The Cure (17 page)

I
SLEPT THE ENTIRE TEN-PLUS
hours to our destination, rousing only briefly when we stopped to pay respects to officials in Mexico City. Since our destination was a private airport south of Villahermosa, we had no choice but to land and pass through customs at the larger airport first, or risk being shot down. Passing customs in our case basically meant an exchange of money. Though foreigners weren’t officially allowed to bring arms into the country without a special permit, we had a proven, albeit expensive, system to secretly transport whatever we wanted into Mexico. Unfortunately, the stop meant more than a two-hour delay in our trip. Afterward, we would have been able to fly closer to our final destination outside Palenque, but the size of our aircraft limited our landing choices. Cort’s smaller plane was far more versatile.

Upon first waking, I was dismayed that I’d forgotten to watch Benito, but then I caught sight of Ritter across from him playing cards.

Cards?
I didn’t know Ritter even played cards.

There was a lot I didn’t know about him. Maybe I wouldn’t even like the real him. Maybe what was between us was simple physical attraction.

Though if it was simple, I’d like to know what complicated meant.

Someone chuckling nearby made me aware that I was not alone in my four-seat section. I looked over at Keene where he sprawled on the two seats facing me. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Ritter hasn’t let him out of his sight. Either him or the woman.”

“Woman? What woman?”

He grinned. “You snore, you know that?”

My hands clenched. “What woman?”

“That woman.”

I sat up and looked behind me where he was pointing, craning my neck to see over the high-backed seats. My jaw dropped when I saw Mari lying on the two seats immediately behind me, curled in a fetal position. Someone had put a blanket over her. “How’d she get here?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” Ritter rose and crossed the space between us. “After takeoff, she was just there. No one saw her get on.”

Had she been there all along? I didn’t think so. Chris and Benito had passed her location when they’d stored the food. And how had she been able to get here from Ava’s? It didn’t make sense. Unless the whole catatonic bit was an act and she was actually working with her husband and the Hunters. I rejected that immediately because her fear at the park had been real. However, she could have been hired by someone else.

Maybe even the Emporium.

I met Ritter’s eyes and he nodded, obviously interpreting my expression and agreeing. No wonder he’d kept an eye on her.

I went to Mari, automatically doing an inventory of the weight my different weapons added to my body: pistol at my back, two knives on one thigh, extra knife at my calf, extra pistol on the other. Everything intact. I sat on the edge of the table opposite her two seats and leaned over, reaching for her shoulder. “Uh, Mari.”

She jerked, her eyes flying open. “Trevor,” she moaned.

Pain flew from her in waves, unfiltered.
Crap!
I slammed my mental shield shut. Apparently, my mind was back in top form, and touching her had opened an unexpected link. I saw nothing about Hunters or secret agendas, though she could be hiding that behind the more immediate emotion of loss. For a moment I felt dizzy.

“Mari,” I said again, moving to the edge of her seat, helping her sit up. “How did you get here?”

Her gaze went past me to Ritter. “Thank you for the blanket.” Then her eyes slid back to mine. “I don’t remember.” At least she was responding, which was more than she’d been doing before. She was wearing the same pants she’d worn to work yesterday, but someone had given her a clean yellow T-shirt.

“Does Ava know?” I said to Ritter.

“We radioed when she first—”

A terrified scream covered whatever else he’d been about to say. I jumped to my feet, turning to see Benito at the back of the plane past the bathrooms, one corner of the curtain over the metal bunks clutched in his hand.

“Damn it, Benito! What are you doing back there?” Ritter strode toward him.

“I need to use the bathroom!”

Ritter snorted. “We said you couldn’t unless we’re in the air. Besides, you’ve already gone six times!”

“They’re all bloody! This one no has face!” Only it came out “Thees one,” his accent deepening under distress. Benito dropped the curtain and stared at us in horror. “What kind of people are you? I change my mind. I no want to be involved.”

“Shut up.” Ritter yanked the curtain down. “You have no choice. Now go sit in your seat and stay there until we tell you, or you’ll join them.” He shoved Benito down the aisle. “Keene, don’t let him move an inch.”

Keene nodded, his eyes glittering in amusement.

“They no stink. Why they no stink?” Benito’s voice rose to a yelp as Keene’s hand gripped his shoulder, pushing him into a chair.

Of course they didn’t stink. Besides severing the three focus points of an Unbounded, the only other way to kill them is to lock them in a sealed container where they can’t absorb nutrients until the tissue between focus points rotted completely, which could take years, given the Unbounded protective system. A miserable, painful way to die. Incineration didn’t even work in most cases because the Unbounded body would burn to a hard, impenetrable shell on the outside, preserving the inner focus points for later regeneration.

Pushing the thoughts back into a remote corner of my mind that I reserved for nightmares, I said, “They aren’t dead, or we wouldn’t have brought them. Not all of them are even wounded that badly.” The mortals, I meant, and someone had bandaged them.

Benito opened his mouth, but a glare from Ritter stopped him from saying anything more.

I turned back to Mari, who was staring vacantly again.
Great, just great.
I glanced over to see Ritter watching me, the mocking smile on his face telling me he knew exactly how Benito came to be our problem.

I flashed him a confident smile and sat beside Mari. “It’s okay,” I told her. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Chris emerged from the cockpit. “We’re about to have visitors,” he announced.

“No worries. They’re expecting us.” Us with our strange cargo and weapons, Ritter meant.

We headed toward the door, which Chris was already opening. I checked my phone. Four o’clock local time, which gave us several hours before sunset. I went down the stairs after Ritter and Chris, followed closely by Jace. Sunlight met our gazes and the outside air felt warm compared to the controlled air inside the plane. Shielding my eyes as they adjusted to the brightness, I breathed in the aroma of lush vegetation, and for the first time in a month I felt warm. Maybe I’d make a habit of coming here during the winter. Or some other warm place. No way did I want to waste even another year enduring freezing temperatures. For now, I could definitely lose my camouflage jacket and the catwoman suit under my jeans.

The area was deserted except for a small wooden building at the edge of the clearing next to the runway. Two vehicles thundered toward us across the dirt expanse that separated us from the buildings, kicking up dust behind them. One of the vehicles was a battered car, the second looked like an army surplus all-terrain vehicle with a raised green body, four large tires, and a green tarp that laced over the back half.

Our ride, I assumed.

Jace’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Is that an army Humvee?” Chris appeared equally fascinated.

“No. Similar, though,” Jace said. “It’s a Pinzgauer. An old one, but reliable from what I’ve read. Several European armies use them. The Swiss, for one. Brits, too. A lot of people call them Pinz for short.”

“Cool,” Chris said.

Even Ritter couldn’t keep his eyes from the Pinz. “The cab and the bottom half of the back are armored,” he told them. “I keep it stashed nearby for when we need it.”

Men and their toys. “I thought we were going low profile,” I muttered.

At the top of the stairs, Keene laughed. “Good point. It’ll be great off-road, but we’ll be rather conspicuous in town.”

“The scientists we’re looking for don’t live in town.” Ritter flicked a glance toward the men who’d parked several yards away and were climbing from the vehicles.

“No, but if my information is correct the senator should be in Palenque by now,” Keene said. “We need to get to him before the Emporium does. There are far too many ways he could be hurt or disappear in the jungle.”

“Senator eaten by a croc.” Jace pretended to read newspaper headlines. “Are there even crocs here?”

Ritter nodded. “Big crocs. Scorpions, too.”

“And lots of men with big guns,” Benito said, poking his nose out the plane door. When Ritter scowled at him, he lifted his hands to chest level. “I’m jest sayin’. They should leave
you
alone, but if an ordinary person showed up with all that stuff you brought, one of the drug cartels would make sure they didn’t have it long.” He cast a backward glance. “Can I come out? Because it’s creepy in here with all those d—”

Before he could finish, Ritter made a motion with his finger and Keene grabbed Benito, practically hauling him down the stairs.

“You can stay out,” Ritter said, “but don’t say a word. Now start unloading.”

“Wait. I can translate.” Benito stumbled toward the hold.

Keene looked at Ritter, who shook his head. “We don’t need him for that yet. We can get by here.”

“I really think I should come with you guys.” Chris stepped closer to Ritter, his voice an undertone. “What use will I be hanging out here?”

“You’re going to make sure we have a plane to come back to.” Ritter sounded weary, and I knew it was a conversation they’d revisited several times. If I’d been awake during the flight, I would have told Chris to save his breath. Ritter was as immovable as the mountains and twice as hard as any stone. “You’re also going to make sure those men don’t see our, uh, interesting cargo while we unload it. When we come back, we may need to get out fast. So stay alert and keep your phone on.”

I felt Chris’s disappointment, but at the same time I was infinitely grateful to Ritter. One less mortal to worry about. One less family member to protect or to mourn.

The short, swarthy driver of the Pinz approached hesitantly, going directly to Ritter and handing him the keys. Ritter nodded his thanks.

“You leeve it like usual?” the man asked in barely understandable English.

“Yes,” Ritter said.

“Muy bien.” He bowed and backed away.

The other Mexican driver was younger and taller, his smile ready. The darkness of his skin made Benito look pale in comparison. “You want I should help unload?” His eyes wandered to where Keene and Benito had opened the hold.

“No.” Ritter’s answer was terse, and I had to agree. We could afford to pay a tip, but there was the little matter of eleven apparently dead or unconscious men to deal with.

The young man’s face fell, but he flashed us a white smile. “Who ees dee pilot?”

Ritter thumbed at Chris. “Him.”

“Come, señor. We have a beery nice siesta for you.”

Chris hesitated, his eyes falling to Jace and me. I knew it was still hard for him, who had always been the elder, the protector, to leave us to go into danger without him, but he’d have to get over it.

“Keep an eye out.” Jace stepped forward and clasped his hand. Chris nodded at me over Jace’s shoulder, and I dipped my head in unspoken agreement to watch over him. Without another word, Chris turned and followed the Mexicans back to their sedan. I knew he was armed, and with the money we’d paid to land here, he should be perfectly safe. Not like the rest of us.

“What about her?” Jace pointed at Mari, who’d followed us outside but stood vacantly at the bottom of the stairs.

Ritter glanced after the receding sedan. “No,” I said. “She comes with us. We need to get her to Dimitri. He’ll be able to help her.”

Ritter met my eyes. “And until then?”

I didn’t really know. We knew Dimitri and Cort were tracking the scientists, but until they contacted us, we had no idea where they were. “Have you tried to call Cort?”

Ritter nodded. “No response. There aren’t any phone towers around, though, and he could be too deep in the jungle for the satellites to work. Let’s get going and then we’ll try again.”

“Come on, Mari.” I put an arm around her and began walking toward the Pinz.

“I don’t know how we’re going to fit all those unconscious Unbounded inside with all our gear,” Jace said behind me. “That thing only holds eight in the back comfortably. And that’s conscious people.”

Ritter took out his phone. “We’ve done it before, but today we won’t have to. By the time we get the Pinz loaded, our people will be here and we can hand off the prisoners.” He didn’t sound happy about leaving them to others, and I could understand why. If our Unbounded captives escaped or were rescued before they arrived at the prison compound we shared with the other Renegades, it’d make the attack in Portland—and especially Gaven’s death—that much worse.

“Good.” Unlike Ritter, Jace sounded relieved not to have to cram in with the bloodied Emporium agents.

Ritter hesitated a second and then said, “Erin?”

“What?” I glanced at him, barely catching the keys he lobbed in my direction.

“Turn it around, would you? It’ll be easier loading if you back up. Make sure you do it at an angle to block the view from that building, but far enough away that a van can squeeze near the stairs.” His grin was a challenge, one that my Unbounded genes took to immediately.
I bet you can’t do it,
it said.

I’ll take that bet and raise you five.
“Sure thing.”

After settling Mari in the roomy passenger seat, I brought the Pinzgauer to life and turned it around, revving the engine to make a point. To my surprise, its maneuverability belied its size. Okay, I liked it—a lot. I put it into place with a cloud of dirt and a flare I didn’t know I possessed.

It helped that I could also see the vehicle from the back through Jace’s eyes, the link between us comfortable and familiar.
That kid has to learn to protect his mind.
Remembering my fight with Ritter, I sent a warning pulse—
shield!
—and smirked when I glanced in the mirror and saw Jace jerk and trip over his own feet.