Tommy rubbed his eyes and grinned. “There you are. I was starting to worry we’d missed you.” He rushed over and gave Mac a quick hug.
“You weren’t even starting to wake up,” Mac joked.
“And you remember Adriana,” Sean said, pointing at the Spaniard as she approached. Unlike Tommy, she appeared ready to take on the day.
“You are certainly a sight for weary eyes,” Mac said. “I trust you’re doing well.”
She nodded and bowed graciously. “Good to see you again too, Mac.”
Joe McElroy had worked for the parks service in the state of Georgia for years. He’d got bored with it and had been looking for a change. It just so happened that with Sean's retirement, Tommy’s organization needed a man like him. When Joe, whom everyone called Mac, found out about his wife’s secret past as a certified government badass, the two decided it was time for a change. They signed up immediately and never regretted a second of it. All-expenses-paid travel around the globe gave them a chance to get closer and see some things they’d always dreamed of seeing. Sure, the work was hard at times, especially when they were on a dig, but it was worth it. So far, they’d not come across too much trouble along the way, which was something Sean and Tommy seemed to always find in spades.
“Is Helen here?” Adriana asked, taking a step closer.
Joe’s eyes squinted into little narrow beads. “Who do you think your quartermaster is?”
He motioned with his hand for them to follow him.
“We might be followed to the warehouse. We need to drop Adriana at the market before we get there. I’ll pick her up on our way back through.”
Tommy hadn’t heard that part of the plan and expressed his concern. “Wait. We’re dropping her off at the market? Why? So she can get some fresh fruit or something?”
She shook her head and glared balls of fire at him.
“Funny. And no. She’s going to pick up a little surprise for our friend Al Najaar. Just in case.”
Joe interrupted. “The market is about ten minutes from here. If we drop her off, she’s going to be followed. One of those four men will probably break off and tail her.”
She passed him a warning glare. “I can handle myself, Mac.”
“Oh, I know that.” His eyes passed over the surroundings. “Just thought you should be aware.” Mac turned his attention back to the guys. “The drive from here to Susa is close to eight hours. That will put you there in the late afternoon. You should still have several hours of daylight. But if you were planning on doing any sightseeing before you initiated your search, you should probably curtail that notion.” He winked.
“That’s a shame,” Sean said. “I really wanted to take in some of the restaurants and tea houses. Maybe next time.”
“Well, we best get a move on. You’re on a tight schedule, after all.”
The group grabbed their belongings and loaded into the car. Seven minutes later, they were thrust into the early morning rush of downtown Tehran traffic. Cars moved slowly, in and out of empty spaces, in a futile attempt to get ahead. Pedestrians walked along the sidewalks in tightly packed clumps.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but it might save us all some time if you got out here and went ahead on foot,” Mac suggested, pointing at the chaos on the street. “I know a side road where we can get out of this mess and over to the warehouse. I mean, if you don’t mind. It’s only a few more blocks from here.”
She opened the door and stepped out. “I’ll meet you in an hour. Don’t worry about coming back here. I can get a ride. Just send me the address.” She closed the door and scurried away, pulling the mask up over her face to make sure she stayed incognito.
Mac glanced back into the mirror. “You don’t think I upset her, do you?”
Sean smirked. “Nope. That was her way of saying your idea was a good one. Now get us out of here. She won’t let you hear the end of it if she somehow beats us to the rendezvous point.”
Working his magic, Joe deftly dodged in and out of the seemingly endless bumper-to-bumper traffic and finally found the side street he was looking for. After nearly running over a man selling hats, they found their way out of the rush and onto a quieter, less-occupied street.
“I heard you were in Copenhagen,” Mac said to Sean as he sped up, heading away from the city’s heart.
“I heard the same about you.”
Mac laughed. “Must have just missed you. The missus and I were there checking out some interesting Viking stuff. We had a good time. The weather there this time of year is amazing.”
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ll have to go back sometime soon. Hopefully, I’ll be able to enjoy the visit.”
“You didn’t enjoy working with Tommy on an expedition?”
“He wasn’t working with me,” Tommy corrected. “He was helping a friend.”
Joe pursed his lips and nodded. “You tend to do a lot of that sort of thing, don’t you?”
Sean looked out the window at the passing buildings. Their architecture was like a mix between Communist 1960s and modern art deco. It was a confusing thing to behold. “I guess I do,” he said in a distant tone.
When they pulled into the warehouse parking lot twenty minutes later, they found it to be empty. The dilapidated building looked like it hadn’t housed business for several years. Rusted corrugated sliding doors hung loosely against the gray cinderblock walls. A bland metal entry door stood off to the side of the larger entrance. Joe stopped the car in front of the hangar-like doors and got out. When he opened his door, the three could still hear the sounds of the city around them. Cars and buses, motorcycles, horns, truck brakes, and construction tools all mingled into a cacophony of mayhem.
Joe pulled the sliding door to the side, revealing a vast, hollowed-out interior. He got back in and drove the car forward, parking it next to a gray van. He shut off the ignition and got out. His passengers did the same, and Sean made himself useful by offering to close the big doorway.
Once it was shut, the giant warehouse fell into shadow. Beams of sunlight pierced the dusty darkness along the eastern wall, the yellow lasers enhanced by billions of dust particles floating in the air. Rusty steel beams shot up from the dirty floor to support girders above.
The van door opened and closed. A second later, a fortysomething woman with curly auburn hair stepped around the hood. Her bright smile pierced through the shadows.
“Good to see you again, Helen.” Sean said. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight.
“Likewise, boys.” She let go of him and repeated the greeting with Tommy.
“Hi, Helen,” Tommy said as he embraced her.
She turned and opened up the side of the van. The seats had been removed to make room for cargo. In this case, the cargo was five baby bed mattresses.
She put her hands on her hips. “I understand you boys need some guns.”
“Indeed we do,” Sean said with a smile. “I’ve got to ask, though—”
“The guns are hidden in the mattresses,” she answered before he could finish.
“Actually, I was going to ask how you got the weapons here and what you were doing in the area to begin with, but that was going to be my second question.”
Joe answered for her. “We were on a dig on the border when Tommy called. Since we had a security team with us, it was easy enough to get the weapons. All we had to do was find a place to hide them. Getting in was tricky. Their borders are locked down pretty tight, especially for Americans. We had to find another way in. Took a bit of doing, but our Iranian friend was quite helpful.”
“We were able to acquire most of what you asked for. You’ll have to settle for 9-mm pistols, though. None of the guys had forties on hand. Plenty of ammo, though.” Helen finished her sentence by reaching over and pulling the top off the closest mattress. She ripped away a thin layer of cotton and revealed a row of handguns, submachine guns, and corresponding magazines.