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"Yeah. I can tolerate her now, but it takes an effort, and I can only do it for a short period of time. The woman's middle name is entitled. I don't know how Rob can stand her, but I gave up on trying to understand their dynamic a long time ago."
"To each their own." Mia sighed. "Good luck to your friend."
"Thank you. For everything."
"If there's anything else you need, let me know. I can rent you a car, send you cash, just say the word."
"Cash would be nice. I'd rather not use my credit cards because charges can be traced, too. I'll pay you back. You know that."
"Don't be silly. Of course, I do."
18
KIAN
"Thank you for coming so quickly." Kian motioned for Lokan to follow him to the balcony. "We need your input."
"I'm glad you called. With Carol gone, I had nothing to do, and I was bored. Besides, I wouldn't mind a cigar and a glass of whiskey, and the company, of course."
Lokan was already dressed in his tuxedo, which was good since they were pressed for time. The wedding was in less than half an hour, which wasn't enough time to devise a strategy, but it was enough to get Lokan's perspective on the situation. He was still an active member of the Brotherhood and had more insight into its workings than Kalugal and Kian had.
Kian opened the lid of the cigar box. "Choose your poison."
"Since we don't have much time, I'll take the Short Story."
"Good choice." Kian handed him the cutter and poured whiskey into a glass from the bottle he had brought outside.
Lokan cut off the tip of his cigar. "I was hoping for another get-together for Brundar's bachelor party and some male bonding, but given that he participated in the mission earlier, I understand why there hasn't been one."
"It has nothing to do with the mission. He just didn't want to have one. He's not very social."
Lokan nodded. "I've noticed." He took the lighter from Kian. "So, what is this about?" He lit his cigar and took a puff.
Kian handed Lokan the glass. "Kalugal and I interrogated Bud earlier, and it turned out that Kalugal hadn't been as meticulous as he should have been erasing the tour guide's memories. The guy remembered a few things that he'd overheard, and Bud was able to coerce him into revealing them."
"It's not easy to thrall so surgically," Kalugal said. "I couldn't erase all of his memories because that would have been suspicious, so I had to sift through them and decide what needed to go and what could stay, and as you all know, looking into someone's head is not like reading a book."
"We know." Kian put a hand on Kalugal's shoulder. "I'm not accusing you of negligence."
"It sure sounded like you did." Kalugal tapped on his cigar, dislodging a big chunk of ash.
Ignoring his cousin's pout, Kian turned to Lokan. "Anyway, Luis overheard someone mentioning Cabo and the name of the hotel where Mia and Frankie's friend is staying. Kalugal says that the Brotherhood have probably moved locally stationed teams, either from here in Mexico or from California, to investigate what happened to their brethren in Acapulco and to wait for us at the hotel. What's your take on this?"
"Kalugal is right. If time was not a factor, they would have sent teams from the island, but the disappearance of an entire team is an urgent matter, especially since they reported their suspicions about who killed their cartel partners. They have several teams in Mexico and other Latin American countries to oversee their drug operations. Those are the teams they will most likely use."
Kalugal smirked. "That's precisely what I said."
Lokan tilted his head. "What is the plan, then? Are we still stopping at Cabo, or are we sailing past it to the next stop? My advice is to keep going. You don't want a confrontation with the Brotherhood."
"No, I don't." Kian took a puff of his cigar. "What I'm worried about is them figuring out which ship we are on and sending the Mexican navy after us. They don't have any compellers other than Navuh on hand, and no one will dare to ask him to get involved in such a marginal matter, but I bet that they have plenty of Mexican politicians, generals, and admirals who they can either bribe or extort to do their dirty work for them."
Lokan shook his head. "They wouldn't go that far. As much as they want revenge, they need to stay under the humans' radar as much as you do. Starting an international incident over twelve members of the Brotherhood is not reason enough to risk exposure, and neither is the prospect of capturing or killing a few clan members. No one in the Brotherhood's leadership would expect that the entire clan is on one ship. Nothing in the clan's behavior over the centuries would lead them to think that. They are used to you doing your best to hide. If I were the one evaluating the situation, I would assume that several clan members, most likely Guardians, were on vacation or on their way to doing some business in Mexico. They ran into the cartel thugs who were holding the women by chance, and being the goody two-shoes that they are, they appointed themselves the champions of the weak and killed the bad humans. When the Brotherhood's team demanded the victims' return and threatened to harm Luis and his family, the Guardians attacked and killed the team and their human cohorts."
Kian let out a breath. "That's the problem right there. They were prepared for us, and they marshaled a large military force. To overcome them, we had to have a superior force. They would no longer think that they are dealing with just a few members of the clan. They don't know about you or Kalugal or Toven, so they might assume that Annani disabled all those soldiers and made them easy to pick off."
A long moment of silence stretched over the balcony as the others considered what he had said.
"Again, not likely." Lokan pushed to his feet and walked over to where Kian had left the bottle of whiskey. "To assume that the Clan Mother was there in person is a leap of logic none of them would make. They might consider cooperation with the local army or police, though. Or maybe even an aerial attack since we are not that far from the clan's base, which they know is in Los Angeles."
