Chapter 31
Declan winced. "I don't know if I have that much. Let me check."
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a fat wad of cash, trying not to let the officer see just how much he had. Declan peeled off five crisp hundred-dollar bills and handed them through the window to the officer.
The officer counted them and smiled. "Have a nice day. Drive safe.”
He waddled back to his patrol car, released Silas, then climbed in and waited for a moment.
Silas returned to the van and slid behind the wheel. “I don’t know what you did, but thank you.”
“Don’t worry,” Declan said. “I’ll take it out of your pay.”
I couldn’t tell if he was kidding.
Silas fired up the engine, put it into gear, and drove away.
We all breathed a little easier and exchanged relieved looks.
"If I never come back to this place, it will be too soon," Vanessa said.
"I hate to bring this up, but we all had our cell phones," I said.
"So what?" Vanessa replied.
"So, they can track that kind of thing."
Declan shook his head. "Not around here. They don’t have the budget or the inclination. I couldn’t get service at the ruins or the cenote. Anybody else?”
Silas shook his head. "I think we’re in the clear."
My battery had died before we got to the cenote. I felt reasonably comfortable I couldn’t be tied to the location. But I was still coming to grips with the fact that I had killed someone—a bad person who was going to kill someone else. But still, it was traumatic.
"I think it’s probably a good idea that everyone turn off their cell phones until we get back to the boat," Declan said.
It was a little late now, but none of us wanted to be linked to these vans.
Declan looked at Silas, “Please tell me you paid for these vans in cash and didn't put my name on the reservation.”
Silas smiled. "I paid Felix half in cash when he picked us up and reserved the vehicles under an alias. I'm not stupid.”
Declan smiled. "That's why I hired you. But we need to have a little talk about what happened today. I want to make sure that never happens again.”
"It's my fault. I take full responsibility."
"We’ll discuss this later.”
Soon, we were on Kyle's bumper. They had been driving a little slow. I'm sure they were hoping we'd catch up to them.
We followed them into town, parked the vehicles a few blocks from the marina, then hopped out.
"I'll take care of the vans," Silas said to Declan.
"You know there's only one reliable way to destroy all trace evidence," I said to him.
Silas nodded.
I figured he was going to find a gas can and burn them both out.
With cautious glances around, we walked away from the vehicles while Silas hurried in the opposite direction.
We made our way back to the marina and boarded the tender that had been tied up.
Kyle piloted us back to the Vesper. Then he returned to shore to pick up Silas.
As soon as they returned to the boat, we would weigh anchor and set sail.
It was time to head for the next destination as far away from here as possible.
The sun had fallen below the horizon, and the sky darkened.
Declan pulled me aside as we stepped into the main salon. "I owe you one.”
I gave a grim nod, then headed below to my stateroom. Covered in sweat, dirt, and bad memories, I needed a hot shower.
The grime swirled down the drain as I washed the sins of the day away. I wasn't sure how to feel, but I didn't feel like a victim anymore. I had controlled my own destiny. I had saved my friend’s life. Maybe I was now a person to be feared.
When I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, I didn't even freak out about the writing on the mirror.