"Nothing," Ryker and I say in unison.
"Doesn't look like nothing."
An uncomfortable silence fills the air.
"Have a drink." Tinker cracks open a beer and hands it to Naomi.
"Thanks." She hugs Julieta and Vanessa.
He pulls two more out of the fridge and hands one to Andre and opens his.
"Want to tell me what happened to your faces?" Andre demands.
"Drop it," Tinker says.
Crap. We're going to hear about this later.
He sighs. "When did you get here?"
"Yesterday," Ryker says.
"Did you come together?"
"Didn't have much of a choice. The rest of the team found out the others left. Hunter shot the tires of the other Jeeps as we took off."
"Why did you do that?" he angrily barks.
Great. Here we go.
"We didn't have a choice. Kalim found out and was going to stop us from leaving."
"Shit."
"Yeah. He wasn't too happy when he found out you didn't fill them in. I told you we needed to tell him. If we had, I don't think he would have reacted how he did." I scowl.
"We can't be sure."
"Well, he was pissed when we left."
"Did he know the coordinates, at least?"
"No. I'm sure he called Interpol," Ryker says.
Naomi paces the room and starts worrying about her sister, Emilia. Tinker tries to reassure her Malin will take care of Emilia.
"When did they leave?" Naomi asks.
"Within an hour of your departure," Vanessa says.
Naomi locks gazes with her. "My sister. She was okay?"
Vanessa nods her head. "Yes. Why? Did something happen before you left that you're asking that?"
Naomi bites her lip. "No."
Andre pulls her onto his lap. "She'll be fine. Stop pacing." He turns to us. "Axel and Dirk got out before you left?"
"Yep. Only ones left were us," I reply.
"Good. You didn't run into issues coming across the border?"
"We all came out alive and in one piece."
He snorts. "Not going to ask what that means."
Time to change the subject so it isn't on us.
"What about you two? Run into any trouble?"
They tell us about their journey and how Naomi's ex-boyfriend is involved with one of the drug cartels and there were some issues with him.
"If your ex knew you were headed here, we can't stay long. Omoa is small. Interpol is already here if he told them," I say.
"But would he tell them, knowing you took his boat and it was loaded with cocaine?" Vanessa asks.
Good point, Flower.
"I don't know." Naomi looks at Andre in question, and he shrugs.
We have a quick discussion about passports, and Tinker says, "I think you should go to Cuba."
"Cuba? Why there?" Andre asks.
"I have a friend who can help you get in. He works for immigration."
"Cuba is communist," Vanessa blurts out.
"So?"
She shakes her head. "I'm not going to any communist country and you two shouldn't, either." She points to Naomi and Julieta.
"Why not?" Andre asks.
She still hasn't told me everything, but it's the same expression of fear she had when we discussed needing to go through Guatemala.
Vanessa focuses on Naomi. "Don't go there."
"Why did the guerillas take you?"
Vanessa hesitates and finally says, "I know things. But it's best if I don't discuss them."
"We can't help you if you don't tell us," Andre says.
Oh, boy. More of this.
She rises. "No. It puts everyone in more danger." She leaves the room.
I quickly glance at Ryker, then Andre, then follow her into the other room.
She's shaking, and I'm afraid she might have one of her panic attacks, so I wrap her in my arms. "Let's breathe a bit, Flower."
"No one can know," she whispers. "I don't want everyone to die."
"Shhh." I kiss her head. "No one is dying. Not under our watch."
19
Vanessa
Things happen quickly once Andre and Naomi arrive. I'm doing some breathing exercises with Hunter when the passports come.
Ryker taps Hunter on the shoulder. "We should go. I don't like that Naomi's ex might have tipped Interpol off about where we are."
"Agreed. But where are we going?"
He smiles. "Bermuda."
"Why there?"
"Blaise has his house there."
"Who's that?" I ask.
"My brother," Andre says.
Bermuda isn't communist. It's an overseas territory of the U.K., but even British citizens don't have a right to live there unless they get a visa.
"Is this long term or short term?" I ask.
"Only short term until we figure out the next steps. Is there something wrong with Bermuda, Flower?"
There aren't a lot of places to go that aren't related to Global Leaders.
It's not directly the U.K.
"No. It's okay for the short term."
Julieta comes in and we thank Tinker. I'm still uncomfortable around him for insinuating I'm a gold digger, and I'm relieved to be leaving.
Naomi joins us. "You're leaving already?"
I hug her. "Our passports arrived. See you in Bermuda."
She frowns. "We didn't get to talk."
"We will when I see you next."
"I still think you need to split up. It's not safe for you to be traveling together," Andre says.
"We're fine. See you in a few days," Hunter replies and holds his fist out to Andre.
Andre bumps it. "Still can't believe you shot Kalim's vehicles out."
Hunter snickers. "Kalim will figure it out. He didn't leave us a choice. But Tinker got a new plate for the Jeep, so we should be good to go."
Ryker pats Andre on the shoulder. "See you in Bermuda."
We leave. Hunter and I get into the back of the Jeep. Ryker and Julieta don't say much, and I wonder if they fully made up or not.
I turn to Hunter. "Have you been to Bermuda before?"
A cocky grin fills his face. "Yep. As soon as we get there, I'll give you a fancy drink on the pink sand."
"Deal. What about surfing?"
"I think we'll have to hold off lessons until Australia. Blaise's house is in a cove and it stays pretty calm. It'll be better for snorkeling. Blaise has kayaks, too."
"That sounds fun."
He leans closer to my ear. "And I'll make sure you stay covered in sunscreen at all times, Flower."
I give him a quick kiss and snuggle into his arm.
"Ryker, what's the plan?" Hunter asks.
"Let's head toward the airport. Tinker checked, and there aren't any more flights tonight, but there's one early tomorrow. The internet was acting up so he couldn't book our tickets online, but we can go inside and purchase them when we get there. Tinker said he threw cash in our bags."