Chapter 66

SPOV

I was awoken by movement next to me and realized Carlos was sat sideways in his seat gently stroking my cheek. The darkness that I remembered wasn't as intense as I looked through the window.

"Did I sleep for long?"
"Nearly five hours"
"What time is it?"
"Here or in New Jersey"
His answer sounded stupid to me, I mean surely we were still in America , then I remembered once before when I'd gone to Las Vegas with Lula and Connie we'd had to turn our watches back.

"Both"

"Nearly 0900hrs at home but only 0600 hrs here"

"So, Trenton is three hours ahead of Nevada"

"Yes. We should be arriving at the rendezvous site in about ten minutes"
"I bet it's in the middle of nowhere isn't it?"
"Probably"
Dam, I could really have used a bathroom right now. I'm sure I squirmed in my seat as I thought about that. The offer of a bottle of water from Carlos was certainly something I would have liked but refused.

"Babe, I'm sure Zeph has a shovel somewhere in here"

I felt my cheeks heat up and looked down at my hands that were resting on my knee. Shit, how did he work that one out.

"We could all probably make use of a hole. Let's hope who ever meets us takes the bag and leaves quickly"

"Did you see what was in the box?"
"They felt like hard drives, though it was hard to be sure because of how they were wrapped"

"Let's hope this next part goes smoothly, then they'll be off our hands for someone else to protect them"
I had to admit I had no idea what our reception would be. Lots of people or just a few. Army people or civilians and how would they get to the meeting place? As I thought that through Carlos raised the back of my seat and then sat down next to me. I could now see out of the window and looked down at the scene below. The whole area looked barren, lots of sand, some rocky outcrops and a few lonely looking bushes. A minute later I could just make out a helicopter stationary on the ground to our right. I felt as our helicopter banked and turned toward it and the ground seemed to rush up and meet us.

As we slowly dropped, I could see clouds of sand rushing away from us and then felt us gently touch down. The noise from the engines became quieter until it stopped altogether making me realize just how noisy it had been inside. Carlos stood up and slid the door back. The rucksack was still on the floor beside me and Zeph was still up front.

"Stay here while I check things out"

Obviously, Carlos was still feeling cautious but as I looked through the door at the man approaching, I unfastened my seatbelt and jumped down onto the sand.

"Stephanie, I'm so glad to see you. I heard you had company last night"
"Yeah, Gannon turned up and warned us that Dempsey was on his way. He sent a couple of cars, but it didn't stop us from completing what we wanted to do"
"Good, I spoke with your father. Him and his friends had fun with some tails but managed to lose them"

"Thanks Uncle, for letting me know. But I honestly didn't expect it to be you we met"

"This needs to be done properly. The fewer people who know the better. So, do you have the merchandise?"
Carlos must have retrieved the rucksack and was now holding it out to be taken.

"I have to leave right away. I don't want anyone guessing where I'm going. I'll take good care of this. It'll be stored in an unknown place, without labels or records. Maybe one day in the future someone will open our secret places and can learn about our successes and maybe they'll find them useful"

I stood forward and kissed my uncle on the cheek then watched as he made his way to the other helicopter.

"Babe, get into the helicopter until the sand settles"
I did that and then watched as the helicopter with Uncle Andrew flew into the distance and out of sight. I felt so relieved that we'd managed to do what we set out to do and no one had got hurt. I heard the blades of our helicopter start to turn so fastened my seatbelt. Carlos came into the cabin and checked that my belt was secure before turning and heading up front with Zeph. I suppose we'd be returning to Trenton now, though that thought didn't inspire me all that much. Before joining Zeph, Carlos turned to me and explained what needed to happen next.

"We need to decide where to refuel"

I was okay with that, I'd become used to flying, especially as Zeph was flying smoothly. I watched the scenery below, it didn't seem to change very much but then I spied the occasional road. The sand seemed to be disappearing and there were more rocky outcrops with larger roads and traffic moving along them. Houses appeared and disappeared and then as we turned all I could see was the sea. The sea, where the hell were we? I tried to look across through another window but could only see a blue cloudless sky.

I felt us turning again and this time saw that we were heading inland, beaches and buildings, streets were below us. All of which were getting larger as we started to fly lower. I realized we were going to be landing when I saw airplanes and helicopters all parked neatly and sure enough Zeph brought us down between another helicopter and a large building I supposed they called a hanger. As the blades of the helicopter slowed down Carlos came and undid my seatbelt then helped me to get down.

"Babe, there's a rest room on the side of that building"
I didn't reply, I just followed where he was pointing to and just about ran all the way there. Once I'd used the facilities, I went to join Carlos and Zeph, they were stood next to a Porsche Boxster with the top folded down. They stopped talking as I approached, and Carlos opened the door for me before getting into the driver's seat and starting the engine. I smiled as the engine purred to life, loving the feel of the soft leather seats and the reverberation from the engine travelling through me.

I didn't think to ask where we were going or even where we were. I was so pleased to be out of the helicopter we could be going anywhere for all I cared. I trusted Carlos and knew wherever we were going would be okay with me. We turned onto a main road where Carlos increased the speed, the warm air felt so good against my face, but it was a good job my hair was still fastened up. The houses that we passed by were small and spaced out, with sand between them and rough tracks and hills in the distance. Too soon Carlos was slowing the car down and turned onto a single track, driving slowly to avoid any holes in the road. As we rounded a corner what seemed to be a hotel came into view.

"Where are we?"

"Just outside Cabo San Lucas"
"Where's that?"
"Baja California Sur"
I was getting nowhere with my questions, and he was already opening my door, so I figured if maybe we were staying here there'd be information in the room. As we approached what appeared to be a main entrance a woman came out to greet us speaking in a language I couldn't understand. As she spoke, she turned and started to walk away from us as Carlos took my hand to follow her. I'd say she was in her fifties judging by her hair and skin, but man could she talk. Unfortunately, I still couldn't understand what she was saying but presumed it must be Spanish by the way Carlos replied to her.

She led us along a path to another building and opened the door for us to enter. As Carlos passed by her, she looked at me then at him and proceeded to kiss him on his cheek. As she walked away from us, I'm sure she I heard "Carlos" as she departed. I was amazed as I walked into the space. It was light and airy with a breeze coming through from the front. We walked down a short hallway into an open plan space. There was a kitchen area on the left and a lounge area to the right. Outside through the open glass doors was an area with a table and chairs. I walked out of the doors just to look at the view. It was stunning, waves from a blue sea lapping against white sand. There were outcrops of rocks along the beach and dipping into the water. As I leant against the rail and looked down, I could see a small infinity pool, rocks forming the surrounding edges. To my right I couldn't believe there was a sunken hot tub and behind it another set of doors. Carlos came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Do you like it?"
"I love it, it reminds of"
"Hawaii?"
"Yes it does"

"I had so many regrets after the week there with you"
"Regrets about going?"
"No, regrets how it ended"
I turned in his arms so that I was facing him.

"So let's make some new memories"
"Babe, marry me"
"I already said yes"
"Here, now"
"How?"
"Lucia can do all of the arrangements"
"What about a marriage certificate and everything that goes with that?"
"That can be sorted out. What do you want Babe?"
"I want to marry you. So my answer is yes and it will always be yes for you"