The cars turned off the main road and drove along a winding highway along the coast. On the way, they came across buses with tourists, but the farther they drove, the fewer people they met.
"Hmm, why are there so few tourists? Isn't there some kind of ancient Mayan city somewhere here?" Daniel glanced around, trying to spot one of Mexico's popular attractions.
"Yeah, Tulum. Ancient sea fort. Tourists are usually taken along another road, where there are many souvenir shops. I was here once and, as far as I remember, we will see it soon," Armand looked out the window, the landscape seemed familiar to him, but not enough to know for sure.
A couple of minutes later, they saw the ruins of an old fort, standing on the edge of a cliff. Waves were crashing against the surface of the rocks, salty sea air was blowing around the building from all sides.
"Wow! This is so cool! Let's come here again later? But only with our own company! I'm sure the children will be delighted!" Elena suggested, to which the men amicably said something like "Um-hum" in unison.
"Since we are in Mexico, why not visit other famous sights?" David smiled at his wife, knowing her interest in various historical places.
"I support this idea," Daniel wedged into the conversation with his opinion, even if no one asked him.
"That's great, you can help keep an eye on the children," a sly smirk slipped from David's lips, but he immediately frowned when he noticed several unknown cars ahead on the road. The man leaned forward, "Daniel, can you see what's there?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure, but it seems to me like these guys are the military," as a driver, Daniel had a better view and, as he suggested, a minute later their cars were stopped by people in military uniform.
Marcus's car was the first, David saw how the man got out of the car and went to the military, they talked about something, shook hands, after which Marcus waved his hand, giving a sign to continue driving and got back into the car.
Their motorcade moved on.
"What is the military doing here? I have a bad feeling about it," Daniel muttered under his breath, driving past three military trucks and people with machine guns at the ready.
There was a slight tension in their car. Such strict protection implied a serious reason for itself, and the initiator of this, most likely, was Marcus himself.
Given how deeply the tentacles of his company penetrated into all spheres of social and political life, attracting the military of another country to solve personal needs for Marcus was like ordering a pizza to his house.
The first car turned from an asphalt road to a dirt road and began to swerve between the trees, sinking further into the depths of the jungle.
After ten minutes of such loops, they finally stopped.
Marcus got out of the car and stretched lazily. The sun's rays pierced through the dense crown of trees, reflecting on his sunglasses.
"And what are we going to do in this jungle? When you talked about searching for one thing, I didn't assume that we would be poking around in the forest like aborigines," David approached the man, misunderstanding and skepticism reflected on his face.
"Relax, I have no plans to make archaeologists out of you," Marcus waved his hand, Rick went around the car and pulled out a bag from the trunk, "Unfortunately, we cannot go any further. So I hope you don't mind taking a walk a little?"
"How little?" David said with annoyance in his voice, he was not inspired by the idea of dragging Elena through unknown jungles.
Marcus realized the priority of the man's concern and looked at the only woman in their company. Elena was looking around with interest, examining different leaves or small ants crawling along the loose ground.
The corners of the man's lips pulled up watching this picture from the side, "Do not worry, it will be no more than two hundred meters. She'll manage," Marcus opened the bag Rick brought him, took out a small spray can and threw it to David,
"Here, let our lady spray her skin with this so that insects do not encroach on her sweet blood."
David looked at the spray from mosquitoes in his hands, such care for his wife from Marcus's side looked strange. And it's not that there were many mosquitoes around...
The man returned to their car and decided, just in case, to take the advice of Marcus.
Having sprayed Elena's clothes and skin, he glanced at his brother, mentally sending him a signal, 'Are you all set?'
'Yes, two potions of serum are ready - I'll keep one with me and I'll give the second one to you,' Daniel answered through their mental connection.
'Good. Watch the situation closely. Just in case-'
'Yes, yes, just in case I will keep in mind that Elena's safety is a priority. I know, don't remind me,' Daniel rolled his eyes, his silly little brother might not have to repeat such obvious things.
"What are you thinking about?" Elena asked her husband, noting with what concentration he sprayed her skin and clothes against mosquitoes. The fact that he was simultaneously conducting an internal dialogue with Daniel was unknown to her.
"No, nothing, I just admire you, dear. Aren't you tired?" The man showed a bewitching smile to avoid any suspicion of himself.
"No, all is fine. We are in place?"
"Marcus said it would take another couple hundred meters," David hugged the woman and whispered in her ear, "Do not leave me, not a single step."
"God, even if I wanted to, you still wouldn't let go, so don't-"
"Everyone, shut up!" A sharp cry of Marcus made Elena startle. The man looked focused and annoyed,
"I will be very grateful if you shut up for a minute and do not breathe. Please," the man made an attempt to sound polite, but the discontent in his voice was obvious to everyone. Even Rick at that moment looked confused, not understanding the reasons for such a sharp change in mood in the man.
Marcus looked around as if listening to the sounds of nature, the next instant his pupils turned black and he quickly walked toward the car that David and the others arrived in.
"Open the trunk," the man commanded to Daniel, and the latter, albeit reluctantly, did not argue with this inflated dragon ready to burn a fire in all directions.
Daniel pressed the button in the passenger compartment to automatically open the trunk, walked around the car and froze on the spot.
At that moment, he was ready to argue which of the two of them was meaner - Marcus or himself.
Marcus peered into the car out of the corner of his eye and walked back with a loud roar.
Elena and David looked at each other, not understanding what the matter was. What could be in this trunk that caused such a strange reaction?
But as soon as they approached the car, everything became clear.
Inside the trunk, curled up, two children were sleeping and peacefully snuffling their noses.
"Oh, someone will get it from me now," David rolled up his sleeves, this time this sweet couple of little trouble makers should have gotten a good thrash.
"Shhh, you will scare them like that," Elena grabbed her husband's hand, the determination in his eyes scared even her.
"Let me," a woman walked up to the car and gently stroked Sean on the head, "My boy, it's time to get up."
Sean, hearing his mother's caring voice, smiled through his sleep. The boy raised his head and rubbed his eyes, "Hello, Mom," he saw the calm face of his mother in front of him, and behind her stood his dad. His face was completely different.
And at that moment Sean realized where he was and what was happening.
'Damn, this is all the silly Ashley to blame!' The boy poked the girl in the side, who was sleeping soundly and enjoying peace.
Ashley flinched and opened her eyes, 'Oops, we are busted.' The girl quickly sat on her knees and, using her sweetest smile, added, "And we decided to go camping with you. May we, please?"
Adults did not know how to respond to such a sincere question, uttered with such a bewitching smile in such inappropriate conditions.
Rick looked at Marcus in dismay, who hit the hood of the car with such force that there was a deep dent at the site of the blow, "What happened?"
Marcus, not hiding his irritation, gritted his teeth, "What happened? It happened that in our company there are those who were not here in any of the options. And now I'm thinking, what can I do with them?"
Rick knew very well that Marcus did not like most when something unpredictable interfered with his plans.
And when the man saw two small children crawling out of the trunk of the second car, it became obvious to him that this trip would be quite a problem.