Page 90 of Fixed Asset

Of course he did.

“I saw the five Snickers you put in your pack,” I noted. “Do you really need more candy?”

“Yes, Kitty Cat. I prefer local chocolate when I’m traveling.”

Pete was a few feet in front of us. He didn’t break stride when he confirmed, “He’s not lying. Every country, multiple stops for candy bars.”

“Some of us like foreign chocolate. Some of us like foreign women. But one of those things doesn’t steal your wallet and watch.” I heard a loud snap. “Oh, and your passport.”

Jack chuckled. Pete did not.

“Did you buy a hooker and she pulled the ole ‘wait until you pass out, then steal all your shit’?” I asked.

“No. I did not buy a hooker. I met a woman in a bar and took her back to my hotel room,” Pete disgruntledly mumbled.

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. “Where was this?”

“Saint Petersburg.”

And then it hit me. “Your nickname.”

“Yup.”

“Russia or Florida?”

There was a beat of silence.

“The Sunshine City in the Sunshine State,” Mason answered. “Had to explain to the Master Chief why he was missing our flight out of Tampa.”

“I was twenty-three,” Pete defended himself. “And the woman had this British accent that drove me wild. Totally lost my head.”

“Lost your head and your wallet,” I noted. “Are we walking across the street to the grocery store here or the one by the hotel?”

We’d all studied the map of the island. There was a tiny village next to the airfield. It had a few stores and a church. Our hotel was seven kilometers up the road. We could hoof it, and with the clean, cool night air after being in a stuffy plane, I would’ve suggested ditching the car and walking, but I was ready to sleep. We had an early morning tomorrow. Before we left for Natividad Island, we needed to make sure Carlos hadn’t brought Calista here. If she wasn’t on either island, we’d head to the mainland.

“Hold up,” Pete said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “It’s Shep.” There was a brief pause before “We’ve landed.” Another pause, this one longer and accompanied by Pete’s gaze sliding around the group. “Right. We’ll pivot. Thanks for the update.”

Pete pocketed his phone and announced, “A plane registered in the United Arab Emirates filed a flight plan to Mexico City. The plane is still there, but the pilot and the four occupants of that flight boarded a smaller aircraft. Flight plan has them landing here on Cedros. Shep missed it earlier, but Gloria Alverez checked into a hotel here two days ago and hasn’t checked out.”

I guess I wasn’t getting into bed anytime soon.

“Well, that fucks up tonight’s plans of kicking back and eating chocolate,” Mason grumbled my thought.

“I feel like I should ask if eating chocolate is a euphemism for something. But I’m afraid that’s what you call a combat jack and I’ll be scarred for life, so I’m not going to ask.”

Mason’s smile was wicked.

Thankfully Pete cut in before Mason could confirm my suspicion. “We’ve got five unknowns, Gloria, and Carlos on the island. The hotel Gloria checked in to is in the same village where our hotel is, near the fishing port and pier. We’re hoofing it, using the beach until we hit the bluffs, then we’ll use the dirt access roads to Ghost Town. That puts us three klicks from the hotel.”

The beach route was the long way to the village north of the airport, where the hotels and pier were. It would add forty minutes to our walk.

“Are we hitting the hotel tonight or waiting until dawn?” Jack asked.

“My vote is tonight,” Mason declared. “I’m not all that fired up about hanging out for longer than needed in a place named Ghost Town.”

I couldn’t stop my smirk.

“Scaredy cat.”