Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
Unable to do anything except watch Ferrante and his thug drive away with his woman—because, yeah, he couldn’t imagine his life without her—Jayson fought his rising panic.
Running past the garage and down to the road, his eyes narrowed as the SUV with Ferrante and Sabrina drove further and further away.
“Murph, get over here,” Brandon barked into his comms. “Fast! We have to catch Ferrante!”
“Fuck!” Feeling utterly helpless, Jayson’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t see any other cars around they could boost. They had to wait for Wes. “We’re going to lose them.” His voice caught. Because if they lost her…
“No, we’re not,” Lex said, entirely too confident given the circumstances. Everyone looked at him, and he nodded his head toward the rear yard. “We’ve got a Bell 429 GlobalRanger with room for seven. Who’s coming?”
The helo. Jayson had forgotten all about it.
We still have a chance.
“I fucking love you, Battle!” Jayson exclaimed.
“Sorry, Knight. I only prefer the ladies. But you can pay me back later.” Lex smirked. “Now, let’s go get your girl.”
“You guys, go! Murph and I will catch up,” Corey said.
Jayson took off alongside Lex, Brand and Chaz right behind them.
When they reached the helo, everyone climbed inside and buckled up.
Lex sat down in the pilot’s seat and began the main engine start sequence.
Jayson watched him flip switches and check instruments.
It wasn’t long before the engine rumbled to life.
“It finally pays to have a pilot for a friend,” Chaz teased.
“I cart your ungrateful asses all over the fucking globe, Madden,” Lex retorted. “It’s about time you dillholes show this Top Gun graduate some respect.”
“Get us to Sabrina, and you’ve got all my respect and then some,” Jayson stated.
“I hate to be a downer,” Brand interrupted, “but what the fuck is our plan? Chase them down and then what? Open fire? This isn’t exactly the best scenario for Plan B.”
The helicopter lifted up off the ground and flew forward. “Better figure it out fast, boys,” Lex said. “Because it won’t take me long to catch up.”
Jayson shrugged off his backpack, unzipped it and pulled out a coil of rope. “I’ve got an idea.” He knotted one end of the rope, hooked a carabiner to it, then attached it to his belt.
“I don’t think I’m going to like this idea,” Brand deadpanned.
“As soon as we reach them, get us as close as possible, Battle. I’m going to climb out and take out Ferrante.”
“And then what?” Brand demanded.
“Disable the driver and take over the SUV.”
“What’s the rope for?” Chaz asked with a frown.
“In case I fall.” Jayson shrugged. “Hopefully, we won’t even need it.”
“Christ.” Brand raked a hand through his hair. “This has to be the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”
“You got a better idea?” Jayson countered.
Brand glanced down at the carabiner and rope. “Nope. Make sure that’s secure.”
“Roger.”
“There they are,” Lex called out. “Get into position, boys.”
The helo swooped forward and down, zooming up on the SUV. Jayson tugged at the rope then handed the opposite end to Brand. “Don’t let me die, okay?”
“You’re not allowed to fucking die.” Brand gave it to Chaz. “Tie him off. We’ll cover you.”
Jayson gave them a nod then stepped down onto the helo’s skid.
The wind rushed all around him as he crouched, hanging on with one hand, Glock in his other.
As Lex maneuvered the bird lower, keeping them directly above the SUV’s roof and moving at the same speed, Jayson stretched out on the skid, hugging it tightly.
The moment Lex shifted the helo to the side, Jayson fired, blowing out the passenger’s window.
The SUV swerved but quickly regained control. Shit. The last thing he wanted to do was just start shooting haphazardly because Sabrina was in there. But he had to stop that SUV.
He had to end Rocco Ferrante once and for all.
Before he could aim again, the mobster leaned out the broken window and opened fire. With a fucking machine gun.
Fuck!
“Overshoot them!” Jayson yelled into his comms. “Then spin around and head straight at them. Get as low as possible!”
“You want a chicken fight with the SUV?” Brand asked in disbelief.
“Fuck yeah!” Lex called out, easily overtaking and flying past the SUV. “Hang on!”
The helo swung around, turning to face the approaching car head-on.
Jayson hoped he didn’t just make the worst decision of his life as the bird suddenly descended in a belly-fluttering drop.
Clinging to the skid, he fired off a few carefully-aimed shots, attempting to hit the mobster and being extremely careful not to accidentally clip Sabrina in the process.
Hopefully she was down, out of the immediate danger zone.
Ferrante returned fire. Bullets peppered through the air, pinging off the helicopter, and Jayson tensed.
Why did he ever think a chicken fight with the SUV was a good idea?
The first spray of bullets missed him, and he released a relieved sigh before firing back at Ferrante.
The SUV began to weave, making it harder to hit his target.
The helo whooshed past them, and Jayson got a glimpse of the back where Sabrina was tucked into a ball in the footwell. “Good girl,” he murmured under his breath.
“You are one crazy motherfucker!” Lex called through the comms. “Again?”
Jayson turned, focusing on the fleeing SUV with steely determination. “Again,” he gritted out. “And get lower.”
“Christ,” Brand muttered. “If we get any lower, we’re gonna crash.”
“Nah, I got this,” Lex assured them. “Hold on, kids!”
Once again, Lex zoomed into position and then flew straight toward the SUV. I must have a death wish, Jayson thought. Or I’m in love.
Both were definitely dangerous.
The wind whipped like mad around Jayson, and the helo’s blades whirled above him in a blur. They swooped down, dropping even lower than before, and headed straight for the approaching vehicle. Ferrante appeared and began firing while Jayson took careful aim then pulled his trigger.
They both hit their marks. Ferrante clutched his arm then disappeared back into the vehicle, while a round from the machine gun grazed Jayson’s calf, stinging like hell.
Above him, several strange-sounding pings echoed through the air as bullets ripped through the rotors.
The helo tilted hard and Jayson tried to hold on, but the jolt sent him rolling off the skid.
He made a last-ditch grab for it, but missed when the helo lurched up.
Fuck. The wind whooshed up as he fell. The rope tightened, stopping his fall with a back-arching snap. Dangling beneath the helo which sputtered and screeched, he looked up and saw Chaz sawing through the rope with frantic slashes.
The helo began to drop, and the horror of the situation hit him like a blast of frigid Arctic air. If Chaz didn’t cut him loose in time, the helicopter would crash right on top of him.
Because one thing was clear: the bird was going down—really fucking fast—and he was about to be flatter than a fucking pancake.
The moment Sabrina heard the helicopter, she knew it was Jayson. He and the Motley Crew were coming for her!
Buckling up, fearing things were about to take a wild turn, she clutched the seat in anticipation.
Bullets cracked through the air and the front passenger side window blew out.
The car swerved sideways before Bling regained control.
Meanwhile, Ferrante leaned out the window and lifted a machine gun.
Oh, God, no. She knew she had to do something. But what?
Quickly unbuckling her seat belt, she got ready. When the moment was right, she’d strike. Because despite her tendency to doubt her abilities as an agent, she had to help Jayson and his friends.
The helicopter zoomed past above them. It pulled ahead, spun around and dropped dangerously low. Then it flew straight toward them.
Ohmygod.
She saw Jayson hanging outside of the helo, practically dangling from a skid. Is he crazy?
“Is he fucking insane?” Ferrante yelled.
More shots fired all around, and Sabrina dropped down, seeking cover.
Curling into a ball behind the seat, she braced herself as they weaved back and forth.
The helicopter roared past overhead, sounding like it was mere inches away.
She popped up just in time to see it circle back around, drop precariously low, and then fly straight toward them again.
And then everything seemed to happen all at once.
Once again, Ferrante leaned out the window, and the helicopter took a death-defying dive. Both men fired. Ferrante yelped and slid back inside. At the same time, Jayson fell from the skid. Her heart dropped.
No!
A second later, a rope went taut and stopped his fall and her heart attack.
As Jayson dangled beneath the helicopter, Ferrante cursed and dropped the machine gun on the console.
He’d been hit and she wanted to cheer, but worry for Jayson battered through her.
She couldn’t let the mobster start firing again.
Not with Jayson hanging there, helpless and most likely injured.
Sabrina knew it was now or never.
Throwing herself over the seat, she made a wild grab for the gun.
Her fingers wrapped around it, but Bling and Ferrante attempted to snatch it away from her.
In their scuffle, the weapon discharged.
Bullets struck Bling and he slumped sideways.
His foot pushed down on the accelerator and the car spun out of control.
Shit!
Sabrina made a grab for the wheel, but the SUV lost traction and tilted.
Knowing she couldn’t stop it, she scrambled backward and somehow managed to buckle up again before it rolled.
Sabrina screamed as the car flipped, her entire world going upside down.
With a crunch, the windows cracked and blew out.
She covered her face, trying to protect it from flying splinters of glass.
Time sped back up again. For a terrified moment, she bounced around like a kernel in an air popper, not sure if she was right side up or upside down.
Just as abruptly as it started, the spinning stopped.
With a groan, she opened her eyes, fighting through the dizziness, and realized she was hanging upside down.
The lap belt cut into her lower stomach and she pawed at the buckle, trying to click it open, but without success.
The damn thing was freaking stuck like somebody had glued it together.
In front, she saw Bling hanging halfway out the windshield. Blood poured from him, and he wasn’t moving. It almost looked like he’d been impaled on the broken glass shards.
A shiver racked through her body. Bling was most certainly dead…but where was Rocco Ferrante?
With a frustrated cry, she fought to open the jammed seatbelt.
“Knight!”
Yelling. Loud and edged with fear. Someone kept calling his name. Hollering at him. Jayson opened his eyes to see the blue sky above him. Blinking against the brightness, he groaned. His entire body ached. What the hell?
Everything came back in a rush. Trying to rescue Sabrina. Chasing Ferrante down in the helo. Getting shot. The car flipping and the helo crashing. Falling and hitting the ground so much harder than he would’ve liked.
He struggled to sit up, rubbing the back of his head. Checked out his fingertips—a lump and a little bit of blood.
“Jay!” Brand’s voice boomed through his comms.
“I’m alive,” he rasped. Barely.
Jayson pushed onto his hands and knees. Felt the gun still clutched in his hand like a damn lifeline. In the distance, he saw the crashed helo and his friends climbing out of it.
“Thank fuck!” Chaz shouted.
As the fuzziness lifted, he saw the upside-down SUV. Sabrina. He had to make sure she was oka—
Not far away, he spotted Ferrante crawling toward the vehicle, dragging the machine gun with him. He must’ve been thrown out of the open window when it flipped.
Clambering up, ignoring the bolt of pain that sliced through his calf like a sizzle of lightning, Jayson limped toward the car.
Everything shifted into focus at once. Sabrina suspended upside down, struggling to free herself. Ferrante lifting the machine gun and aiming it in her direction. Jayson being too far away to reach her and get her out before that motherfucker opened fire.
He couldn’t let the mobster take away the one thing that had come to mean everything to him. Emma might be his universe, but Sabrina was quickly becoming his world.
Jayson halted, lifted his Glock 19 and carefully aimed. He had one chance to take out Ferrante before he opened fire on Sabrina. As the mob kingpin’s finger curled around the trigger, Jayson released a low breath…and fired.