Page 67 of One Filthy Kiss

If I haven’t misread the situation, The Fish will have already made his move; now, all I can do is sit back and wait while my driver heads back onto the freeway towards the airport.

I don’t have to wait long.

The radio crackles to life when an aircraft flying overhead is clearly circling to prepare for landing, and Ric’s tinny voice announces, “Shark bite.”

My pulse races. There’s more at stake tonight than there has ever been before. One wrong move, and my entire future will come crashing down around me, like a sci-fi movie where the viewer is led to believe that there is plain white nothingness beyond what they can see.

I don’t respond. Ric knows what to do.

The driver of the switched vehicle checks in. “All clear.”

It’s a small comfort.

Meggie’s heart must be pounding. She’ll be cramped inside the footwell of the vehicle that Ric is driving, unable to stretch her legs or ease the ache in her lower back. But her own discomfort will be nothing compared to the fear coursing through her veins. Fear for Amber’s safety. Perhaps for my safety too.

I keep the radio in my hand as we approach the airport. I need to know that Meggie is safe before I enter the next stage of the plan. When the device remains silent, I’m tempted to contact Ric, but a slight shake of Demi’s head snags my focus. She’s right. I have to be patient.

Another crackle, and my pulse spikes frantically.

Ric. “Plan B. ETA later than planned. Shark lost at sea.”

Relief floods my chest. They’re going to make it. Meggie is safe.

At the airport, the driver pulls the car into my private parking bay. I climb out first. Instead of entering the airport, I make my way to the control building, chin jutting defiantly, strides filled withconfidence.

Once inside, I enter the male restrooms reserved for the control room employees and switch my trademark suit for plain blue coveralls and heavy black boots.

Then I take up my position in the rabbit warren of conveyor belts and forklift trucks behind the luggage reclaim department.

I keep the radio in my hand and wait.

I’m surprisingly calm now that everything is in place. The worst is yet to come, but I remind myself that I will handle it because I’m doing it for them.

“The snake has been fed.”

Demi’s voice is different through the radio speaker, robotic, as though she is using a voice-changer. The snake codeword was her idea, and I smile to myself.

She is inside the airport and has checked in for the flight on my private jet using Meggie’s name and passport.

Now, all I’m waiting for is Ric. I steel myself. My heart is thudding dully, waiting for the radio to spring to life, knowing that I’m not going to like what I hear.

“Rendezvous made. ETA?”

Another member of my team responds. “Ten minutes.”

Ten minutes. Six hundred seconds. A lifetime.

They are the longest ten minutes of my entire life. When the radio hisses, making my nerves jangle, it isn’t Ric’s voice I hear.

“Gio, where are you?” It’s Meggie.

I keep my voice neutral. I’m doing this for them. This is all forthem… For Meggie and Amber. “Do you have the puppy?” The codeword for Amber.

“Yes. Where are you, Gio? Where are you? You were supposed to be here. Why aren’t you here?Gio…”

I smash the radio and toss the broken shards into the nearest trash can.

Meggie’s voice is still ringing in my ears when I load my revolver and make my way through the baggage area to the hub of the airport.