The Illuminati Sanctum (The Relic Hunters 6) David Leadbeater (new reading .txt) 📖

Bodie doubted the Hoods would be able to call in support so quickly, but nodded. “Start walking,” he said. “We can pick it up later.”

Fifteen strenuous minutes later they were back at the old jeep. Their driver was asleep behind the wheel, snoring loudly, hat down over his eyes. Bodie woke him and told him to take them back to civilization, as quick as he could. The man had been paid extra to not ask questions, and acquiesced at once, removing the jeep’s canvas hood for air and letting them recover in the battered seats.

After ten minutes, Bodie turned to Cassidy and Jemma alongside him. “That’s two out of two ore samples, and we just set the Illuminati back at least a few days. I’d call that a major win.”

Cassidy nodded. “Yeah, and we kicked their asses.”

Their success felt particularly good this time, since only a few days ago they’d been in their enemy’s clutches, waiting to die. They’d been mocked and hurt. Parts of Bodie’s body still ached where they’d beaten him. Two teeth throbbed in the cold. His ribs would take weeks to properly heal. The vast amount of painkillers he went through every day were enough to fell a horse.

Getting one over on Bacchus and his cronies helped dull the pain. Of course, they couldn’t be certain how many ore samples the bad guys had, or how many teams were actively searching for them, but Bodie couldn’t control that. He could only manage what was before him and what came next.

“So,” he said, shifting in his seat until the flow of air through the vehicle blasted directly at his face. “Where next?”

Lucie could barely control the excitement in her voice. “Take a guess,” she said. “What’s closest?”

But Bodie’s head was frazzled from the fight, from the heat and the dull pain. “Please tell me. I don’t want to think right now.”

“I know,” Jemma said. “It’s Atlantis.”

Bodie sat upright, a sudden thought hitting him like a baseball bat. “Shit, how the hell are we gonna get a sample of—”

The jeep rammed over a deep pothole, shaking them to left and right, stopping his words in their tracks. Cassidy started speaking then, so Bodie’s question was never answered.

Until later.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

“I say again.” Bodie shielded his eyes as they stepped out between bleached white buildings to see a wide sandy beach before them and then the sparkling blue Atlantic Ocean. “How the hell are we gonna get a sample of ore from Atlantis?”

“Might be easier to get a sample from the Man from Atlantis,” Cassidy agreed. “I know where he’s buried.”

They were in Morocco at midday, standing under a cloudless sky and a hot sun, staring out across the rolling waters toward Atlantis. The beach was half full, dotted by men and women in shorts and bikinis, lounging on deck chairs or walking back and forth from the ocean. It was a slow summer’s day and, whilst not fully refreshed, the team were at least considering how to take on their next task.

Yasmine, warily searching from horizon to horizon, wasn’t happy about being back. “I have enemies here,” she said. “Not just here, but in all of Morocco. An Interpol cop working undercover for the Bratva makes few friends.”

Bodie knew exactly what she meant. He felt the same every time he returned to London. “We won’t be out in the open much,” he said. “I just wanted to get the lay of the land.”

“It’s a long swim.” Cassidy, also shading her eyes, spoke with a humorous lilt to her voice.

“And a deep dive,” Lucie said. “You know we can’t dive that far.”

“Depends where the ore needs extracting from.” Bodie knew the seabed fell away shallowly all the way to Atlantis. “The good news is—we know a lot about Atlantis from our previous mission...”

“And the bad news?” Jemma asked.

“There’s a lot of that. It’s being excavated night and day. It’s inside a protection zone. We left our submarine at home. The Illuminati could be anywhere. Yeah.” He nodded. “The odds are pretty much against us.”

Even Lucie looked deflated. “Hotel time,” she said. “We need to get creative.”

Bodie agreed. They walked back to their hotel, grabbing several tour guidebooks and leaflets centered on Agadir on their way. Bodie crossed the lobby with his nose in a pamphlet. Yasmine led them to their rooms.

Inside Jemma’s, they lounged around, sitting on the floor and bed, but keeping away from the windows. They didn’t want to take even the slightest risk that they’d be spotted. Hopefully, the Hoods would still be digging in the Sahara Desert but Bodie didn’t kid himself about the length of their reach or resources.

“Could we ask for help?” he suggested. “We know two or three guys running the underwater dig. We met them. Maybe they’d bring up the ore for us.”

“We met them whilst working for the CIA,” Jemma reminded him. “Even if they would help us, the Agency might find out and crash the party.”

“Yeah, you can guarantee the feds have their greedy paws deep in Atlantis,” Cassidy said, slamming Bodie with an image he did not need. “Potential immense natural resources and advanced tech. Even if that’s all crap, just a fanciful legend, the American government will want that information before anyone else.”

Bodie agreed. “So, revealing ourselves is out of the question. Which leaves stealth. Thievery. Hmm... if only we knew a team of decent thieves.”

Jemma grinned and shook her head. “On land, yes. But, Guy, this is twenty thousand leagues under the sea. Jules Verne stuff. How the hell are we gonna—”

“My exact question,” Bodie said. “If you remember. The most dangerous option—steal a sub.”

Yasmine and Lucie stared at him. “Even if we could,” Yasmin said. “Who’s gonna drive it?”

“Is that