I smirked, fighting the heaviness of exhaustion. “No. They’re going to stay in the van. That’s their coffin.”
Mercer didn’t ask any more questions—either he didn’t want to know or he understood more than he should. “In that case goodbye, Prest. I’ll store your helicopter until you’re ready to retrieve it and you have my email if you need anything.” He stuck out his hand. “I’d say it was a pleasure. But it wasn’t.”
I shook his grip, wincing as my body cursed me for yet another painful action. “Likewise. I would prefer to forget this entire incident, but unfortunately, I have a token to remember you by with the gunshot to my shoulder.”
He grinned. “I have been told I’m unforgettable.”
“Yes, well.” I broke our handshake.
I should say thank you. I should promise to pay him back if he ever needed help, but I just wanted to get the fuck away as soon as possible.
I backed toward the van, and Mercer backed toward his home. We’d said all the farewells we were interested in, but our respective women drifted past us and met in the middle of the driveway. They smiled awkwardly then leaned in for a hug.
Suzette, the maid, also hugged Pim, offering Mercer’s son for Pim to cuddle in one last attempt.
With a laugh but a very visible wince, Pim denied the chance to hold the sleeping baby and slotted herself into my side. “We’ll stay in touch, I’m sure.”
Tess nodded. “I’d like that.”
More awkwardness settled, signalling our time to leave.
With nothing else to do and a van full of rotting Japanese samurais, we waved one last time and climbed into the vehicle.
Selix took the driver’s seat, I took the passenger, and Pim sat in the middle.
All of us silent.
All of us ready to go home.
Chapter Twenty-Six
______________________________
Pimlico
FOUR AND A half hours was a long time to be trapped in a van’s front seat with the stench of decay in every breath.
I couldn’t sleep.
I couldn’t relax.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the men all jiggling and discarded behind us.
Elder didn’t sleep either, even though his nose steadily trickled blood and he groaned with every bump or pothole.
Selix had already called the Phantom to ensure the crew were safe, that no more infiltrators lurked on board, and to prepare to sail the moment we arrived.
Elder spoke to Jolfer and planned the departure route but only after he’d advised Michaels of the long shopping lists of maladies he now needed his on board surgeon to repair.
I had no doubt Michaels was cursing him already.
Once calls were made and the Phantom ready to leave the moment we drove into her belly, we all settled into companionable silence.
We had no energy to talk and no desire to rehash what we’d seen and done in the past few days.
The only thing we were interested in was bouncing along cobblestone roads and staring at black and white cows as we drove our makeshift hearse through French countryside.
As rural life gave way to town life and we switched lanes for main arterial highways, we merged with evening rush hour—as men and women, hungry and blurry-eyed from working all day, sped home to loved ones.
Unbeknownst to them, they sat in traffic with twenty-one dead Chinmoku, one saved slave, one friend who kept secrets, and one thief who’d stolen enough money to make himself an almost billionaire.
We were an odd bunch with odd morals and compasses, but Elder and Selix were two of the best human beings I knew.
Even if blood stained their hands.
That didn’t matter.
It never would.
Because I was in love with Elder.
And blood stained my hands, too.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
______________________________
Elder
CLIMBING ON BOARD the Phantom, I expected the same homecoming and safety net I always did. Admittedly, that comfort had been missing when I’d left Pim in Monte Carlo, but she was beside me now. I should step onto the Phantom with relief and contentedness.
Especially now the Chinmoku were dead, we’d made a new ally through battle, and I was finally free from vengeance and being hunted by my enemies.
Nothing was wrong.
For the first time in forever, things were finally right.
Yet, the Phantom felt unfriendly. As if she didn’t agree with the cargo she was about to carry.
Jolfer had already arranged for staff to re-jig the garage to make space for us. The Town Car was pushed into a further berth and expensive toys juggled closer together.
It’d been a simple matter of driving the van straight on, applying the chocks and straps, and clambering out onto Phantom territory.
Moving after almost five hours in a cramped car with injuries that had been overused and abused meant my inner thoughts were full of filthy curses as I inched stiffly toward the cab door and dropped down.
I tried to hide the level of my pain but feared Pim knew how close I was to shutting down and not having the power to restart again.