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"Really, and hearing that Kalugal was touched by what I wrote makes me so proud."
"Your vows were beautiful." Kalugal sighed dramatically.
Kian rolled his eyes as he opened the door to his suite. "I didn't know you were so emotional, cousin." He ushered his guests inside.
Kalugal batted his eyelashes. "I have many layers."
Snorting, Kian walked over to the bar and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "As lovely as it is to share this touching moment with you two, I need to think about what we are going to do. I don't want to engage another group of Doomers while I have my entire clan on the ship, and especially my mother." He lined up three glasses on the counter and poured whiskey into them. "Any suggestions?"
As Kalugal and Anandur took their glasses, Kian walked over to the balcony doors and opened them.
The humid heat outside was not as bad this late in the evening, but it was still an adjustment after leaving the air-conditioned space behind.
"We can just keep on sailing." Kalugal followed him to the balcony, with Anandur a couple of steps behind him. "Mia and Frankie will be disappointed, and so will their friend, but that shouldn't influence your decision. Safety first, right?"
Kian opened the humidor he had left outside and presented it to Kalugal. "Maybe we can pick Margo up with a lifeboat. She can head to one of the nearby beaches, and we will collect her from there. I doubt the Doomers will be following her since they don't know who she is." He offered the box to Anandur.
Anandur pulled out a Cuban. "It doesn't feel right to run. We took out those directly responsible for the massacre, but that's not enough. We need to take out the entire leadership, and we can't, which frustrates me."
Kian and Kalugal both nodded.
"Perhaps eliminating the team they sent to Cabo will send a message," Kalugal said.
"What kind of a message?" Kian offered him the cutter. "That we are in charge of this area? We are not. They will send an even larger force, and by the time it gets here, we will be long gone. It's futile to engage them." He lit his cigar and took a grateful puff. "We need to stick to what we have always done, which is hiding the best we can. I don't like it, and I wish we could take on the entire Brotherhood and eliminate them, including Navuh, but we can't, not even by bombing the hell out of their island. There are civilians on that damn island, including your mother and Wonder's sister."
"We can get them out first." Anandur lit up his cigar. "The same way we got Carol out. Her rescue was proof that it could be done."
"My mother doesn't want to leave." Kalugal sat down on a lounger and put his feet up. "We would have to knock her out. But since she is the only one who we could coordinate the rescue plan with, that would be a problem. And even if we managed that, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath if we killed my father. She would be enraged and inconsolable."
Kian couldn't argue with that, and he didn't want to. It was a futile discussion at this point, and he had more urgent matters to think about.
"We are getting carried away." He sat on a lounger next to Kalugal. "We need to decide what to do about Cabo. Let's consider the timeline. By now, the superiors know that something is up because they lost communications with Bud's team. They will want to investigate what happened, and they will want revenge. Bud is right about them sending two teams. One to Acapulco and one to Cabo. But even if they are on the plane right now, it will take them at least eighteen hours to get here. Probably more. They need to fly to the Maldives first, and as far as I know, there are no direct flights from there to Acapulco or any of the other nearby airports. They will have to book a flight with a layover. Then, they will need to get weapons from a local supplier, which will probably take a few more hours. In short, I can't see them being ready to engage us sooner than forty-eight hours or so from now. At the speed we are going, we can dock in Cabo, get Margo, and be out of there before they even get there."
Kalugal puffed on his cigar for a few quiet moments before turning to Kian. "Even if you are right about that, which you might not be, they will ask their buddies in the cartel to intervene."
Anandur snorted. "What can a bunch of humans do to us?"
"Plenty," Kalugal said. "We have less than eighty Guardians, and even with my men, our entire force is just a little over a hundred. Humans can easily overwhelm us with the right weapons. My compulsion is a formidable weapon, but it has to be used strategically. They have to be able to hear my voice, so it won't help us at all if they fire a torpedo at the ship from a safe distance. We are lucky that they don't know for sure we are on a ship or which one. One well-aimed anti-ship cruise missile could sink us."
Kian frowned at his cousin. "What did you mean by if I'm right about the timeline?"
"You are assuming that they will send a force from the island, but that's probably not what they will do." Kalugal took a puff from his cigar. "They probably have teams stationed across Mexico and other South American countries that they can deploy on short notice. They could also send a force from California, where they have a large presence. In my opinion, we can assume that they are already waiting for us in Cabo with a large force stationed at the hotel."
17
MARGO
Margo showered and checked her phone. She got dressed and looked at her phone again. She packed a suitcase and her satchel and checked her phone once more, but there was still no response from Mia.
She thought about checking on Jasmine, but then it occurred to her that they hadn't exchanged phone numbers. Besides, even if she had Jasmine's number, it wouldn't be prudent to call her. Alberto might be monitoring her calls.
In fact, when Jasmine fled to the Airbnb, she should leave her phone behind in the suite so Alberto couldn't trace her.
With a sigh, Margo picked up her phone and headed out to the pool bar, where Jaz was supposed to wait for her. She didn't know why it was taking Mia so long to book the Airbnb. Perhaps there was no availability?
If so, one of the nearby hotels would do. They were all clustered in the same area, and Margo was sure they had rooms available. Maybe she should call Mia to tell her that?
Nah. Mia was smart enough to figure that out on her own. Something else must have caused the delay.
