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Nomad and Red knew Simone and Gustav had paid for a single ATV they would share. They speculated that the kids running the show would count ATVs and not heads to ensure everyone kept up. Therefore, Simone could just get off the ATV, hide behind a dune, and never be missed.
Since Red and Nomad needed to stay together. Their ATV shuffle was a bit more complex. They wanted to leave an ATV in the dunes for escape or comfort as they returned from following Simone to the rally point. If they ran out of gas, that would take one ATV out of the equation for the headcount.
Now, they needed to hand off an ATV to someone else to drive in for them.
At the next dune, the tourists lined up and waited for their turn to gun it up the slope with enough speed to try to get some lift as they flew over the top.
Nomad approached the father of a British family. “I wonder if I could ask you a favor.” He pointed over to Red. “My wife thought this would be great fun but has realized this is too much. She wants to ride on my ATV with me, and I was wondering if one of your boys would be willing to drive hers the rest of the trip?”
That morning, Red noticed the man’s tweenaged sons fighting about having to share an ATV. This made the dad a hero, the boys happy, and it would make the head count accurate when Red and Nomad left the tour.
Away from Simone and Gustav’s view, the switch was made. And with everyone dressed in similar clothes and wearing helmets, it worked.
Red tapped Nomad's arm as they got the water well into view. Gustav had positioned himself as last in line, and Red watched as Simone slipped behind the well enclosure and out of sight.
At the next dune, Red got off and slipped over the top.
Nomad got to the front of the pack. He revved his bike, trying to use up the last drops of gas. He waved Gustav around them, and Gustav raced his ATV up the dune. The first in their group to fly into the sky and disappear from view.
Nomad was next in line.
After a couple more revs, Nomad’s ATV started sputtering.
A few minutes later, the helper was beside him. “Out of gas.” Nomad tapped the gauge. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get on with my wife.”
The boy gave him a thumbs up, and Nomad walked to the back of the group as if he were finding his wife but slipped over the dune.
Nomad knew that they only had limited time until the group returned their ATVs and got on the bus. And that’s when the three missing tourists might be noticed. The boys would bring a gas can out to the dune to retrieve their quad, fill it up, and return it to their garage. Still, it would be nice if, somehow, Red and he beat them to it and could exfil on the ATV. Dunes took enormous energy to cross on foot.
Once the sound of ATVs had receded, Nomad caught up with Red, and they gave each other silent high-fives. “Look at her.” Red pointed. She’s walking down each dune.
“If we keep to this line, and we’re sledding, we’ll get out in front of her.”
“Lots of ifs in the next stage.”
“We’re creative. We’ll figure it out. Nomad winked at her. “You know, wing it.”
Red scowled back at him. “Sounds like a solid plan.”
Chapter Forty
Nomad
Nomad looked through his safari-quality zoom lens. “Camels.”
“Of course, there are.”
“Three men are riding. They have two camels with what looks like camping gear. And a sixth camel is set up for riding. That’s probably for Simone.”
“Can you see their faces?” Red asked. “If you can get their photos, we could just go bully the phone away from Simone, and it could be an easy day.”
“The only easy day was yesterday.”
“That’s for SEALs. That’s not me,” Red said dryly. “My days are spent chatting over tea. They’re all easy.”
Nomad turned to catch her eye and gave her a shake of the head. “We both know that’s not true. Also, with this wind blowing sand around, they’ve wrapped shemaghs around their faces. I’m going to have to pull them off to get the images.”
“Yeah, the wind is picking up, and I’m getting sandblasted. So what do we do?”