It hadn’t occurred to her until now, but Munich wasn’t too far from Singen. She immediately grew suspicious. “Who signed off on this hotel a few days ago?”
Hayden was quiet for a second. “I did.”
“Through Gates no doubt,” Alicia grumbled. “That man has more manipulations up his sleeve than a banker.”
“He would, he’s a top-flight politician. And it’s called foresight. Clever maneuvering of your forces. A good preparation. All much better words than manipulation, don’t you think?”
“Whatever. Look, are you actually asking Lomas and the boys to help raid the Singen tomb? ‘Cause they ain’t military, you know?”
“We’re spread pretty thin, and don’t try to tell me they haven’t had some experience. You would have some local military back up. But all you really have to do is get to Cayman and neutralize him. Oh, and get the swords in there.”
“What swords?”
“We’ll courier two swords to Singen airport. You need to collect them before you go in.”
“Should I ask why?”
“It’s a long frickin’ story.” Hayden sighed deeply. “And we don’t even know how to use ‘em. If we need to use ‘em at all.” She cursed. “We’re way behind on this one, Alicia, and with no time.”
“I’ll ask them.” Alicia disconnected and looked around. To a person, the biker gang stared hard at her. She sat down on the front edge of a lounger and laid it out. No one interrupted, but when she had finished, the first outburst came, predictably, from Laid-back Lex.
“Why would we wanna do that and leave this place?”
“This place is a reward for the last time we caused mayhem,” Alicia reminded them. “Think of what might be next?”
“A grave,” one of the older bikers mumbled. “Or a hospital.”
Alicia nodded. “That’s possible. This is a dangerous mission. The men who took the tombs are at least military trained.”
“It would get us back on the road though,” Whipper compromised. “Some nice open roads between here and Singen.”
“You really wanna help out the government?” Tiny glared around. “Not like they ever bin good to us.”
Trace and Fat Bob murmured an agreement. Dirty Sarah put down a nail file and wiped her hands on a wet-wipe. “Lomas? What’s your take?”
The gang leader cleared his throat. “If this were personal, I’d decide. If it were honor, I’d decide. But this ain’t for gang respect or credit. This ain’t like goin’ after Lisa and makin’ her pay for what she did…”
As he paused, Alicia reflected that she didn’t know much about Lomas and Lisa yet, only snippets of what her boyfriend had told her about his ex and how she had split to ride with a rival gang. Maybe she was his ‘old demon’.
“This has to be your own decision,” Lomas told them. “This ain’t gang business.”
Alicia nodded, respecting him for it. Truth be told, if Lomas had ordered them all to go, she would have protested. She listened to the rumblings and the moaning, the unruffled and the perturbed. But at the end of the day, they were a biker gang and, to a member, they wanted that open road.
Knuckler summed it up. “No harm in hitting the open road for a few days, eh mates? Then we’ll see if we fancy kickin’ some military arse an’ earning a year on Miami Beach. Ha, ha,” he cackled.
Alicia winced as overwhelming support rose for Knuckler, not quite sure how she was going to translate the ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ back to Hayden and Drake. When the guys started to rise, she turned her head. No way did she want to see half a dozen oiled-up bikers wearing trunks climbing off their sunbeds.
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
Kinimaka watched sadly as the team made the decision to pair off. Memories of Vienna revisited him, of the night he had spent down at the bar with Alicia and Belmonte. Alicia had told him that her father used to be a drunk and beat her mother into unconsciousness at least twice a week. Belmonte had confessed that losing his protégé — Emma — had truly broken him. He would not work as a thief again for as long as he lived.
And the next day he had died saving Drake’s life.
Now Kinimaka stared through cheerless eyes as the team decided to separate, each pair heading off to fight their own little apocalypse. Dahl and Akerman would travel to Iceland. Drake and Mai would go to Moscow, retrieve the Great Sword, then return here to Babylon, faithfully following Alexander’s instructions. He would accompany Hayden to Hawaii. Their time was almost up.
“Stay in touch, and keep checking with Karin,” Hayden told them. “She’s the liaison for all our information. Gates will try to be on hand. And guys… let’s all return to Washington in one piece, huh?”
“The minute anyone gets a shred of information,” Dahl said. “And I’m talking mainly about you, Drake, with that last sword — let us know.”
“Course I will,” Drake said. “Once we kick Zanko’s grandma’s arse.”
“We should watch out for Zanko and Razin,” Yorgi said. “They are not done yet.”
“I feel bad about sending Alicia and her new friends after Cayman himself,” Hayden fretted. “But there was no other way. She’ll make all the difference to that assault team.”
“One thing’s for certain,” Mai said quietly. “Whether we want her to or not, she’s most likely to blow up the entire tomb.”
Everyone laughed. It was a poignant moment, not one reserved for Alicia, but one that encompassed them all. Amidst the brief silence more than simple respect, honor and concern passed between them. Something far deeper.
Kinimaka said nothing. Dahl made a point of inflating everyone’s ego. Drake walked around purposefully, finalizing plans, but Kinimaka read the uncertainty in his eyes.
This time it was different. This time they didn’t know what they were going up against or how to fight it.
We’re going into Hell without a preacher, Kinimaka thought. God help us lest we burn. And God help the rest of the world if we do.
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
Zak Block loved the fact that Hawaii time ran twelve hours behind his own. It almost felt as if he were travelling back in time, enabling him to usher in the new reign of the Shadow Elite that much sooner. It was an illusion, he knew, but a comforting one.
The midday Hawaiian sun beat down hard on the airport tarmac. Being a first-class passenger, he was offered a lei and dutifully bent his head, smiling at the pretty grass-skirted girl as she spoke a greeting and wished him a pleasant stay on the island of Oahu.
“Oh, there’s no doubt there’s going to be a little fun for everyone,” he said and headed over to his driver. The man lowered the card he was holding and showed him to a white sedan with blacked out windows.
So far, so good, he thought. The team had always known Block would be joining them inside the tomb and had spent many hours deliberating over the best way to get him inside. In the end it came down to a floating strategy with many alternatives. They could only predict the authorities’ responses up to a certain point. After that, it was all conjecture and chance.
Block was driven around Diamond Head, with the sparkling blue of the Pacific to his right, and off the main road. Presently they transferred to an off-road vehicle, and the driver proceeded to bounce his way down a barely used dirt track. The man apologized, but Block barely heard. He was already tired of not being the world’s decision maker, and filled his head only with visions of what he would do once he regained that power. He was a coiled snake waiting to strike and clamp his jaws on anyone who stood in his way.
They skirted three lava tubes, the first two of which were being monitored by the HPD. The third, somewhat further away, looked clear and it wouldn’t matter if it was under CCTV surveillance. They wanted to get a man in — not get many men out.