29. Chapter 29 #3
“It’s good to finally see you, Isabella.”
“You too.”
He reached across Lachlan and took my hand.
“Thank you for bringing my brother back to us.”
The gratitude in his voice caught me off guard.
“Without him, neither of us would be sitting here,” I said softly.
Lucian looked between us. “Then I’m glad you had each other.”
His hand tightened briefly around mine before he released it.
The first engine began to spool up outside, a rising mechanical whine quickly deepening into a vibration beneath the cabin floor.
Nik looked up from his laptop.
“Lucian, sit down. We’re about to move.”
There was no teasing in his voice. Just urgency.
Lucian rose and took the seat next to Nik in front of us.
Lachlan fastened his seatbelt, then reached for my hand again as Lucian buckled in.
The second engine came alive.
A moment later, the aircraft began to roll.
I turned toward the window.
The FBO slowly slipped past—the shattered glass, the people crouched inside, security vehicles converging on the building, and the place where only minutes earlier I’d thought our escape was ruined.
But no one had followed us onto the ramp.
Between the armed men we had left behind, legitimate airport security converging on the FBO, and the confusion spreading through the terminal, Marcela’s people had lost their clean path to us.
Nik focused on the laptop open on the table in front of him.
From my seat behind his, I could see part of the screen between the headrests. Information shifted across it faster than I could follow while his fingers moved over the keyboard. Whatever he was doing, his attention had already moved beyond the chaos at the FBO.
He was planning ahead.
A voice of one of the pilots came over the intercom.
“Ground control is holding us.”
Nik didn’t lift his eyes from the screen. He tapped on his phone, and his voice joined the pilot’s over the intercom. “Why?”
“Traffic crossing ahead, and airport security wants us stopped until they sort out what happened at the FBO.”
“We’re not staying here while they figure it out. Let’s go.”
Rory leaned toward the window. “I’m inclined to agree.”
Nik enlarged something on his screen.
“There’s a crossover ahead. Traffic on the other taxiway is stopping.”
The pilot answered, “That isn’t where ground cleared us to go.”
“I know.”
His tone made it obvious he considered that somebody else’s problem.
The jet turned.
Through my window, another aircraft appeared ahead and to the right, moving slowly along a parallel strip of pavement. For one awful second, I thought we were heading straight toward it.
Then it stopped, and we cut across in front of it.
Angry voices immediately erupted from the cockpit radio.
I couldn’t understand all the aviation language, but I understood the tone perfectly.
We were not making friends.
Nik finally looked away from his laptop.
“Keep moving,” he ordered.
I glanced around at the other men.
Less than ten minutes ago, they had been shooting cartel gunmen inside a private terminal. Now Nik was overriding an airport that seemed very determined to keep his aircraft on the ground, while everyone around him behaved as if this were an irritating scheduling problem.
A laugh threatened to escape me.
Maybe Lachlan’s entire brotherhood was insane.
The jet made another turn, bringing a broad stretch of runway into view outside my window. Whatever amusement I’d felt vanished, and Lachlan must have noticed the change in my face.
“Have you ever flown?”
I shook my head.
He leaned across me and tugged once on my seatbelt, checking the buckle himself before settling back.
“Takeoff’s a little loud, and the acceleration will push you into the seat. When we leave the ground, your stomach may drop for a second, and your ears may pop.”
“You make it sound delightful.”
His mouth curved.
“You’ll like the part that comes after.”
“Which part is that?”
“Looking down and realizing no one from El Salvador can reach you anymore.”
That silenced me.
His hand closed around mine.
A few seconds later, the pilot’s voice came over the intercom.
“Once we turn, we’re going. Everybody stay seated.”
Nik closed the laptop.
“Get us the hell out of here.”
The aircraft rolled onto the runway, and the engines surged.
The force pushed me firmly back into the seat, pulling a startled yelp from me as the world outside began rushing past faster than anything I had ever experienced.
Lachlan laughed softly beside me and tightened his fingers around mine.
Hangars blurred as pavement raced beneath us. The roar of the engines filled the cabin, and I could feel the vibration through my chest.
The nose of the jet lifted.
My stomach dropped so suddenly I sucked in a breath and tightened both hands around Lachlan’s.
His thumb pressed into my palm.
“Easy, Mouse.”
Then the wheels left the ground.
I knew it before I looked. The hard vibration beneath us changed, smoothing as the runway fell away.
I released Lachlan’s hand and turned toward the window, clenching my fingers around the edges of the frame as I stared outside.
“Oh my God.”