mileage but fast and comfortable enough, German engineering not letting them down. The town soon fell behind, the sirens and police with it, and there was no sign of the Hood.
And yet, he had to be somewhere ahead, driving the same road, passing the same signs. As the hours passed it became clear there would be no imminent attack, but the team remained on high alert.
“That waypoint?” Heidi said as they rolled along the highway. “Say it again.”
Jeff had been dozing, but now wiped his mouth self-consciously and sat up. “We returned something new to Spartacus and 1776.”
“And you’re sure that means Bavaria. We’re pinning a whole lot on your guesswork.”
“I honestly can’t think of anything else it might mean.”
Heidi stared at him. “Well, that’s more sensible than it sounds. At least you’ve tried.”
“I have.”
Cassidy patted his knee. “Don’t worry, man. As soon as she thinks you’re useless she won’t throw you out of the car,” A pause. “That’ll be me.”