So long as they got their cut.
Akhon was simply a businessman that loved dealing in pain and death and suffering. That was all. He understood he was a rare breed, but that just made him better. More unique. This business with Crouch and the treasure was one more link in the chain. When it was done his enemies would be dead and he would be richer.
That was the way of the world.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
When Alicia and Russo finally got to talk on the phone, they looped Crouch into the call as well. Caitlyn was listening through a loudspeaker. Alicia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Good news, bad news,” she stropped at nobody in particular, which meant everyone. “I save Chase’s life, Chase bloody legs it. I free Elyse, she gives me a pop on the head for feeling her up. Fucking Russo manages to bag both Marco and Ralston. And now we know where they hid the treasure, I’m not entirely sure I want to go.”
The others waited patiently for her to finish. Russo, to his credit, didn’t speak up at all. Crouch was the first to talk.
“The Chase scenario couldn’t be helped. You got Elyse and she’s cooperating, that’s what counts. Chase got scared and abandoned his team. Unfortunately, it happens.”
Alicia couldn’t imagine such a scenario. “Wish I’d never saved his bloody life.”
“Totally understandable,” Russo put in.
“Don’t talk to me, Robster. I’m not happy with you right now.”
Russo said nothing. Alicia had expected a rejoinder and wondered briefly what might be up. Then, Caitlyn interrupted her thoughts.
“We’re headed to Mexico on the first flight out. You guys joining us there?”
Alicia glanced into the back seat of the car she was driving, meeting Elyse’s eyes. “Yeah. Me and the psycho will meet you there. Still not sure I want to go treasure hunting though.”
“Marco and Ralston are cooperating,” Russo affirmed. “Something that happened mutually and very quickly. Neither man wants to escape, it seems, since neither are in restraints.”
“They either want our help to get Akhon off their backs,” Crouch said, “or they have a more detailed plan, possibly including re-stealing that treasure. Either way, don’t relax for a second. They’re very dangerous.”
Alicia saw Elyse raise a concurring eyebrow. “Oh, I know.”
“I’m actually rather excited,” Caitlyn said. “I’ve never seen a ship graveyard before.”
Alicia tried to suppress a shudder but couldn’t quite manage it. Elyse smirked at her. “Scared?”
Alicia ignored her. “I don’t do graveyards,” she told Caitlyn. “Ship or otherwise. I don’t do insects either and I hate swimming. Remember that, for future reference.”
“Got it,” Elyse said.
Alicia flipped her the middle finger.
Crouch spoke into the brief silence. “Look, you have to hand it to Marco and his team. They lifted the principal treasures out from under official noses, somehow spotted their tail, and then made a fast decision to hide the loot. Finding the graveyard was a masterstroke I’d be personally proud of.”
“And...” Caitlyn said. “It’s massive. One of the largest ship graveyards on the planet. Nobody else would ever find that treasure.”
Alicia watched as Elyse grinned and imagined Marco and Ralston doing the same. She agreed that the plan was sound but wouldn’t tell Elyse that.
“An entire beach.” Marco must have taken the phone from Russo. “Miles long. There’s a small bluff on the landward side, and a large area of open ground, a forest beyond that. It’s remote, quiet, has incredible ingress and egress points, obviously, and looks completely inhospitable. Whoever initially chose it as a ship graveyard chose well.”
“A thousand rusting hulks,” Crouch said. “A remote beach. You can see it clearly on Google Earth. Every manner of ship from fishing boats to small passenger ships. All that history, that nostalgia. I think it’s both incredible, and sad.”
“Crap,” Alicia blurted. “You make it sound like you’re heading out on Crouch’s Perfect Vacation. I’ve been to my fair share of graveyards, and it’s never an uplifting event.”
“That depends on your attitude,” Elyse said.
Alicia turned away from the woman and started the car. “What’s the weather like in Acapulco?”
“Hurricane season,” Crouch said. “Should be fun.”
“It’s been twenty years since the last monster hit Acapulco and its surroundings,” Caitlyn said. “She’s sure due another.”
Alicia shivered. Elyse sat forward. “Let me guess. You don’t like hurricanes either?”
Alicia headed for the airport.
*
The skies were bright blue, the yellow sun a glaring hot spot. They met at a diner, south of the 95 and Diamante, to prepare for their journey to the ship graveyard. Alicia arrived last with Elyse, noting that Crouch and Caitlyn were already inside, along with Russo and his new friends.
“Little reunion for you,” she said as she and Elyse exited their vehicle.
Elyse shaded her eyes. “Is Mexico always this friggin’ bright?”
Alicia shrugged. “I rarely visit.”
“Me neither. Well, not during the day at any rate.”
Alicia couldn’t help but like Elyse’s easy sense of humor. Unlike her own, it came over as non-threatening. Alicia wondered if she ought to work on that, but then thought: Fuck it, if they don’t like it, they can fuck off.
Inside, the diner was cool. The sides were all glass, giving it an airy, bright feel. It was a little after 10:00 a.m., so the place was quiet, the breakfast crowd having departed, the lunchtime crowd still on their way. Alicia walked straight over to Crouch’s table and took a seat. Openly, she watched Elyse greet Marco and Ralston for the first time in months.
Genuine respect passed between them. Alicia felt the tension in the diner ease a little. She was facing Russo and gave him a nod. The big man gave her nothing back. Again, Alicia wondered what she’d done to upset him. Could it be because she lost Chase? Nah, he wasn’t that picky.
Alicia had always been a straight-forward kind of woman. What you saw was what you got. There were no airs and graces, no hidden agendas. If Alicia didn’t like you, she told you to your face.
But this wasn’t the right time to face Russo down. Five years ago, she’d have done it anyway. Shit, maybe I have mellowed recently.
Alicia wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She shelved the question as a waitress came over, wearing bright red and white and exhibiting a fine rack of gleaming teeth. The group ordered food and drinks and then sat in silence.
“How far is this place?” Russo asked.
Caitlyn had been referring to Google Maps. “Thirty minutes or so. There’s no land access though. All roads end before that forest Marco mentioned. From there, it’s a minimum thirty minute hike.”
“Yeah, you have to really want to go there,” Alicia said and gestured at Marco. “How’d you know it was there when you were robbing Sally Hope’s company blind?”
Marco grunted. “Her name wasn’t on the treasure and I always plan for multiple outcomes. Don’t you?”
Alicia blinked. “Not really. I tend to wing it.”
“Then you’ll never lead.”
Alicia looked away, feeling that comment more than she wanted to. Leadership was her new goal.
The mismatched group ate and drank up and then headed out to three different vehicles. Crouch had brought a Ford F150, the flat-bed loaded with everything Marco required along with weapons and other items Michael’s contacts had been able to supply in a short time. One by one, they climbed into their vehicles.
Little was said on the journey out. Alicia drove with Caitlyn in the passenger seat and Elyse in the rear. Caitlyn navigated. Elyse complained about having to wear the same clothes for yet another day, but everyone ignored her. Soon, they had left the main road and were negotiating a bumpy single lane, having to pull to the side to let other veh
icles come past. Eventually the asphalt ran out and they were following a winding dirt track. They threaded through a sparse stand of trees, then an open field and another stand of trees. They bounced across a wide plain. The sun sparkled and the air conditioning cooled and, all the while, Caitlyn counted off the miles.
“Two,” she said. “The road runs out soon.”
“I see it.”
Alicia drove up behind a parked Crouch, their vehicles nestling under a straggly canopy of trees. It took another half hour to remove their gear and get tooled up and then they were ready to start the hike.
“Ocean’s that way.” Russo pointed.
Alicia laughed. “You got a good nose for salt now, Rob?”
“Looked at a map,” Russo grumbled, not looking at her.
“We ready?” Crouch asked.
Everyone nodded. They moved out. Russo led the way with Marco and Ralston. Caitlyn kept them on course. Alicia brought up the rear with Crouch and Elyse. It was a good, sweaty hike. The path rose and fell, sometimes steeply, and they were forced to negotiate increasingly thick undergrowth. The chat was kept to a minimum. Alicia saw no signs pass between Marco and his crew, but guessed they were too good and had been in the game too long to let anything slip. She remembered they were dealing with ex-SAS and ex-FBI operatives here. Marco had told them he always had multiple plans. Alicia stayed frosty, light on her feet.
Also, she didn’t know what to expect ahead. She’d never seen a ship graveyard before and this one was supposedly huge.
Eventually, Caitlyn spoke. “That ridge.” She pointed at the top of a slope about 300 yards ahead and to the right. “Over that should be the dense forest, then the flatland and the ocean. We should be able to see the graveyard from up there.”
They moved out. Alicia kept a close eye on Elyse, but the short-haired woman just ignored her. She leaned forward as they started to climb the slope, calves burning. The strain didn’t come from the exercise, it came from the weight of the pack she carried.
She was at the back. In front, Russo stopped and stared. Marco swore out loud. Crouch hurried to join them. Alicia saw his face fall.
“Ah, shit,” Marco said. “That could be a problem.”
“They weren’t there before?” Crouch asked.
Marco shook his head. “They weren’t there before.”
Unsure what to expect, her mind awash with possible images from spider crabs to seals or soldiers, Alicia edged up to the very top of the slope.
First, she saw the forest and the immense expanse of the ocean beyond. Then, ignoring the ship graveyard for now, she focused on the problem.
Occupying the sizeable flat plain between the forest and the beach were hundreds of people. It was a large setup. Alicia saw buildings made of wood with antennas sticking out and a communications mast. She saw dozens of vehicles. It was permanent and, judging by the work going into constructing a solid dirt path out of the place and the amount of activity, it wasn’t going anywhere soon.
If it were just people she could see, the scenario might not have been too bad. People could be duped or bargained with or simply ignored. The problem was almost everyone she saw carried some kind of weapon. And they weren’t soldiers. This was a ragtag criminal encampment, an enormous enterprise full of gun-toting lawbreakers.
Alicia turned to Marco. “What about this then, hotshot? You got a plan for this?”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
“The graveyard’s empty of men.” Marco said hopefully. “At least that’s something.”
Alicia had fallen onto her stomach along with the others so they wouldn’t be seen atop the slope. “Too fucking dangerous even for them, no doubt. Hey, but I guess some mugs will try.”
“Can we approach by sea?” Elyse asked.
“Too risky,” Crouch said. “The sound of an outboard might be heard. There’s plenty of coastline too, so somebody could easily spot a boat coming in.”
“Night time?” Russo asked.
“Look there.” Marco pointed at the coastline. “A patrol.”
Alicia saw two men trudging along the distant beach. They went past the graveyard without looking at it and back again. It wasn’t much as patrols went, but it was enough.
“We could just give these three to Akhon,” Alicia suggested in an upbeat voice. “Then the problem transfers to the Assyrians.”
“We have no guarantee they’ll return Duggan,” Crouch said.
“And you definitely told me that you’d help us,” Elyse put in.
“Yeah, I need to watch my mouth in the future.”
Now Crouch turned to stare at her. “There’s no changing the habit of a lifetime, Myles. Now, come on people. We need to work this problem fast.”
More than anyone, Alicia knew Crouch would be conscious of the passage of time. Every second lost meant Duggan endured more pain. She allowed herself to spend a little time studying the ship graveyard then, because she knew, one way or another, Crouch would get them there.
Rusting hulks were lined up along the shore. Ships and boats listed to one side in the sand and in the shallows. Ships and boats had their noses flooded under water or their bows sticking out and upward. Masts and funnels were just visible from deeper wrecks. It was a chaos of steel, a corrosive mass of ruined hulls, shoved together and left to rot. Great, hulking skeletons stretched for more than a mile.
“You know your way through that jumble?” Alicia asked Marco.
“No problem. I just need to get close.”
“We only have one crack at this,” Crouch said. “If we alert them to our presence, they’ll be on us in force. If we’re careful and clever, they won’t.”
“That sounds like you might have a plan,” Russo said.
“I do, but you’re not gonna like it.”
“All right...” Russo tried to lead his boss straight to the point.
“First, let’s recce the shit out of that camp. I need to know what manner of delinquent is down there.”
The team broke out their field glasses. Alicia focused on the center of the encampment. All manner of people crossed her vision, mostly men. She saw figures that were clearly poachers, the objects of their trade heaped in sad piles around their cordoned off area. She saw gun runners sitting on crates overflowing with semi-autos, grenades and rocket launchers. She saw drug dealers, plying their trade to the wandering masses below.
“A mismatch of all sorts,” Russo said. “All of them murderers, trained or not. It appears to be a criminal organization’s hub of some sort.”
Crouch chewed his bottom lip, thinking. “It’s remote. Safe. Easy to police, for them. They have everything they need except shelter and a transport network.”
“They have the ocean for now,” Marco pointed out. “And it looks like they’re making good headway with the road. It’s not like they have to build to regulations.”
Alicia took another look at the deadly mass of metal that comprised the ship graveyard. It didn’t look any more appealing. Crouch began to slide back down the slope. The others followed, meeting up again in the comparative cover of a stand of trees.
“Let’s work this out,” Crouch said.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
First, Crouch made a desperate phone call.
“Akhon, we need more time.” He went on to explain the problem, surprised at first that Akhon remained relaxed throughout, but then remembered that Akhon had no other means of finding the treasure.
In a way, they were all bound together: Duggan and Akhon, Crouch’s team and Marco’s. One could hardly make a move without the other’s help. Helping to pacify Akhon though was also the proof Crouch furnished him with—the location of the boat graveyard. Akhon could check the surrounding area for himself.
“Two days,” Akhon growled. “Two days at the most. And I’d hurry if I were you. Your friend is not feeling well.”
“What does that mean?” Crouch shouted. “Hey, what does that mean?”
But he was talking to an empty li
ne. Akhon was gone. Crouch surveyed the group with hard eyes.
“Gather round.”
Alicia listened to the next idea with initial shock and then a fast-growing conviction. Crouch might have something here.
“There’s no way around, so we go through. Straight through. We take our time. A day and a night if we have to. We stop often. Lie low if we can. We avoid contact and conversation. Look like we know where we’re going. There must be a believable story that links us, a criminal enterprise probably. It’s risky, but it’s all we’ve got.”
“Risky?” Elyse snapped. “It’s suicidal.”
Marco stared. “You want us to walk right through the enemy camp. Have you lost your mind, Crouch, or is Alicia rubbing off on you?”
Alicia looked indignant. “I have never—”
Crouch jumped in fast. “You have a better idea, let’s hear it.”
Everyone knew that Marco and Crouch were ex-SAS. Their dynamic was remarkable to watch, ranging from contempt to dislike to grudging admiration. Alicia knew every single person in this group would have to rely on every other person to make this work.
The main issue she saw was Caitlyn and Ralston.
Everyone else had military training. They’d seen criminals at work, confronted them, conversed with them. They knew that world. Caitlyn was an analyst, Ralston an IT guy.
“How would you react if a poacher invaded your space?” she asked Ralston. “Same goes for you, Caitlyn.”
“We dress like them, look like them and act like them,” Crouch said. “Confrontations will be few, if any. It’s the look and the attitude that will pull this off. Nothing else.”
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