“We’re not going to give her that chance,” Julian said, pumping air into his lungs as the shooting pangs leveled off into minor aches in his muscles. Trying again, he was able to bend his legs and wiggle his toes within his boots.
“What are you going to do?” Mena asked.
“Get control of this plane from Adam,” Julian said. “But first, I got to get you out of those zip ties.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Sliding the door open, Julian peered out into the compartment. Two large sofas lined the walls of the plane. Dr. Quentin Tufa lay asleep on one of the sofas, snoring with his mouth slack. No sign of a weapon nearby him.
Across from Quentin stood two African guys, their backs to Julian, engaged in a heated discussion in what sounded like French. Both were shorter and leaner than Julian. Two AR-15s rested against the sofa near the men, a couple of arms lengths away.
Likely, they had expected Julian to be knocked out for much longer, which was why they hadn’t tied him up or restrained him in the room with Mena. They also had been careless in their search of his body for weapons, discovering the Berettas, but missing the butterfly knife secured in his calf holster. The knife had come in handy to get Mena out of the zip ties used to restrain her and to open the locked door.
Closing the door, Julian rested the butterfly knife on the table next to the bed and assessed his options. With the element of surprise, he could easily take them out as long as Quentin didn’t wake up.
Adam Russell was conspicuously absent from the room, likely in the front compartment of the Gulfstream, separated from the other men. Julian wasn’t naive enough to think Adam wasn’t heavily armed and ready to blow his head off if he discovered what he was doing.
“Shouldn’t we wait until we land. It would be much safer to try to get away then, wouldn’t it?” Mena asked.
Julian turned to look at the love of his life. She was wringing her hands as she stared back at him, fear and worry etched on her face. He didn’t want to do anything that could get her hurt, but not making a move on Adam and his men until they landed was the worst of all of their options.
“We won’t get a better chance than the one we have right now. I can get the jump on the two gunmen, and then Quentin and Adam will be a lot easier to deal with,” Julian said.
“It’s too dangerous!” Mena whispered, pulling Julian’s arm. He stepped away from the door and placed his hands on her hips, facing her.
Mena continued, “I don’t want you to go out there. Whatever Priscilla Dumay wants from us, it’s not to see us dead. She needs us alive for some reason or she would have paid Tubeec Hirad to murder us instead. We should wait this out, see what she wants and then decide what to do then. Please, Julian.”
Her idea wasn’t bad. But, his experience had taught him that going on the offensive was the best way of getting the upper hand on an enemy. Allowing Dumay to further embroil them in whatever web she was spinning could leave them trapped, with few options. Julian wasn’t going to let that happen.
“We can’t play this game with Dumay. Right now, we have a chance to take the advantage and do something she wouldn’t expect,” Julian said.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Mena said, tears welling in her eyes as she pulled him into her arms.
Julian pressed his lips against her forehead, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist. “Thought you trusted me.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about. Adam has gone through a lot of trouble and dealt with some dangerous men to make sure he could kidnap us and take us back to St. Basil. He’s not going to let Priscilla down,” Mena insisted, as she rested her head against his chest.
“And I’m not going to let you down. Priscilla’s days of terrorizing you are over. I promise you that,” Julian said. Hearing the fear and concern in Mena’s voice further solidified his resolve to end things with Dumay now. Once they got back to St. Basil, he didn’t want Mena worrying about being attacked or abducted. Forget testifying at Dumay’s trial. Julian was going to make sure that bitch never got the chance to hurt Mena again.
“Fine. What do you need me to do?” Mena asked.
Julian smiled at his fearless beauty. She had all the confidence and boldness in the world when he was at her side. But this battle he was going to fight on his own.
“I need you to hide in the bathroom while I take care of things out there. It’s going to get … messy. I want you protected as much as I can,” Julian said.
“You’ll need back up,” Mena said. “I know how to shoot a gun now.”
“You got one hidden in there,” Julian asked, pulling her shirt open as he stared down at her amazing breasts.
“Stop it!” Mena laughed. “Be serious. No, I don’t have a gun on me.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to hide in the bathroom, Annie Oakley. Seriously, I don’t want to worry about you while I’m out there. Once I’m done, I’ll be back to get you,” Julian said.
Mena caressed the sides of his face with her hands, leaning in to give him the most passionate kiss. Savoring the taste of her, Julian allowed himself a moment to indulge, swirling his tongue next to hers as his hands slipped down and rubbed her ass.
Too soon, Mena pulled away from him. “You better come back alive or I will never forgive you.”
Julian watched as Mena walked backward toward the bathroom. She blew him a kiss, then stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
