Chapter 12 #2
The pilot hit switches, the engine noise died and the rotors slowed to a halt.
Within seconds, the craft was completely surrounded by airport security, sheriff’s vehicles, fire trucks, an ambulance and Stone’s black SUV.
Brotherhood Protectors piled out and ran toward the chopper. Kyla ran the other direction toward the big man Moe had pushed out of the door.
Sheriff’s deputies pointed their weapons at the helicopter as Moe pushed his guy toward the door. He shoved hard and released the man’s arm at the same time.
The guy dropped to the ground, stumbled and fell to his knees.
Moe held up his hands.
Breely stepped up beside him, her hands in the air. “Don’t let the pilot get away,” she called out.
The sheriff motioned for Moe and Breely to get out of the helicopter.
Deputies leaped in and secured the pilot.
“Sheriff Hartsell.” John Jacobs approached the sheriff, pointed at Moe and Breely, whose hands were still in the air, and said, “They’re the good guys.”
“You sure?” The sheriff’s eyes narrowed on Moe.
“Positive. Moe works for my son and the Brotherhood Protectors. The pretty one is Breely Brantt, Robert Brantt’s daughter. You might not want to point that gun at her. If it goes off, you’ll have a helluva a lot to explain to her father.”
The sheriff turned his weapon toward the man kneeling on the ground. One of his deputies had secured the man’s wrists behind his back. “And who is this?”
Breely walked around to stand in front of the brown-haired man. “Dillon Sarley. He worked for my father until he was caught stealing money out of my father’s office. Daddy never should’ve let you slide. You should’ve gone to jail back then.”
“He’s a stupid, gullible man,” Dillon snarled. “He didn’t need the money. He’s loaded.”
“And you needed the money to buy a fancy Corvette?” Breely shook her head. “How did you pay for it? You got it before you could ransom me.”
He snorted. “I wasn’t going to ransom you. I got paid a butt load just to get you on this helicopter.”
Moe stood beside Breely. “Who paid you?”
Dillon spat at Moe’s boots. “Why should I tell you?”
“Why shouldn’t you?” Moe cocked an eyebrow.
Dillon shrugged. “I prefer to live.”
“I hope you enjoy life in jail,” Moe said. “It’s not any safer there than out here. And if the right rumor is spread, the prisoners will make sure certain people are taken care of.”
Dillon’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t care either way.” Moe slipped his arm around Breely. “Salazar’s going to lose the election. The cartel will cut his funding, and he’ll either be run out of Venezuela or killed.”
Dillon shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re not going to get a plea bargain,” a voice said behind Moe.
Kyla joined them. Behind her, a gurney was being loaded into the back of the ambulance, “Your friend was quick to tell the deputy everything he knew. Said he wasn’t keen on kidnapping no woman for some South American dictator, but the money was good.
” Kyla grinned. “He also said you were only paying him a tenth of what you stood to make. You bought a Corvette with the first installment. Your buddy only got enough to pay off the loan on his Harley.”
“Asshole,” Dillon muttered. “He doesn’t know anything. He’s just a dumb biker.”
Kyla crossed her arms over her chest and stared down her nose at Dillon.
“That dumb biker overheard you talking to some dude with an accent about kidnapping the girl and taking her down to Venezuela. They’d threaten to kill her if her father didn’t make a public announcement about using his orphanages and community health centers to funnel drugs through Venezuela and into the US.
Plus, he’d have to claim that he’d used drug money to fund DeVita’s campaign. ”
Breely shook her head. “You got all that out of the guy who fell out of a helicopter?”
“Pain has a way of making a guy talk. Not that I was the cause of the pain. The bones he broke upon landing were enough.” Kyla gave Breely a cocky shrug. “I’m just that good at questioning. I make them want to tell me things.”
Breely laughed. “You’re amazing. I want to be like you someday.”
Kyla’s brow dipped. “No. You don’t. Unless you like the part where I have a man who loves me despite my past and body count.”
Moe stared down at Breely. “You’ve got that.”
“Which part?” Breely stared up at him, her eyes wide. “The body count or the love?”
“Love. All the way.” He kissed the top of her head.
The deputies brought the pilot out of the helicopter, his wrists secured with zip ties behind his back. He and Dillon were placed in the backs of two different sheriff’s SUVs.
Moe looked down at Breely, his heart so full he felt it might explode. He couldn’t wait to get her somewhere he could hold her close and tell her how he really felt. Having almost lost her, he realized she was so much more than a job or a friend. “Ready?”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “I sure am. But where are we going? The lodge was full of smoke.” Her eyes widened. “The lodge! Did everyone get out?”
John Jacobs spoke up. “I was on the phone with Tinker. There’s smoke damage, and where Dillon and his cohort set the explosion, a wall needs to be rebuilt. It’ll be a massive cleanup effort.”
“I’m so sorry,” Breely said. “I’ll do what I can to help with the cleanup. I’m pretty good at cleaning.”
“What’s important is that no one was severely hurt,” Stone said. “The lodge will survive.”
Tinker joined them, pushing the dirt bike along the runway toward them. “Just a couple of scratches. It still works,” he reported with a grin.
Moe glanced down at Breely. “Wanna ride back on the bike?”
Her eyes brightened. “Can we?”
Tinker shrugged. “Don’t see why not.”
Moe nodded to Stone. “See you back at the lodge.” He slung his leg over the bike and scooted forward.
Breely climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Another adventure. And the best part about it is how close I get to be to you.”
Moe started the engine and drove the dirt bike off the runway and through the gate.
He loved how Breely fit perfectly against his body and in his life.
Taking it a little slower on the way back, he showed her how much fun riding through life with him could be.
He hoped she would consider making it permanent.
Yeah, the man who’d thought he never wanted to marry again had fallen hard. He couldn’t imagine anything better than having this redhead by his side for the rest of his life.