Page 55 of Dark Horizon New Dawn

He pushed the glass away. "We should get Roni in here."

Turner smiled. "I've already sent him a text message. He's on his way. He's just stopping by his cabin to change and grab his laptop."

Kian hadn't noticed Turner texting either, so he really must be tired. "Okay, what else?"

"We need to watch the footage and see if we can identify Doomers. They are pretty easy to spot, so if they are there, ambling around the resort and asking questions, we will know."

"That's true," Onegus said. "They look military but with the added fluidity of movement that only immortals and professional dancers have, and Doomers definitely don't look like dancers."

Lokan chuckled. "If you want to enrage a Doomer, tell him that he looks like a dancer."

Dalhu winced. "Or a painter, a poet, a musician, or any other artistic form of expression. Most of the cultures in that region of the world are incredibly homophobic, and Doomers are among the worst. They think that being artistic is feminine, and if any member of the Brotherhood is even suspected of homosexuality, they are executed, so no one dares to express their creativity even if they possess any." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm ashamed to admit that I was close-minded and ignorant in that regard as well."

"That's illuminating but irrelevant," Turner said. "Let's get back to analyzing what we are likely to face in Cabo. We dealt the Doomers a big blow in Acapulco. We eliminated an entire team of immortals and a large number of cartel thugs. By now, their superiors in the Brotherhood know that, and they also know we are coming to Cabo. They will have a much larger force waiting for us there." He looked at Lokan. "Am I right?"

Lokan nodded. "If they had several teams in the area, they will have called all of them to Cabo. They probably also recruited the help of the local cartel and all the officials they could bribe and extort, including the police, the military, the harbor control, etc."

"Great." Kian groaned. "I really don't want to engage with all that. I hope that Roni can find out what happened to Margo."

Turner regarded him with a sad smile. "We have to deal with them whether we want to or not. They will figure out which ship we are on sooner or later, even if we deploy the disguised teams. Look at it this way—they have no reason to believe that all the ship's passengers are immortal clan members. They are more likely to assume that several immortals are vacationing among humans. So, seeing humans disembark at Cabo and do touristy things will not remove suspicion from the Silver Swan."

Turner was right. The Doomers would question people at the hotel or just thrall them to check their recent memories, and someone would remember talking to Margo, who had mentioned joining a cruise that got delayed several times. From there, it would be easy to find out which ship fit that profile, and it was game over. The Guardians might be able to eliminate the local forces that had arrived there, but then more would be waiting for them in Long Beach.

This called for a drastic change of plans, but he wasn't sure what he should do. Turn back to Acapulco? The Doomers wouldn't be expecting that. He could get everyone off the ship there and fly them to Los Angeles.

The Silver Swan would have to stop emitting signals, so it couldn't be easily tracked.

As the doorbell rang, Toven walked over and opened the door.

"So, what are we dealing with now?" Roni walked over to the crowded table and put his laptop down.

"I'll get you a chair," Toven offered.

Roni looked around with a sour expression on his face. "This looks like a command post in a playground sandbox. We need another table. Whose cabin is the closest?"

40

MARGO

Margo's head pounded, and she felt nauseous. She turned on her back and tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as if they weighed five pounds each and refused to open.

Was she in her room?

Was it her head that was swaying, or was it the bed?

Wait, two men were talking in hushed voices on the other side of the room, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. Were they inside her room, or was she hearing voices from the outside?

She must have left the windows open.

Wait, she didn't have windows that opened in her hotel room, just balcony doors, and she never left them open so bugs wouldn't get in.

Trying to focus, Margo listened to the voices until she could discern the words. They were talking in Spanish, which she could understand to some extent, but she was far from fluent.

One of the voices belonged to Alberto or someone who sounded like him. The other one sounded much older and more authoritative, and the two were arguing.

"What did you want me to do with her, señor? I had to bring her. She's beautiful in her own way. She is no Jasmine, but then, not everyone is as discriminating as you are, señor. I'm sure many men will find her alluring."

Was she dreaming? If she was, this was a nightmare, and everything she had suspected about Alberto was true.

---