The Relic Hunters

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

The drone flew close, so close Bodie could clearly see its weapons and unblinking eye, its odd wings and markings. They could hear its high-pitched shriek.

“Do something!” Gunn shouted.

“All right,” Cassidy replied. “Just let me get out my drone repellent.”

The drone backed off a little. The tunnel stretched long, dark and very narrow.

“It’s gonna fire,” Jemma said, wincing.

Cross jammed the brakes on. The drone flew in hard, almost colliding with the back of the car but swerving up sharply at the last moment. Cross set off as fast as he could again, putting some distance between them and the readjusting drone. Bodie almost clapped in amazement.

“ ’Kinell, Cross,” Cassidy said. “You hero.”

“Good move.” Heidi coughed. “Unexpected. Maybe give us a heads up next time.”

“I think he just thought: ‘what would David Hasselhoff do?’” Cassidy cackled.

Bodie motioned for Cross to keep his eyes on the road as the ex-military man turned around to retort. The drone dropped from the side this time, easing its way around the back. A car traveling in the opposite direction missed it by mere inches, causing Gunn to curse their lack of luck.

“Get down.” Cassidy lined the drone up through her sights.

Everyone scrambled down, hearing the no-nonsense tone in her voice. Bodie pressed hard into the leather seats and jammed his fingers into his ears. Cassidy fired, four shots in succession, whilst Cross bellowed in pain.

“You could have fuckin’ warned me!”

“Ah, well, touché.”

The rear windows shattered, the bullets flying true. They smashed the drone aside, destroying its body and wings, and sending it crashing into the mountain. As it fell away the car left the tunnel and sunshine flooded the interior.

“Nice,” Bodie said, slipping his head up over the back seat and gauging the terrain.

“We should get off this road,” Heidi said. “If they found us once they’ll find us again.”

“And a new car,” Gunn said. “Fast.”

“Not that many roads in Hungary,” Cross said. “But there’s a town not too far ahead. Maybe we can replan there?”

“Good thinking,” Heidi said. “Make it fast. We need to get out of sight.”

“I’m doing the best I can.”

“Says Miss Daisy.” Cassidy flicked at the shattered glass that littered the back seat. “Bit of a mess.”

Heidi stared at her. “Don’t know whether to be cross or thankful,” she said, also brushing at the glass.

“Ow,” Bodie said. “You just flipped a piece of glass at my arse.”

Heidi sniggered. “Your arse?”

“Yeah, my arse. Is that a problem?”

“No, Mr. Darcy, it’s all good.”

Bodie noticed the only one not smirking was Cross, who was concentrating on navigating the windy route. Even Gunn was smiling. “It does sound a bit hoity toity,” the geek said.

“From you? Shit. Now I know I’m off kilter. So I guess it should be ass then?”

“Not ass,” Cassidy corrected. “It’s aassssss. Draw it out. Sounds ruder.”

“I can’t say it the way you do.”

“Well, try. The—”

“Quit!” Cross shouted. “We just barely escaped a rabid drone attack and you guys’re having a schoolyard debate. Get the goddamn maps out and find us a safe place in this town.”

“Already on it.” Gunn was flicking through his cellphone as was Jeff. “But we don’t get our maps out, mate. We use an app to get them up.”

“Whatever.”

Bodie shuffled further toward the window as Heidi picked glass out close to his legs. The CIA agent was a conundrum, on the one hand able to destroy his life and imprison his friends but on the other a highly capable and trustworthy ally. He saw the road ahead starting to wind down toward a medium-sized town and nudged Gunn with an outstretched knee.

“You there with the location yet?”

“The signal’s crap,” he said, holding the phone at various angles.

Cross grunted from the front. “And that’s why your app’s bullshit, brother. You wouldn’t get that from a paper map.”

Bodie thought the man had a point, but didn’t want to tax Gunn any further. Being the untested geek in a team of hardened combatants was difficult enough. The town sprawled below, filling a valley and running up into the lower mountains. They started to descend more sharply as a light drizzle began to fall.

“You think they’re still tracking us?” Jemma asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Heidi explained something Bodie already knew. “This is the only road we can use. Hoods could be here already.”

Cross slowed. Gunn shouted out a location, a parking area next to a tired old building. Google Maps told him it was large, busy and hard to find. They might be able to lose themselves awhile there and come out looking somewhat different.

“Eight minutes.” Cross watched dubiously as Jemma leaned through to jab the coordinates into the Satnav. “That thing reliable?”

Gunn shrugged as the others all smiled. “Actually it depends who manufactured it. As I’m sure most drivers will relate to.”

Bodie watched through the side window, sharp droplets of raining drifting in through the shattered rear window. They asked Cross to turn up the heating and waited for the parking area. At last, it appeared up ahead. Cross found a space from which they could watch the surrounding area and they settled back, weary, stressed, worried.

Heidi took a big breath. “Sit rep? We’ve lost our Hood, the one with the map. Gotta assume he’s hours ahead of us, probably still in Hungary. If the Illuminati are sticking to their low-key policy.”

“I think they will,” Bodie said. “They’re immensely arrogant, it seems.”

“Yeah,” Cross said. “Almost as if when they make a decision they expect it will work, regardless.”

“They’ve had it that way for hundreds if not thousands of years,” Heidi said. “Depending which story you believe.”

“All right,” Bodie didn’t look away from the busy parking area and surrounding streets. “So how do we vanish, and catch up?”

Cassidy shifted a little, her job to scrutinize the windows of surrounding buildings. “New car. Balls out. Sound good?”

Gunn tapped his screen. “I can find a rental place.”

Bodie smiled at the kid’s naivety. “We’re already here, Sam.”

“But… some poor guy’s gonna lose his ride.”

“He’ll be compensated later, quietly. It’s happened before.”

Bodie wondered if that was strictly true. He guessed it depended on the morals of the agent in charge, but had no real reason to question Heidi’s. Besides, Jemma was the more morally driven one of the team. Her code of honor often kept them in check.

“I’m seeing three candidates,” Cross said. “There, there and there.” He pointed in the general direction of the vehicles. “All common. All battered. All dull colors. Perfect for what we need.”

“I’m seeing movement,” Cassidy said. “Right there.” She nodded at the seemingly abandoned building to their right. At the edge of the parking area it rose four stories and consisted of a dirty white façade and many broken windows.

“Third window along, third floor. You see it?”

Bodie had his hand on the door handle, ready to move. “Actually, I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”

“You don’t get to live this long and look this pretty by second guessing. Move.”

They pushed open the doors, jumped out of the car. At that very moment a streak issued from the window Cassidy had identified — a thin white streak that dissipated as it went.

“RPG!” Bodie cried.

They dived. They rolled. They scrambled clear, looking desperately for cover — a nearby bench, a badly parked BMW, a litter bin. Bodie half-ran, half-scrabbled clear. The missile flashed toward its target. In that few seconds Bodie could only hope everyone had their wits about them; even Jeff who had been seated across the other side of the SUV. Bodie saw it coming, saw its speed and power and the spitting fire it trailed, and was thankful Cross had chosen a quieter, more spacious part of the car park to stop in.

The explosion happened fast, the fire and wreckage shredding the air. Bodie didn’t stop rolling. The direction of the missile sent the debris away from him but the power blast shook his bones.

Screams immediately erupted from close by. People ran away from the chaos. Bodie pulled out his Glock and fired four quick shots into the suspect window. Nothing moved. He crouched behind a Jeep with big tires and looked back.

Cassidy was dragging Jeff along, just disappearing behind a red Prius. The rest were kneeling or crawling except for Eli Cross, who was flat out on the ground, unmoving.

Bodie felt a lurch deep in his heart. The older man of their team, the ex-military redneck, the careful forty-plus, world-class thief that kept them all rational and together had not fared well in the missile attack.

Furious, scared, he rose and fired the rest of his mag into the empty window.