Diesel (The Mavericks Book 13) by Dale Mayer (motivational books for men .txt) 📗

“You’re not saying anything I don’t already know,” Diesel said. “Who’s in the ocean around here?”

“Thinking US Navy again?”

“Or private yacht again?” he said. “We can get a helicopter, and we could probably hire a floatplane. But our distance gained will be fairly short for each.”

“We can go to one of the other islands.”

Diesel nodded slowly. It took them an hour, and he looked at their options and said, “I think that might be our best bet.”

“There is a base.”

“I know. I was thinking of that,” he said. “If we can get to the base, then we could get out to the ocean again.”

“And then what?” Jerricho asked.

“We’ll have to take the ship, whichever direction it’s going,” he said. “And it doesn’t really matter, it’s all about keeping her safe. We’re not in a rush.”

“Agreed. Australia is our best bet,” he said. “It might take us a couple trips, but that still looks to be the better end result.”

“We’ll fit in better, and we should have more options for international flights,” Diesel said.

“Do you want to let the Australian government know?”

Diesel thought about it for a long moment and shook his head. “As much as I’d like them on our side, if we should run into trouble, the fewer people who know, the better.”

“I got no problem with that,” Jerricho said. He sat down. “You want to talk to Shane or shall I?”

“I will.” He quickly opened the chat and sent a message, looking for passage to Australia. At that, a question mark came back. He just shook his head. Don’t ask me any questions. Just do it.

He gave a brief explanation, but basically it boiled down to his instincts saying this was a bad deal, and they needed to move, and they needed to move now. As soon as he heard the airport was closed, it was a done deal as far as he was concerned.

Shane agreed. He came back less than eight minutes later. Rendezvous at this dock, this town, within forty-eight minutes.

He swore when he looked at it. “Forty-eight minutes? Not much time.” He sent a message saying, We need a ride.

It’ll be at your door in seven.

He bolted to his feet, quickly packed up what they had unpacked, ditched the food, and looked in the direction of the bed. He glanced back at Jerricho. “She won’t like this.”

“Doesn’t matter what she likes,” he said quietly. “It keeps her alive, and it keeps her safe.”

On that note, his bag at the front door, Diesel walked up to her bed and gently reached out a hand to wake her up.

When she opened her sleepy eyes, he smiled at her and said, “We have to go.”

She blinked several times, got up soundlessly, threw on her dirty jeans, slipped into her flip-fops, and followed him. He didn’t know if it was her time in captivity, but she was almost too acquiescent for his liking.

Jerricho didn’t say a word as she followed Diesel out. But he was surprised when she didn’t say anything. “Eva, are you okay?”

She blinked several times, reached up to her temple, and said, “I don’t even know what time it is, but I’m trusting you.”

He quickly opened the door, and, with a motion to stay quiet, they slipped down the back way, and outside she took several long slow deep breaths of the still sticky air. “Where are we going? It’s not time for our flight yet.”

“No,” Diesel said, “change of plans.”

At that, she stopped and looked at him and said, “Oh. I guess I really wasn’t awake when you woke me up.”

“That’s okay,” he said. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

“You mean, follow blindly?”

“Yes, and stay quiet.” At that, she immediately clammed up. And he ushered her around to the front, and there was the car. He put her into the back seat and took the wheel.

She leaned forward and said to Jerricho, in the passenger seat, “Do you know what we’re doing?”

He grinned and nodded. “I do.”

“Good,” she said. “Glad somebody does. How long will we be?”

“We have to be at our destination in thirty-five minutes,” Jerricho said.

She stared at him. “Or else?”

“Or else we miss it.”

With that, she took another calming breath and said, “I’ll curl up in the back seat. You let me know if we make it or not.”

Diesel gave a bark of laughter, and she dropped her head on her arms, as he sped through the city streets. He looked over at Jerricho. “Nice to be so innocent in life, huh?”

Jerricho looked around, saw she was apparently sleeping again, and said, “On the other hand, this is the easiest thing for us.”

They needed to get to their destination fast, but he also needed to make sure he didn’t attract any attention, so he didn’t want to be too early, yet he didn’t want to be late. He needed to be just on time, and he needed to make sure that everything was moving at the same time. By the time they pulled up to their destination, they were a whole two minutes early.

He pulled up alongside the wharf, turned off the engine, reached around to the back, grasped Eva’s hip, and gave her a gentle push. She murmured gently. He said, “Wake up. We’re here.”

At that, her eyes opened wide, and she stared at him blankly.

Then she sat up slowly, yawned, and said, “I don’t know where here is,” she said, “but let’s go.” She stepped out of the vehicle. He quickly ushered her around to his side and down to the water. A small fishing boat was there that looked like it had seen much better days, but, as long as it was seaworthy, he didn’t care. She looked at him doubtfully, as they got close enough, and he just shook his head and ushered her on board.

“How can you be sure it’s the one you’re waiting for?” she asked. “It’s not like anybody’s here to sign you on or sign you off or anything like that.”

“It’s fine,” he said.

She rolled