Chapter 58 No Mercy
NO MERCY
ATTICUS
The cursor blinks incessantly in the messaging box on the screen.
Above it are two messages sent by 'Céce' to Aurora in the last hour, both of which have gone unanswered.
"Could she have forgotten?" The hope in Eli's voice is painful to hear.
"She wouldn't forget," Sev answers before I can, peering out the window down the beach as he lights a cigarette.
When he sees me watching him, he shakes his head and tosses me the pack and lighter. "I still can't believe you fucking smoke. After all the shit you've given me over the years."
I take one out and put it between my lips to light it, inhaling deeply to try to settle the foreign sensation growing in my chest.
I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but Aurora was meant to text Céline when she got to the airstrip to let her know she was on her way, but she hasn't.
From what she told us earlier in the week, the confirmed flight was scheduled to take off just after ten in the morning. It's now twenty past, and she hasn't even messaged to say she arrived at the airport.
Almost everything is packed up on our end. I only have this last laptop out to confirm she's in the air, and then we have our own flight to catch. A flight we're going to fucking miss if we don't leave in the next hour.
I toss the cigarettes and lighter onto the table and stuff my hand in my pocket to rub the tiny metallic dick I keep there. Trying to think.
"Let me try to access the private flight schedule at Girona again."
"You already tried that," Sev argues.
"Twice," Eli piles on.
"Yeah, well, maybe the third time's the fucking charm," I snap, ignoring them as I toss the cigarette in the sink and work to decrypt the tight cybersecurity at the airport. If I had better equipment and processing power, I could do it, but I have very fucking limited resources here.
Come on, Trouble. Text us back.
The tension in the villa escalates almost as much as the heat outside, forcing the tiny, cheap-ass AC unit to work overtime to keep up. Sweat keeps dripping into my eyes, stinging, and making everything that much harder until I am five seconds from losing my shit.
"Come on," I growl through my teeth, tasting salt as the minutes continue to click away without any response from Aurora, and I can't seem to crack this. "Come on."
She's okay.
We've spoken to her every day since she arrived.
She's okay.
We saw her on video less than forty-eight hours ago. She was fine. Unharmed. She looked healthy, even.
She's. Okay.
Elijah blows first, getting up with sudden urgency that almost ruins my focus at the most critical moment of my cyberattack.
"That's it. We're going," he says, and I ignore him.
The extra weapons he takes from the black bag slide and click as he checks mags and loads up. I still ignore him, but it's hard not to notice the easy way he arms himself after so long spent barely being able to touch a weapon.
"Come on, Sev," he says. "I'm not waiting any longer. Something's wrong."
"I'm with you, bro."
I hit enter and pray…and the flight data for today fills my screen. "Wait. I got it."
My brothers come back, leaning down to read over my shoulder as I scan the records.
Where is it?
Come on, where the fuck is it?
But there's nothing. There's no record at all of a flight logged for Ambrose De La Rosa today. No departures that already occurred, and no flight plans coming up at all when I use a find function.
"Check commercial," Sev hisses. "Maybe they weren't using the jet."
I check every flight with a takeoff time even remotely close to the time Aurora gave us, but none are going to Charlotte or any other nearby airport. With an easier, faster hack, I have access to passenger records for all commercial flights out of Girona, and Aurora's name isn't on any of them.
Sev growls, and the chair next to me sails across the room, smashing to kindling that rains down on the floor.
"Sev."
He stalks to the black bag and pulls out one of the three bulletproof vests inside. He throws it on and tosses the semiauto rifle over his back atop it, adding another handgun opposite the Colt Python on his right thigh.
"How many properties did you narrow it down to?" he asks, not bothering to turn around as he winds grip tape around his knuckles and flexes them to make sure he still has a good range of movement.
I open my mouth, wanting to tell him to calm down, but I can't.
I can't keep pretending nothing is wrong. Something is very, very fucking wrong. And I no longer give two shits about blowing our cover or exposing our motives.
My fucks have fucking flown.
"Three properties," I answer, joining him at the bag to gear up, my blood singing with murder in my veins.
Sev's eyes are black as he loads up on extra mags, and Eli joins us to put on his vest. "We should split up."
"No," I argue. "We're stronger together, so we stay together. Hear me?"
A vein in his neck pulses when he flexes his jaw.
"Sev, do you hear me?"
I take him by the vest, making him look at me. "Eli already said his hand's too fucked to trust its aim. You really want to send him in alone?"
His mouth twists. "No."
"Together?"
His eyes narrow to slits. "Together."
I release him. "Good."
"Fuck!" Eli says, shattering the air in the cabin as he trips over an ottoman in the living room trying to rush back to the command center in the kitchen. I realize why a second before he reaches the sat phone.
"Ellie," Sev and I say at the same time.
If Aurora's been made, then…
Elijah's fingers won't cooperate to dial Céline's number on the sat phone. He's shaking too badly.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck."
I take the phone and dial, putting it on speaker.
Sev bounces on the balls of his feet, looking between the phone and the windows. If we don't leave soon, we're going to lose him. He'll tear through the Costa Brava like a fucking hurricane, and it won't be good for anyone involved, including us.
Céline answers on the fifth ring because apparently the woman lives to torture me. "Hel—"
"Céline, where are you right now?"
I can hear cars. The chirp of a pedestrian crossing. "I'm out walking Ellie, is every—"
"Don't go back to your apartment," Eli races to say. "Something's wrong. You need to get out of Boone."
"Are you being followed?" I ask.
"Why?"
"Céline!"
There's a pause, and then, "No. No, I don't think so."
"Good. Keep an eye out. You remember where the laundromat is?"
"Yes," she breathes, her voice edged in panic. "But someone please tell me what's happening. Where is Aurora? Is she all—"
I bring the phone closer to my mouth. "Céline, we need you to go to the laundromat.
Parked in the back is a car I left for you.
The keys are in the light fixture next to the back door.
I need you to pay close attention. You need to destroy this phone, take Ellie, get in that car, and drive straight to our place. Do you remember how to get there?"
"Is that smart?" Eli asks me.
"We have no choice. It's the only protected location that's close enough," I answer him, covering the receiver, and then finish my instructions to Céline. Including the safeguards I never shared with the guys.
"Y-yes," Céline says. "I think so."
"You do not stop until you get there, Céline. There's a fob in the armrest that will automatically open the gate and the front door."
"Okay."
"And, Céline?"
"Yes?"
I meet my brother's eyes, and my stomach twists. "If we don't make it back—"
"Atticus!"
"If we don't make it back," I repeat, more harshly because I need her to fucking listen to me. "In my office, you will find everything you need to start a new life, but I have two requests: Julian Ashford—"
"Elijah's father?"
Eli's lips press into a tight line before he turns away, taking a long, shuddering breath.
"You will be in charge of his care. The paper is signed on our end; it just needs your signature. I know it's asking a lot, but hopefully it won't come to that."
"No," she says stubbornly, her voice watery and rage-filled as her accent grows stronger in the face of her emotion. "No, I will not sign anything. I will not because you will come home. You will all come home."
I wipe a palm over my mouth. I know she'll do it. Of course, she will.
A sob grows on the other end of the receiver, and my chest burns. But I still have one more request.
"Take care of Eleven for us, Cee."
"Love you, Cee," Sev says in a lethal whisper, and I end the call.
It's out of our hands now. We have to trust Céline can get herself and Ellie to safety. We have to focus.
"What was that?" Eli spins, eyes tracking toward the bright windows. "Did you hear that?"
I press a finger to my lips and get low, signaling for the others to do the same, but Sev—stubborn fucking Sev—spins in a slow circle as he pulls the semiauto from his back. Eyes scanning the bay windows.
It's almost indecipherable above the sounds of the sea, but the vehicles that approach aren't rental cars. They're heavy. And if they're coming in close enough for us to hear them, then they intend to come in hot.
If I wasn't a hundred percent sure we'd been made five seconds ago, I am now.
Aurora.
Aurora.
I'll kill him. I'll rip him apart with my bare hands.
I'm coming, Trouble.
Daddicus is coming.
I whistle for Sev's attention, and he finally bends to a crouch. I jerk him closer by the barrel of his weapon. "Get that table down and get behind me," I order in a lethal whisper.
His brows draw down.
"No," Elijah hisses. "It's not your job to keep us safe."
"We're brothers," Sev growls.
"We look out for each other," Eli snaps.
I fight the urge to shout and release a shuddering sigh instead. I want to argue that it is my job, but there's no time, so instead I say, "Leave me one alive."
Sev nods.
I pass Eli my shotgun, indicating he should switch me for his rifle. He doesn't need accuracy to blow buckshot into anyone who comes through that door.
He takes it wordlessly.
"No mercy," I whisper to him, making sure we're on the same page.
"No mercy," he agrees.