“Your stupidity has gotten me into trouble more times than I can count, and here I am again! Just like Rio, all over again! Remember that!?” Kingsley yelled, shrugging out of his jacket and letting it fall to the pavement.
“All I remember is dragging you out of a burning building! Should’ve left you to fucking die!” Marc shouted back, taking off his backpack and chucking it to the ground.
“This is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever witnessed! Stop it!” Lily was almost shrieking.
“And I remember being caught in that burning building because of someone’s shitty intel!”
“Shitty intel!?”
Lily was ready to start throwing things at them, when she heard something behind her. She turned around and was shocked to see the car rolling away from them, down a small embankment. It had come to a stop at a downward angle, and Kingsley must have left it in neutral.
“Guys!” she shouted, turning towards them.
“Shut up!”
“Um, I just thought you’d like to know,” she started jogging back towards the car as it picked up speed, making a beeline for the beach, “the fucking car is escaping!”
When she glanced over her shoulder, both men were sprinting after her, so she slowed her pace. It wasn’t like she could do much; if she grabbed the bumper, it would just drag her with it, and the way Marc was running, he would beat her to the car, anyway.
“Stop!” he was yelling.
“I am! But do you see where bitching like little girls gets you!? Now we’ll have to -”
There was an explosion. Lily was knocked backwards, and luckily Marc was right behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, hugging her to him as he curled their bodies down and away from the blast, his other arm going around her head to protect it. They stayed on the ground, his body almost completely covering her own.
Debris fell around them, and she assumed it was pieces of the car. When he finally let up a little, she glanced around. Kingsley was flat on the ground, lifting his head up, as well. She turned to look over her shoulder, and the Explorer was stopped dead. Pieces of it were everywhere. A door had gotten blown off and laid halfway between the shell of the vehicle and themselves.
“Bomb?” she breathed. Marc shook his head and got off of her.
“Land mine. Are you okay?” he asked, hauling her to her feet and examining her face and her head.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, but his hands continued on a path down her body, as if he was determined to check for himself that she was in one piece.
“The border area is riddled with them,” Kingsley was saying as he walked back to where his jacket was, scooping it up and dusting it off. “Probably not a good idea to take a stroll down to the water.”
“I should’ve warned you,” Marc was grumbling.
“I know. All our guns, all our supplies,” she sighed.
“Are you shitting me? Lily, I don’t give a fuck about those things. A couple more steps, and you would’ve been off the road. You could be in pieces right now,” he pointed out.
“But I didn’t, and I’m not,” she replied.
He shocked her by pulling her into a hug. Outside of the random crazy sex they had, they hardly ever touched. She racked her brain, trying to remember if he’d ever hugged her. If she’d ever hugged him. He was really upset. She smoothed her hands up his back, hooking onto the tops of his shoulders.
“It’s dangerous out here,” he whispered in her ear.
“I know that, Marc. I’m a dangerous person,” she whispered back. He shook his head.
“Not as much as you’d like to think.”
When they pulled apart, Kingsley was standing a discreet distance away, his back to them. They walked over to him and Marc picked his pack up off the ground, pulling the straps across his chest.
“At least we have the diamonds,” Lily tried to find a silver lining. Marc frowned.
“Yeah. Let’s start walking.”
It was hot out – much hotter than was usual for the area. The day before had been in the low eighties, nice. But as they walked down the road, Lily felt like her skin was burning off.
“What’s the temperature?” she asked. Kingsley pulled a gadget out of his pocket, hit a couple buttons.
“Thirty four Celsius,” he answered. She did the math in her head. Around ninety-three degrees, Fahrenheit. In direct sun. Fuck.
Marc surprised her by producing a light weight wind breaker from the bottom of his magical Mary Poppins bag. It was huge on her, hanging to her mid-thighs, but it shielded her from the sun a little, so she took it and was grateful.
If felt like they walked forever. No cars came, which she wasn’t sure if that was a blessing, or more of their vehicular curse at play. Marc produced a canteen, and they all took turns sipping at the warm water. Then he pulled out an old map, the one she hadn’t seen since Mali.
“Best I can figure,” Marc started, tracing his finger along a line. “We’re about twenty-four kilometers from the town of Tarfaya.”
Fifteen miles … in this heat … fuck.
“Is that the closest place?” Lily double checked.
“Yes. We could head back the way we came, but the nearest town is thirty-three kilometers,” his eyes wandered over the map.
“Fuck,” she swore out loud.
“I concur,” Kingsley added.
“If we can average a twenty minute mile, we should be in Tarfaya around seven, just after night fall. We can stay the night, then steal a car,” Marc suggested before tucking the map back into his bag.
“Another night,” she sighed, lacing her fingers together on top of her head.
“You’ll get there,” Marc assured her, then picked up their pace.
Lily wasn’t weak, she knew that, but five hours in the African sun was a lot for anybody. Water rations were low, they weren’t allowed to drink at leisure. She and Kingsley chatted for a while, but after two hours they all stayed silent. Another hour and she felt like she was going to drop. She kept pushing, though. If the boys could do it, she sure as hell could do it, too.
Then randomly, Marc took off his pack and handed it to her. She was shocked that he was letting her hold it, and then more shocked that he was asking her to carry it. Big strong mercenary Marc couldn’t handle his own stupid pack!?
But then he stepped in front of her. Didn’t say a word, just blocked her path, forcing her to stop. He hunched down a little, and it took her a second to realize what he was doing. She quickly put on the pack, then hopped onto Marc’s back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He carried her for so long, she actually fell asleep, her cheek against his shoulder. She only woke up when he started to sit her down. She found her footing and let go of him so he could stand upright again.
“Where are we?” she yawned. He turned her around and dug in the pack.
“About a half an hour outside of Tarfaya,” he replied, and she could hear the map crinkling in his hands. She looked up at the sky. The sun had set and the stars were shining everywhere.
“Half an hour, good,” she sighed, unclipping his pack and pulling off the windbreaker as well.
“You good to walk?” he double checked, coming around to stand in front of her.
“Yeah, you didn’t have to carry me for so long,” she told him, feeling guilty while she shoved the coat into the bag.
“I didn’t mind.”
They kept moving. The rest from Marc’s piggyback had actually made things worse – her feet had gotten a chance to rest and tighten up and swell. She gritted through the pain and moved along at the same pace as the men.
When they first saw the outskirts of Tarfaya, she wanted to weep. It was like an oasis rising out of the sand. But they still had quite a ways to walk. Even once inside the town, they still had to find somewhere to stay. They stuck close to the oceanside, dragging their feet as they looked for a hotel. A cheap hotel; most of Kingsley’s money, and all of Lily’s, had gotten blown up in the Expl
orer.
Finally, around nine o’clock, almost six hours after they’d started walking, they stumbled upon some cabins on the beach. More like shanties, they were one room, with single army cots and a tiny table in each of them. A foot around the top, beneath the roofing, was all mosquito netting - it was the only form of air conditioning.
Marc and Lily were all for just breaking into one, but Kingsley pointed out their presence was already noticed within the small town. If they were caught breaking and entering, it wouldn’t be pretty. He was able to barter with the owner of the shacks, trading Marc’s expensive diving watch for one night in the shacks. Marc grumbled and complained, but handed the watch over.
“You owe me one,” Marc said.
“You could be sleeping with the sand and the scorpions, De Sant. I didn’t need to ask for two. Care to share a room, Lily?” Kingsley asked, smiling broadly at her. His hair was disheveled, and his suit was dusty, but his charm was untarnished.
“Fuck off, Law,” Marc said, shoving her towards one of the beach shacks.
It was late, but just having somewhere to sit for a moment did wonders. While Marc collapsed on the cot, Lily took off her leggings and made her way down to the water. She was suddenly thankful that Marc had bought her the bikini instead of underwear, and she sat down on the wet sand. The beach was fairly well lit, and several groups of people were wandering around on it. As she relaxed, a couple stumbled up to her.
“Excuse me,” the man asked. “American?”
“Sure,” Lily grunted, rubbing the balls of her feet.
“Us, too!” the woman laughed.
“We just got here, today. We’re with the Red Cross, but we decided to have a little vacation before we head into Algeria,” the man explained.
“Wonderful,” was all Lily said, praying that they’d go away.
“We never imagined it would be so beautiful here! Isn’t Africa beautiful?” the girl sighed, looking around the beach. Lily let go of her feet and looked up at them.
“Beautiful? Yeah, sure. Beautiful like a shark. Good luck in Algeria, you’ll need it,” she warned them, then turned to stare out over the ocean, hoping that would be enough of a hint that she wanted to be alone.
“What are you doing here?” the girl asked, squatting down next to her.
Why me?
“Not working with the Red Cross, that’s for sure.”
“Are you like a travel blogger?”
Is this for real?
“No.”
“Here with the embassy?”
“No.”
“Chuck and I always wanted to come to Africa for our honeymoon – are you here with your husband?” the girl guessed.
“No.”
“Then why are you in Africa?”
She finally turned back to them, leaning over a little.
“To steal something and to kill someone, that’s why I’m in Africa, now fuck off,” Lily snapped.
The couple gasped, then hustled away, the girl glaring at her. Lily didn’t care. She had felt completely disconnected from them. Like they were speaking different languages, were from different countries. Different planets. It was like a cheetah sitting down and having tea with two lambs. No thank you.
“See, darling? Going back to ‘real life’ is going to be quite difficult,” a soft, accented voice said from behind her. She let her head drop back, staring at Kingsley from upside down. He was keeping his distance, not allowing his shoes to get wet. In the distance, she could see Marc heading towards them, as well.
“I’m seeing that, now. That was bizarre. Is that what it’s like for you?” she asked. He shook his head.
“No, but I’ve always been a people person. That’s why you’ll find that while Marc is requested for jobs like this, I’m requested for ones that tend to have a public slant. Corporate espionage, things of that nature,” he explained.
“You don’t do brute force, huh.”
“I can be as brute as you’d like me to be, darling.”
“Let’s go find something to eat,” Marc called out. Lily finally got up, groaning as her leg muscles screamed in protest. She wiped the sand off her butt and followed the men back to shore.
After swapping her bikini bottoms out for the leggings, they went in search of food. There was a hotel nearby, and though it was late, the restaurant was still serving food. The American couple from the beach were sitting inside, and they got nervous when Lily walked in, their eyes bouncing between everyone in her group. She smiled back, wiggling her fingers at them.
“No one likes a bitch, sweetheart,” Marc said under his breath, grabbing her hand. She smiled – it was the first time he’d used a pet name for her since Kingsley had shown up. Maybe some of his good humor was returning.
“You do.”
“I tolerate one, there’s a difference.”
They ordered whatever was cheapest and had the most servings, guzzling down water along with the food. Kingsley babbled away as they ate, it seemed to be in his nature to always be talking. Always be saying something. Marc grunted out responses around his food. Lily stayed quiet, just trying to stay awake.
“So what’s your plan after this, De Sant? Say it all goes according to plan, you return the diamonds to the Liberians and send them after the dirty dealing Bratva. Then what?” Kingsley asked.
“God, then it’s time for a fucking vacation,” he groaned, stretching backwards over his chair.
“Sounds lovely. Have anywhere in mind?”
Lily expected him to say Pemba Island, the place they had discussed during their night together in the commandeered house. It had been rattling around in the back of her brain, during their walk that day. If she could just get through everything. She wouldn’t think about the future, until she lived through the present. If she could manage to stay alive, then maybe she could actually give him some of her tomorrows. Maybe even give some to herself.
“Not sure. Maybe Thailand. Maybe Greece,” Marc said quickly.
What the huh!?
Lily glanced at him, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was glaring across the restaurant, looking outside. Kingsley’s eyes were bouncing back and forth between them, and that smirky smile of his spread across his face. Like he knew exactly what each of them were thinking.
Maybe he doesn’t want Kingsley to know. Maybe it’s a secret.
“And what about you, Lily? If you survive your little revenge plan, what’s afterwards? Short term, of course,” the British man asked her. She shrugged.
“Don’t know. A vacation does sound like a good idea. Somewhere relaxing,” she sighed.
“Mmmm, I know just the place,” Kingsley pushed his empty plate out of the way and leaned towards her. “I have an amazing estate, just outside of Phuket. Isolated, calm, beaches for days, including my own private one. I would love for you to visit.”
“You don’t even know me, Kingsley. You may want to kill me after one week in my presence,” she teased. Marc cleared his throat.
“I can attest to that being exactly what will happen.”
“I very much doubt that. I think you and I are kindred spirits, actually. Get you in some decent clothing, and together we could bring a bit of style to this business,” Kingsley pointed out.
“I thought you said vacation, not work,” she pointed out.
“Well, a man can be hopeful. A partner would be nice to have.”
“I thought Marc was like a partner to you.”
“A partner who looks good in a dress.”
“I look fucking fabulous in a dress,” Marc interrupted.
“I’m sure you do,” Lily nodded her head.
“De Sant in a dress is one of the most horrifying memories I have, and on that note, I’m going to go be sick, then go to bed. Cheers, darlings,” Kingsley said, standing up. He nodded at Marc, winked at Lily, then walked away without another word, paying their tab on his way out. Lily smiled after him, watching him disappear into the darkness of the beach.
“Would you actually go there?” Marc interrupted her thoughts as he stood up.
“Excuse me?”
“Would you go there? To Phuket?”
She got up and followed him out of the restaurant.
“I don’t know. I do like him. A lot. Maybe I would. If I didn’t have a better offer to go anywhere else.”
He stayed silent.
They didn’t immediately go back to their cabin. Despite walking for most of the day, Marc seemed restless. So they walked back down to the water, throwing shells and rocks into the ocean.
“So the plan for tomorrow -” Lily started.
“Leave the car to me. Law and I will go out early, get something lined up,” he interrupted her.
“Okay. I feel like I’m getting kicked out of the band,” she joked, dropping the rest of her rocks into the water.
“Sweetheart, this band existed long before you showed up. It’s more like a reunion tour,” he teased. She glared at him.
“You know what I mean.”
“When we started, all you wanted was to get rid of me,” Marc pointed out, turning towards her. She shrugged, not looking back at him.
“You grew on me,” was all she said in response.
“Why, Liliana! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you like me,” his voice was teasing again, and he got close enough for his chest to press against her arm. She finally looked up at him.
“I do like you, Marc. I’ve always liked you. I mean, maybe for a minute there I wanted you dead, and I kind of want to kick your ass on a regular basis, and I hate that you fucked everything up for me. But I liked you in Liberia. You’re a likable guy. I like you now. I will miss you,” she was honest with him.
“I’ll miss you, too, Lily. It’s been an adventure. Pretty awful, but pretty amazing,” he told her.
We still have fifteen hours till Tangier. 800 miles. Why does this feel like goodbye?
“The plan tomorrow,” Lily started again. “We get to Tangier. I call Ivanov. I get on the ferry the next day, meeting you there. I give you the diamonds.”
Best Laid Plans Page 21