Chapter 44 #2
“Drop the guns!” He repeats.
My brothers remain still, neither of them obeying Nolan’s orders.
My eyes go back at the man holding the detonator, analyzing the explosives wired to the fuel tank.
One precise bullet can kill him, but if his thumb slips from the switch, the entire concrete building turns into an incinerator.
And Jade is standing just twenty feet from the blast radius. There is no way she would survive it.
I slowly lower my gun, pointing the barrel at the concrete floor, my stomach twisting.
“Back up!” Nolan orders, dragging Jade backward toward the airstair. “Clear the runway!”
I take a slow step backward, shifting my weight slightly to the left, sliding half a foot laterally, and lining my body up perfectly with the guard holding the detonator.
I need a clear angle.
All I need is one fraction of a second where Nolan’s gun isn’t pressed to her skull.
Jade’s dark eyes lock onto mine as if she can read my mind.
Or maybe she can, if anyone can see every micromovement in my body and notice the slightest change on my face, it’s her.
She sees the slight shift in my stance and reads the calculation in my eyes.
She knows I am entirely boxed in as long as Nolan has a grip on her.
And being the most perfect wife a man can dream of, she creates an opportunity for me.
Jade suddenly stops fighting the backward drag. She lets her legs go completely slack, dropping her entire body weight toward the concrete. The sudden shift pulls Nolan off balance and as he stumbles forward to keep his grip on her, the barrel of his gun slips away from her temple.
“Perfect,” I smile, my voice barely a whisper.
Jade immediately twists, driving her elbow straight back into Nolan’s ribs, his grip slipping.
“You stupid bitch!”
One of his guards lunges forward to grab her, but they’re not fast enough and as a gunshot cracks through the hangar, distinct and sharp over the turbines, I watch the red explosion of blood across the side of Jade’s waist.
The world goes entirely silent, the deafening roar of the jet engines vanishing from my ears, the shouts of my brothers disappearing.
“Jade!”
The guard that managed to grab her collar takes a step back, his gun smoking.
Every thought leaves my mind, my heart pounding hard, and I raise my Glock and pull the trigger twice.
The first bullet shatters the guard's face, turning him on the outside into the disgusting monster he is on the inside.
The second catches him in the throat as he falls and he drops to the concrete, dead before he hits the ground.
“Mal…” Jade’s voice is weak as she calls out my name, collapsing onto her hands and knees, pressing her arm against her side.
“Go!” Nolan screams at the man with the detonator.
He turns and sprints up the metal airstair, disappearing into the dark cabin of the jet, not trying to grab Jade again. I sprint across the open concrete, ignoring the man by the fuel line, ignoring the risk of the explosives, because getting to Jade is the only thing I care about.
I slide to my knees beside her, throwing my gun aside.
“You came,” she says, a weak smile spreading across her face. “You saved me.”
“Of course I did,” I press a quick kiss on her forehead, before I grab her by the shoulders, hauling her up into my chest, and drag her behind the heavy steel frame of a tool chest, completely out of the line of fire.
“Ezekiel!” I call out, the sound tearing out of my throat like a dying animal. “Get a medic here now!”
I press both of my hands hard against the bleeding wound at her waist. The blood is hot, spilling rapidly between my fingers, soaking into the knees of my dark trousers.
“You…” Jade gasps, her head falling back against my shoulder, her skin completely pale, her dark eyes losing focus.
“I’m here, I’ve got you,” I say, pressing harder, leaning my entire body weight into my hands to stop the bleeding. “Look at me, Jade. Keep your eyes open and focus on me.”
I don’t even pay attention to the chaos that’s happening around us. Nolan is gone, and Jade is badly wounded. I hear as Levi and Cain open fire on the cockpit, but the armored glass holds. The jet clears the hangar doors, turning sharply onto the runway.
“Mal…” Jade forces herself to speak again. “Take the shot.”
“No,” I shake my head.
“Yes,” she insists. “We might no—” She stops, coughing out blood.
“Jade, stop talking! You’re making it worse!”
“This might be the last chance to take him down.”
“No,” I know I have a clear shot. My gun is sitting on the floor two feet away. I could pick it up, run to the doors, and fire into the turbine. I could bring the plane down right now, with Nolan in it. I could end his life once and for all and take that weight of my family’s backs.
But I look at the blood coating my hands and at Jade’s chest as she’s struggling to pull in air.
I remain put.
Zeke slides to a stop beside me, ripping a heavy trauma dressing from his tactical vest.
“Pressure,” Zeke commands, his hands replacing mine on her side.
I let him take over the wound, but I don’t let go of her. I move behind her and pull her head against my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her shoulders, shielding her entirely from the dust and chaos of the hangar.
He’s gone.
Nolan is gone. He played a perfect hand, bought the right men, and slipped the net. But for whatever reason, I don’t care that he’s gone. As I look down at Jade, watching the slow, steady rise of her chest as Ezekiel packs the wound, the cold, ruthless logic in my brain locks into place.
I lean down, pressing my bloody forehead against hers.
“I don’t care what ocean he crosses,” I whisper to her, the promise carved completely out of stone. “I don’t care where he lands... He doesn’t get to escape again from me.”