"And has a ton of resources," Sean repeated. He stared out the window. "Back in the late 1980s there was a big hack job down here in Australia. Some hackers out of Melbourne used a worm to mess with a bunch of corporate computers."
"Alex said these probably weren't hackers, though," Tommy said.
"Right. Was just thinking out loud. Doing something like this requires knowing how to do it. I doubt a coder at the credit card company has it in for us. They were paid to tag our account."
"We've only used cash since we called the kids."
"Yeah, which we still need to do." Then out of nowhere, Sean had an epiphany. "Tommy, give me your phone. I need to make a call."
When they arrived at Reece's the next day, the men made a quick transfer of vehicles. They thanked Rick for his assistance and said their goodbyes before loading up supplies from the shed.
Reece had an assortment of rifles and handguns, nothing the Americans would pay money for back home, but definitely tools that would do the job in a pinch. Sean also asked if the big Aussie had any stump remover, sugar, and a few others items.
After Reece brought the ingredients to Sean, he disappeared into the house.
Curious as to what he was doing, Tommy went in after twenty minutes had passed and found Sean cooking up a strange concoction in a big frying pan.
"What are you doing?" Tommy asked.
Sean poured the thick mixture into a cardboard cylinder he'd taken from the battery pack of an old drill and then dipped a piece of string into the batter.
"Wait," Tommy said, "are you making fireworks or something?"
"Sort of. These are smoke bombs. They'll last about half a minute or so. Long enough to buy us some time if we need it."
"How'd you make the fuses?"
"Dipped them in a weaker variation of this stuff."
Tommy pouted his lips and nodded. "I'm impressed. That one of the things the government taught you to do?"
"No. I learned this on YouTube."
Before Tommy could ask his friend if he was serious or not, Sean set the six smoke bombs on a baking tray and then covered them with aluminum foil. "We should be going," he said as he picked up the metal sheet.
"It's gonna be dark soon. Should we stay here for the night?"
"Maybe," Sean said. "But seeing how this place has already been shot up once, I'm thinking a night in a few tents might be a better option. You know, in case they come back."
"Fair enough."
"Plus I don't want to waste any time. We get there, set up camp tonight, we can get up early tomorrow and get to work."
Sean's idea made sense, no matter how tired they all were of being in a car.
"At least my truck's got air," Reece said to the two Americans when they returned to the driveway.
"That's a relief," Tommy said.
"Yeah, it's not ice cold, but it's better than old Rick's truck. Should take us little over four hours to get there. I know a place that's not far from those petroglyphs where we can camp. We'll blend right in with all the other campers."
The three men watched the sunset on the western horizon from the road for the second time in twenty-four hours. The drive was mostly made in silence, just as the previous one. Conversation only happened when they needed to pull over for gas or bathroom breaks. On the four-hour journey, that only happened once.
They arrived well after dark at the Flinders Ranges. The big, jagged mountain peaks were bathed in bluish white moonlight against the backdrop of stars.
Reece steered the SUV down a gravel and dirt road into a camping area littered with tents and caravan-style campers. He passed plenty of vacant spots in favor of getting away from the family outings and tourists. Setting up camp away from everyone else would keep innocent people safe in case bullets started flying. It also gave the Americans and their Australian friend plenty of space to see or hear any approaching threat. Campgrounds tended to be loud, full of people singing or talking loudly around a fire. That wouldn't help anyone.
They found a place just three minutes past the last tent. It was a flat area about forty feet off the road, tucked between a few rocky mounds.
"That'll do," Sean said, pointing at the camping area.
Reece turned the wheel and guided the truck into the spot. The men got out quickly and took a look around. They were just out of earshot from the other campers. No lights impeded the incredible view of the stars. Sean stared up at them for a long moment, thinking of the times he and Adriana had sat under a sky like that nearly all night. The celestial bodies were so prominent now, he felt like he could almost touch them. A novel idea popped into his mind that maybe, just maybe, it was some kind of sign that he was doing what he was supposed to. He shook his head and refocused on the thing that was driving him. Revenge.
"You sure about this location, Sean?" Tommy asked. "Don't you want to have the high ground?" He pointed at the two mounds.
"In a fight, yeah. When you're trying to hide, no."
"What's your plan?" Reece asked.
"We've been cautious, so there's no way they would have tracked us with our credit cards the last few days. That doesn't mean these guys aren't going to show up here. We might as well plan on that happening."
"If they found the stone cube and were able to figure out its meaning, that is definitely possible," Tommy said. "Still, I think it's unlikely."
"We deciphered it," Sean said. "Remember what I always say: Plan for the worst. So put it in your heads that these guys are either already here or they're on their way."
Even in the darkness, Sean's steel resolve shone through in his eyes. "Keep the lights low. Try to do as much as possible in the dark. The fewer people know we're here, the better.”
The men spent the next half hour setting up two tents and laying out a mattress in the back of the truck. Reece volunteered to sleep in the SUV. Sean wouldn't hear of it. He insisted the big Aussie sleep in one of the tents because he'd have more leg room. After a few minutes of coaxing, Reece finally acquiesced.
When Tommy and the Australian were in their tents, Sean crawled into the back of the truck and lay down on his back. He stared at the SUV's ceiling for more than a half hour while tears trickled down his face. While he was distracted, the reality that Adriana was dead seemed like fiction. He could push it away for short bursts of time, convincing himself that it hadn't really happened. Then the truth came crashing down on him again, and the cycle started over.
"Why her?" he muttered to himself. "Why?"
Sean considered himself a believer in a creator. Raised in a Christian home, he grew up with a firm foundation in spiritual teachings. Through the years, those beliefs changed and morphed into something he thought transcended religion.
Early on in his role with Axis, he'd struggled with taking lives of evil men. Then he came to realize that sometimes, the forces of good had to use weapons to protect the innocent.
The way he saw it, he was a sword of God.
He used to pray every day, usually just for a few seconds to give appreciation for his life and the things in it. Over time, he'd gotten so busy that a day or two slipped by where he simply forgot.
His spiritual life had taken a backseat.
Now, as he lay in the back of Reece's old SUV, surrounded by the smell of old upholstery and metal, he prayed again.
Sean didn't know what good it would do. He knew there was nothing that could bring Adriana back. She was gone. Really, he just wanted answers. Everything he'd ever learned about God was being challenged now.
Maybe that was justice for all the years of killing he'd done. All the lives he'd taken as judge, jury, and executioner drifted by his mind's eye. Judgment was upon him now.
He wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Is that what this is? Repayment for what I've done?"