Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Malachi
“There’s no pressure drop, Mr. Kavanagh,” the mechanic wipes his grease-stained hands on a small rag as he steps back from the open cowling of the starboard engine, his brow furrowed in confusion. “The hydraulic lines are perfectly clean and the valve is completely sealed.”
Fuck.
The words hit my chest like a physical blow. A cold, absolute certainty drops into my stomach at the realization.
There is no mechanical failure.
I drop the heavy metal flashlight onto the asphalt. It shatters making a loud sound, but I don’t care about the stupid flashlight. I turn around immediately and sprint across the open tarmac toward the terminal, only one thing on my mind.
Jade.
“Cain!” I shout into the radio clipped to my shoulder but I’m met with nothing but dead static. “Cain, report.”
Nothing. I get no response from my brother, the channel is completely jammed.
I pull my Glock from the holster at my hip, my thumb flicking the safety off as I reach the side entrance of the terminal and kick the heavy glass door open. The hallway is completely empty. There is no trace of the guards Cain left at the entrance.
I hate how this looks and I find myself praying for the first time in a long time. My whole chest is screaming a prayer right now, I only ask for one thing and that’s for Jade to be safe and sound. For her to still be alive.
When I reach the heavy oak door of the VIP lounge, I’m met with another dead end as the place is completely empty. The good thing is that there is no sign of any struggle. The room is almost too clean.
I pull out my phone and dial Zeke’s number.
“Is everything okay?” Zeke answers the phone after the first ring.
“No,” I reply. “The airport is compromised, Cain is dark and Jade is gone.”
As I say those words, a terrifying, lethal calm washes over me, my brain completely drowning out the panic.
“What do you want me to do?” he asks.
“Seal the perimeter and lock down every gate, every exit, every runway,” I say. “Not a single thing takes off or lands.”
“Okay,” Zeke responds. “Just don’t do anything impulsive if you get to him.”
“That’s one thing I can’t promise you, brother,” I reply. “Get Levi and Elijah here right now.”
“We’re already on the way,” Zeke responds.
It hurts my pride to see how Nolan used our own security protocols against us. I might have underestimated his intelligence, which was a grave mistake on my end. He’s nothing like his father, despite the spoiled brat act he likes to pull in public.
The manager.
The ace in his sleeve was the manager Miller and the best way to get to Nolan is to find the man he used against us. I head out, looking for the familiar face and it doesn’t take me long before I spot the crisp blue uniform.
If he were smart, he would already be gone and hiding deep, deep in the ground. But lucky for me, he doesn’t seem to be aware of how serious what he’s done is and what’s about to hit to him.
“Hey, Miller!” I call out, his eyes widening as he spots the gun my hand. “We need to talk.”
Miller’s face goes completely pale and he swallows, remaining frozen in place for just a heartbeat before he turns around and speeds towards the employee exit at the far end of the hallway.
He’s carrying a bag over his shoulder, but I’m faster than him and I catch the bastard right before his hand hits the crash bar of the exit door.
“Where are you so eager to get to?” I grab the back of his collar, yank him backward, and slam him face-first into the concrete wall. The impact knocks the breath out of his lungs with a wet gasp.
“Sir…” He tries pulling the clueless card, pretending this is just a normal day at work for him.
“I don’t have time for your bullshit,” I say as I grab a handful of his hair, and yank his head back, pressing the gun right under his jaw. “Where’s Nolan?” I demand.
“Who?” He asks, his voice trembling. “I don't know what you’re—"
“I can make this a lot less painful,” I grab his hand, twisting his middle finger backwards until it snaps, causing him to scream and drop to his knees. “If you cooperate.”
“Man, I swear—”
“Don’t swear in vain,” I grab his ring finger, and the man immediately panics. “Which hangar is Nolan Devlin in?”
“Seven!” He sobs, tears streaming down his face. “Hangar seven! Service road at the back of the property!”
“Now, was that so hard?” I ask, tilting my head as I take in the look of terror on his face.
“Sorry!” Miller continues. “I don’t know anything. He said he just wanted the plane, he said no one was going to get hurt—”
“Unfortunately,” I pull him up by the collar, forcing him to face me, “you put the most important person in my life in danger and I can’t just let you walk out of here to tell the tale.”
“No,” his whole body is trembling with fear as the realization hits him. “Please, don’t! I have a wife and family, I—”
“I have a wife, too,” I say, leaning forward. “And she might be dead right now because you made the choice to help Nolan Devlin.”
“Please, no,” the man cries. “Please don’t kill me!”
“Too bad I already made my choice,” I pull the trigger, his brain splattering on the wall behind and some of it getting on my jacket too. His body drops to the floor with a loud thud while I run out.
Just as I’m about to try calling Cain through the radio once again, the glass door behind me opens and I see Zeke walk in with an unsuppressed rifle in his hands.
Elijah and Levi are right behind him, and then I spot Cain.
He has a dark bruise swelling on his cheekbone, the blood still drying on his collar.
“I got his location,” I tell them and my brothers follow me.
Cain catches up to me, a look of regret on his face as he speaks. “They jammed my comms and locked the outer gate,” he says, his voice thick with rage.
“How many of them are out there?” I ask.
“Not sure,” he responds. “I put two down, but I can’t tell how many of the guards are on Nolan’s payroll.”
“Nolan has her,” I say.
“But you know where they are?” Zeke asks behind me.
“Yes, hangar seven,” I reply. “That’s where we’re heading.”
“Let’s get this son of a bitch once and for all,” Levi says, his voice full of anger.
We fall right into formation. Ezekiel takes the lead, Levi covers the right, and Elijah and Cain watch our backs. I walk in the center, keeping my gun up and my eyes locked on the rusted metal of the hangar at the end of the airfield.
Nolan Devlin isn't his father.
The words keep echoing in my head, making sure I don’t forget it because if I do, and if we approach this the way we’d approach Ronan, we’re screwed.
The old man relied on fear and numbers, while Nolan relies on intelligence.
He studied us, just like I would have done if the roles had been reversed.
And he found the one weakness in our armor, separated the security detail, and isolated the only thing in this world I care about.
Two men in dark tactical gear step out from behind a fuel truck near hangar four, raising automatic weapons. Elijah and Levi fire simultaneously. Both men drop to the asphalt before they can pull their triggers.
The smell of aviation fuel grows stronger as we continue to move forward.
“Wait,” Zeke stops and I turn to look at him. “Can you hear that?”
I listen and that’s when I hear it myself, the low sound a jet engine is making in the distance.
“He’s firing up the turbines,’ Cain says, tracking the sound.
“Let’s move!”
The few remaining steps feel like miles, my mind playing out every possible worst scenario as I keep holding onto Jade’s image. Her voice, her eyes, the way she laughs when I say something serious…
I can’t lose you.
The heavy metal doors of hangar seven are fully open when we reach them. Inside the massive, echoing space is a white private jet with its airstair lowered and its engines running, but there doesn’t seem to be any trace of Nolan or his man. Or Jade, for that matter.
My chest tightens as I step through the doors, keeping my gun raised.
And that’s when I see her and the scene in front of me completely stops my breathing.
Jade is fighting for every single inch of ground on the concrete floor near the base of the stairs.
Her shirt is torn, her hair wild, a look of pure fear in her beautiful dark eyes.
One of the guards tries to drag her toward the metal steps, but she kicks out violently, hooking her boot around the heavy wheel of a yellow ground-power generator.
She pulls it hard, causing the heavy cart to tip over, crashing directly into the path of the aircraft’s front landing gear.
That’s my girl.
Nolan Devlin is there, standing a few feet away, watching her fight with a cold, amused smile on his face. I realize this is it, this is the opportunity that I have been waiting on forever. I raise my gun, lining the sights up perfectly with the center of Nolan’s chest.
But before my finger can pull the trigger, a man steps out from the shadow of the aircraft’s wing, holding a dead-man’s switch in his right hand, his thumb pressed down hard on the trigger.
A thick web of explosive wire is wrapped tightly around the main aviation fuel line connecting the underground tank to the jet.
“Fuck!”
Nolan turns his head towards me, the smile on his face widening.
He immediately walks over to Jade, grabs her roughly by the arm, and hauls her up against his chest. He pulls a handgun from his waistband and presses the barrel hard into her temple.
“Step away from her!” I shout, but he doesn’t even blink.
“Drop the guns, Malachi!” Nolan says, his voice barely carrying over the loud jet turbines, but the command is unmistakable.
I freeze in place, the cold, calculated predator in my brain completely short-circuits at the sight of the steel barrel pressed against Jade’s skin. I can’t put her life at risk like this, I’ve already done enough damage.
“If you take just one step closer,” Nolan yells, his eyes locking onto mine, “my man lets go of that switch. Or would you prefer if I put a bullet through her head instead?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Nolan!”