Within ten minutes, the Gulfstream G650 was heading for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. At a top speed of 610 miles per hour, we were going to be over our target within three and a half hours.I knew it was going to be the longest three and a half hours of my life. Johnny ran through the details during our flight. “Eve was right, we’re going to have to go out the aft baggage area. We can access it from inside the plane, so we’re good.”“Why can’t we just go out the door?” I asked.“Don’t want to get sucked into the engines,” Johnny explained. “Or bash your head on the wing and get knocked out.”“Oh.”“Do we have intel on the boat?” Leo asked. “I mean, what are we looking at here?”“Eve?” I said.The television monitor in front of us lit up with white letters on a back background. She had commandeered the plane’s internet connection long before we took off.It’s a custom-built mega-yacht, 300 feet in length. I’m keeping track of it via satellite – you’ll be able to parachute within a
We were allowed bathroom breaks – armed members of the crew unlocked our handcuffs, then escorted us out of the room and back – but other than that, we were kept chained to our brass chairs around the table. Sebastian kept toiling away, giving Miranda access to Connor’s companies, piece by piece – and I was the sword held over his head to get him to comply.The only ray of hope I had was my bobby pins. I checked my hair when I went to the bathroom; they were still there. If there was a moment when Miranda left me and Sebastian alone, I might be able to get us both out of the cuffs – and maybe someplace safe.Maybe.But now wasn’t the time.I just prayed the time would come……and that Sebastian, Connor, Johnny, and I all lived to see it.
Two hours into the flight, Eve gave me the best piece of news I’d had in weeks – and I’m counting the moment I found out the murder charges against me were dropped.I’ve got confirmation – they’re both alive. Repeat: both Lily and Sebastian are alive.We whooped and hollered, and looked closely at the camera angle as Eve played it over and over. My eyes teared up as I watched Lily being escorted out of the room at the front of the ship – healthy and whole, even if she was at gunpoint.“Is that Armin?” Johnny asked in shock.“What?!” I said. “Eve – rewind the video and freeze it!” She complied, and I leaned in close to study the figure behind Lily. It was harder to see him because of the shadows and the grainy quality of the video, but I’d seen his face too many times over the last year for there to be any doubt.“That motherfucking Judas SON OF A BITCH!” I roared.“Shit,” Johnny whispered.I sat there stewing for a second, then said grimly, “I owe you an apology, Eve. You were right
We had been sitting in the room for several hours when Armin knocked at the door.“We picked up a plane on radar,” he announced. “They’re maybe fifteen minutes away.”“Excellent,” Miranda said, then gestured to Sebastian. “Take this one back with you.”Armin unlocked the chains around Sebastian’s ankles, forced him to his feet, and shepherded him out of the room. The last I saw of my friend was his panicked eyes as he disappeared outside.“What about me?” I asked.Miranda came over and sat in the chair next to me, the gun in her hand. “Now we wait for your fiancé.”
Johnny passed out tiny earpieces with microphones, along with four objects that looked like walkie-talkies.“What are these for?” I asked.“They’re shortwave transmitters. They’ll allow the four of us to communicate onboard the ship,” Johnny explained. “And they have Bluetooth capability, so if Eve’s able to commandeer the ship’s wireless computer system, she’ll be able to speak to us directly when we’re onboard.”Words appeared on the television screen: Put them on.We all did as ordered. Suddenly a familiar feminine voice – one I had heard only for a couple of hours, and many weeks ago – spoke in my ear.“Hello, gentlemen. I’ll be assisting you on your mission of rescue and revenge this evening.”Juan chuckled. “Hot girl talkin’ in my ear – the night just got even better.”“Good to hear your voice again, Eve,” I said.“Thanks, Connor.”“Why are you breaking the rule about no voice contact, though?”“We’re in the final stretch, so I figure it can’t hurt. Plus there’s no real way arou
I sat there staring at Miranda, both furious and sick with dread at the same time.She didn’t seem bothered at all by the violent drama about to unfold. She lounged in the chair like she was in a theater, waiting for a movie to start. The only thing out of place with her demeanor was the gun in her right hand.“What were you doing in Tokyo and Italy?” I asked.“I told you, we’re not talking about that.” There wasn’t any anger or annoyance in her voice, just cool detachment.“Either I’m about to die, or you’re about to die – so what does it matter if I know?”She looked at me with mild amusement. “I’m not about to die.”Her self-confidence enraged me – and at the same time, the double meaning behind her last sentence chilled me to my bones. Still, I kept pressing. “So tell me.”“There was a shipment of prostitutes in Tokyo, and a shipment of heroin in Italy.”“…into the US?”“No,” she said, her voice registering just the barest hint of sarcasm. “Into Guam. Of course into the US.”“But
We had to access the cargo hold and jump from there in order to avoid getting sucked into the engines, so we removed an access panel in the Gulfstream’s cabin wall and set it aside. Cold air blasted out of the dark hole at hurricane force.While the others prepared to jump, I unzipped one of the tiny pouches sewn into my black fatigues and pulled out the wedding rings. I rubbed them again, felt the embossed patterns in the metal, and kissed them once more.Today was supposed to be our wedding day, not the day we both might die.No, I told myself. That’s NOT going to happen.I’m putting this on your finger TODAY, Lily. I swear it.Then I replaced the rings and zipped them up tight and secure.Everyone else was finally ready. Leo grabbed his AR-15 and disappeared through the hatch. Exactly twenty seconds later, Juan crawled in after him.Twenty seconds after that, Johnny slapped my shoulder. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”My heart pounding, I crawled into the darkness and tried to reme
Miranda’s revelations had thrown me for a loop. Even though I tried not to react, there was no denying the sour sickness in my stomach – or the bitter despair in my heart.I couldn’t stop myself from saying what came next. It was the only way I could fight against the onslaught of hopelessness and outrage coursing through me.“Even if you kill me, it won’t matter,” I said coldly. “In fact, it’ll just make it worse for you. Connor will find you. He will. And he won’t stop until you’re dead or behind bars.”“Your faith in Connor is… adorable,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt.“It’s amazing to me how stupidly overconfident you are. You think you know everything, but you don’t.”“But I do. For instance, I know that Eve Saunders is helping them. I know that she has currently accessed all the cameras aboard the ship. What she doesn’t know is that the feeds from all the cameras are fake. They’re recordings. In reality, I have three times more men onboard than Connor expects – and