It didn’t seem nearly as unlikely now as it had then.
He could almost imagine giving it all up, spending the rest of his life on the beach with Elle. Teaching their children to surf and swim and give something back to a world that desperately needed people who were willing to do so.
When he reached the center of the lawn, he set the drone down and opened the iPad app that controlled it. He was still synching them when he saw Elle step from the house. She shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun and made her way toward him.
When she reached him he saw that she’d changed into a loose sundress. Her feet were bare, her hair falling around her shoulders in a riot of copper waves. she looked completely at home, and he couldn’t help feeling like it was a good omen.
“Funny kite you’ve got there,” she said, eyeing the drone.
He chuckled, setting the drone’s destination coordinates on the iPad. “This is way better than a kite.”
The drone whirred to life and rose into the sky.
He sensed her looking up, following the drone with her eyes, but he kept his eyes on the iPad, watching them both come into view through the eyes of the drone. They got smaller and smaller until they disappeared entirely, a carpet of green appearing on the display as the drone made its way over the surrounding forest.
“Come look,” he said.
She stood next to him and he tipped the screen so she could watch as the drone flew over the trees. A minute later a series of buildings and roads came into view, at first far apart, then increasingly close together as the drone flew over town.
“Is that Tulum?” she asked.
“It is,” he said.
“Is that where it’s going?”
“Nope,” he said. “Just a flyover on its way to Cancun.”
“Cancun?” She hesitated. “It’s going to Glover’s?”
“That’s right,” he said.
“Is that a good idea?” she asked.
“It’s just a little recon,” he said. “I want to see what kind of setup he’s got over there.”
Cancun wasn’t exactly in Tulum’s backyard, but it was close enough for the drone to take a look. Another blessing from the universe.
They watched as the drone traveled past Tulum and over another thick covering of trees. Twenty minutes later, the tourist town of Cancun came into view, its hotels and bars showing up in miniature on the iPad as it passed by.
“Isn’t it weird that Glover would choose a getaway in Cancun?” Elle asked at his shoulder. “I mean, it’s not exactly off the beaten path for Mexico.”
“It’s a good choice actually,” Locke said, glancing away from the screen for a few seconds to look at her. “A lot of Americans buy property there, so it’s not suspicious.”
“But he can’t take his money and run there,” she said. “He’ll be caught in a week.”
“He’s not running away to Cancun,” Locke said, his eyes back on the iPad as the drone re-entered the trees outside of Cancun.
“I thought that’s where his hideaway was,” she said.
“He definitely has a house there,” Locke said. “But I’m betting it’s just a staging ground.”
“A staging ground?”
He nodded. “A place to prepare for his real escape.”
“He’s going someplace else?”
“That’s my guess,” Locke said. “The house in Mexico is hidden, but if I found it, someone else can find it. He’s done a fairly good job keeping his movements under the radar, but I’m guessing he has somewhere even more off the beaten track in mind as a permanent getaway. Probably a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the US.”
The drone left Cancun behind, a series of winding roads appearing on the iPad as it continued through suburbs, out into the sparsely populated area further outside the city. The now-familiar canopy of green appeared as the drone flew over a forested area, then a wide manicured lawn. The drone came to a stop, hovering over an expansive stucco mansion shaped like an “U”.
“Welcome to the Glover estate,” Locke murmured, taking over the controls on the iPad.
23
Elle was transfixed as Locke took control of the drone, piloting it slowly over the big house below.
“Rooftop pool,” he said, hovering over the large blue rectangle on top of the roof. A small thatched structure stood next to it — Elle was guessing it was a bar or barbecue area — and lounge chairs lined both sides of the pool. “Nice.”
The elaborate estate caused a fresh burst of anger to flood her body. This was what all of Glover’s greed had gotten him. Not prison or shame but a fancy getaway in Mexico with a rooftop pool. She thought of the women Locke believed he was trafficking, tried to imagine what their lives were like, thought of the employees who had lost their pensions, some of them as they neared retirement. If it was true that Glover had been embezzling money, how much of his mansion was built with money taken from the hard working people of EnerCom?
“See that?” Locke said, pointing to the dark figures scattered around the property. “Those are guards. Looks like only two of them outside.”
“And you’re sure they can’t see the drone?” she asked. It seemed impossible that they could have such a clear view of everything below and yet be invisible to those on the ground.
“I’m sure,” he said. “We’re way too high for that. They’d need high-powered binoculars, and they’d need to be looking in the right place at the right time.”
“It doesn’t make any sound?” she asked.
“Not enough to be heard that far away.” He rolled his finger across the screen. “Let’s come down a bit and see what else Glover has going on…”
Everything came into sharper focus as the drone traveled the outline of the house.
“Cameras here and here.” He pointed out red slashes on the screen at the front and back of the house. “Also along the drive," he said, indicating the long road leading to the estate.
“Why are they red?” she asked, curious in spite of her worry that the drone would be spotted.
“It’s a heat signature given off by electronics.” He pulled out from the house and the drone got further away, their view of the house widening.
“Are we done?” She was torn between wanting to get the drone out of there as soon as possible and a kind of sadistic, voyeuristic enjoyment that made her want to see more, if only to insure she didn’t forget how vile Glover was if she ever started to feel sorry for him.
“Not quite,” he said.
He pressed some buttons on the iPad and the angle on the house changed a little. Then she understood what he was trying to see.
They were looking at the front of the house, the windows and doors visible.
“Three sets of doors at the front,” Locke murmured, obviously concentrating.
She could see them: a big door at the front of the house and two sets of what looked like french doors on either side, closer to the corners of the structure.
He maneuvered the drone around one side of the house. “Lots of windows and doors.”
She heard concern in his voice and had the first inkling of what he was doing, why he was doing it.
“You’re going there,” she said. “To Glover’s house.”
He piloted the drone around the back of the house and up the other side. When he was done, he punched something into the app’s keypad. The house got smaller as the drone pulled away, returning home.
He turned to her, obviously unconcerned with the drone’s ability to find its way home with GPS coordinates.
“I have to,” he said. “It’s the only way to get a handle on what he’s doing, how close he is to making an escape.”
She wanted to rebel. To tell him it was dangerous. Risky.
But of course he knew those things, and this is what she’d signed up for. This is who Locke was.
You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.
Except she didn’t want to tame him. Di
dn’t want to mold him into something safe.
“He has guards,” she said, turning her attention to more practical concerns.
“Not many of them,” he said.
“We don't know that,” she said. “We have no idea what’s going on inside that house.”
He nodded. “You’re right, but we can draw some conclusions from what we just saw. The lack of guards on the property itself, the small number of security cameras… all of it speaks to a perfunctory security presence rather that a powerful one. Which makes sense.”
“Why does it make sense?” she asked.
“Glover’s not running a criminal empire. He’s just a liar and thief acting in his own best interests. Cancun is a getaway for him — not a fortress.”
She couldn’t argue his logic, but that didn’t mean she liked it. It didn’t mean she would fight it either. It wasn't for her to tame him.
Her only job was to love him. She’d made that decision the night he’d told her everything. In some ways it felt like the decision had been made ages ago.
“Will you take anyone with you?” she asked. “Someone to watch your back?”
Relief was visible on his face, and she could see that he’d been bracing himself for a fight. Had been preparing to make his case.
“Not this time. I’ll be able to get in and get out more quietly alone.” He sighed, pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “I know this might not make you feel any better, but this isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this. It’s a piece of cake compared to some of the other things I’ve done.”
She pulled back to look up at him. “You’re right, that doesn’t make me feel better.”
He chuckled. “I’m sorry.”
She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “You can’t be sorry, Locke. Not about this. Not ever. I knew what I was getting into.” She wrapped her arms around his back, reveling in the solidity of his presence. “When will you go?”
“Tonight.” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead, touched his lips to hers. “And I’ll be back by the time you’re ready for bed. I promise.”
She leaned into him, breathed in the clean cotton of his T-shirt, tried to push away the feeling that his promise was a dangerous temptation of fate.
24
Locke navigated the Jeep along the windy roads outside Cancun, his mind on Elle.
Some things never changed.
He hadn’t been entirely surprised that she’d made so little of his plans to infiltrate Glover’s property. She’d been concerned — that much he could see on her face — but it wasn’t in her nature to place limits on him. She knew him.
Understood him like no one else.
He’d hated leaving her alone in Tulum, but he’d had Hector call in some of the men he kept on retainer to beef up the security presence in his absence. They’d stayed out of sight while he and Elle dined on the terrace overlooking the water, but they would make their presence known if the situation called for it.
He followed the GPS up another winding road, ascending into the hills surrounding Cancun.
Fucking Glover.
He was smart — but not that smart. Locke had been reviewing the countries that didn’t have extradition treaties with the US, and his bet was on Glover either taking off to another part of Mexico or the Maldives. When you got right down to it, he was just another pampered trust fund baby who wouldn’t want to get his lily white hands dirty. There would be no Ivory Coast for him. No Nepal. No Cambodia. Glover would be looking for a place to retire in style. A tropical beach like the one in Cancun, drinks with umbrellas.
The question Locke was trying to answer was how long they had to stop the bastard, because there was no way the investigation against Glover was a surprise to him. Those were charges you usually saw coming, and Glover had obviously been preparing for the eventuality. The only thing Locke hadn’t figured out was Glover’s wife and daughters. How much did they know? Were they prepared to run, too?
He glanced at the blue dot on the GPS, drove another hundred feet, and pulled to the side of the road, wedging the car into the thick undergrowth growing next to the dirt. There was a full moon, but it was mostly blocked out by the trees on either side of the narrow road. There wasn’t much traffic this far outside of Cancun. The car would be safe here.
He got out and walked around to the trunk, strapped on his gear, and pulled out his phone to navigate as he stepped into the overgrowth on the other side of the road.
It was quiet, only the rustling of animals in the trees overhead and the occasional scurry on the ground against the backdrop of his footsteps. Every now and then the moonlight managed to break through the foliage, illuminating the forest in otherworldly blue light. In any other circumstance, he would have wanted Elle with him. She wouldn’t have been scared in the darkness. Wouldn’t have been uncomfortable with the hike and the bugs and the jungle’s humidity.
She would have seen the magic in it.
It was one of many reasons he knew she was his soul mate. Knew she was meant to be his. She was a woman with whom he could share every adventure. A woman who wouldn’t only refrain from trying to tame him, but who would revel in his wildness.
A woman with wildness of her own.
He’d been walking for about twenty minutes when he came to the hill that was his destination. The incline was gradual at first, but it became steeper as he reached the top, the terrain less spongy, more rocky. By the time he reached the crest almost all of the trees had fallen away, allowing the moonlight to shine on the peak overlooking Glover’s property.
The hang glider was right where he expected it to be.
He’d given specific instructions for its delivery after he’d seen the layout of the Glover estate, and he spent a few minutes circling the contraption, checking it’s integrity and stability. As a matter of principle, he was always thorough with the risks he took, but now he found that his safety mattered to him.
That he valued his life because Elle was back in it.
He sure as hell wasn’t going to give it up for an asshole like Glover.
When he was sure the glider was ready to go, he secured his backpack to his waist and climbed into the wire frame. He stood for a moment on the clifftop, feeling the wind, letting his body find the rhythm of it.
Then he rushed to the edge of the cliff and stepped off into the abyss.
25
Elle sat on the sofa trying to concentrate on the book in front of her. It was impossible, the words swimming on the page as her mind ran away with her, wondering about Locke, where he was.
If he was safe.
They’d had dinner in town before he left, and she’d made a point to ask questions about his approach to Glover’s estate, not wanting him to feel like he had to downplay the mission. They couldn’t hide from that part of his life.
She couldn’t hide from it.
Loving him meant embracing all of him, and while she wasn’t exactly enjoying this first taste of worry, she would have to make peace with it.
She’d given him a long kiss by the jeep before he left. It was her only nod to the potential danger, and she’d forced herself to keep her expression placid, her voice steady. Then she’d gone into the house and poured herself a big glass of wine.
She’d called her mother to pass the time and had been happy to hear the joy in her voice. Her mom found only good memories in working at the store. She’d downplayed the day’s slow revenue, focusing instead on the fact that Abby and her father had come in to choose a new book. Elle considered it a small victory. There was no guarantee they would avoid Bolton’s, but at least their awkward encounter outside the superstore hadn’t soured them on Matheson and Matheson.
She was still thinking about the conversation with her mom when her cell phone rang from the coffee table. She sat up so quickly her book slid to the floor and reached for the phone, half-expecting it to be Locke.
She was surprised to see her brother’s name and
face appear on the screen. She picked it up quickly when she realized it was him. Her brother could be anywhere, and his phone service could give out in a heartbeat.
“Patrick!” she said into the phone. “Hey!”
“Hey, yourself!” His voice was warm and familiar. “What’s up, sis?”
She laughed, then stood and walked onto the terrace where she could see the Pacific stretched out in the moonlight. “What’s up? More like where are you and when are you coming home?”
“I’m still in Iceland,” he said. “I think I’m going to stay put for awhile actually. It’s amazing here.”
“It looks like it.” She’d been following his pictures on Instagram as he worked his way around the world. At first he’d relied on his savings, but eventually he’d developed a network of contacts that provided him with work when he needed it. He’d supported his travels by working on an olive farm in Greece, tending bar in Dublin, and giving private English lessons in Japan, among other things. “The pictures are amazing.”
“It’s better in person,” he said. “You should totally meet up with me.”
He’d made the offer before, but she’d been too focused on getting the store up and running, and then on keeping it up and running, to take the offer seriously. Now there was Locke to consider, and she found she had no desire to be anywhere but with him. Maybe they would both go someday.
“Actually I’m in Mexico right now,” she said.
It was as good a segue as any into the fact that Locke was back in her life, and she had no intention of lying to Patrick about it, not even by omission.
“Mexico!” She could hear his smile through the phone and she had a sudden image of him as a pudgy three-year-old, following her around the original Matheson and Matheson, getting into things and being a pest. “That’s awesome. What are you doing there?”
Rebel Love (Kings of Corruption Book 2) Page 11