Page 57 of Mile High Heist

His gaze was fixed furiously on Ryle.

“I thought you said he didn’t notice you stealing from him?”

“He didn’t,” Ryle muttered back. “I mean, I was flirting with him pretty hard. Called him big bear daddy. I guess he put two and two together.”

As the furious man approached, Ryle used his sticky fingers to slip the taser into my pocket. Then he stepped into the aisle, his hands raised above his head.

It was obvious he’d been in this position before.

“You’re in big trouble, kid,” the air marshal growled.

Ryle smirked suggestively. “Promise?”

The other passengers in first class perked up over their seats, curious. Ryle waited until the air marshal was close enough before he attacked.

Ryle struck hard and fast, punching the man like he had a personal vendetta. He probably did. I knew Jax hated cops, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the whole crew had beef with law enforcement. They were criminals after all.

The problem was, the air marshal had at least seventy pounds on Ryle. Not that Ryle appeared to care.

I slapped my hands over my eyes. Oh god, what the hell was he doing?

I heard curses and more grunts, flesh slapping flesh. Unable to help myself, I parted my fingers and peeked at the mayhem.

Ryle had put up a hell of a fight. But he was no match for a trained federal agent. The man had him pinned to the floor, his knees in Ryle’s back as he wrestled him into a pair of handcuffs. Lucille stood over the writhing pair, looking shocked. That look soured into suspicion when she glanced at me.

The unwilling accomplice.

Shit.

I scrambled forward, trying to convey innocence. If we made it to Zurich alive, I had a sneaking suspicion Lucille was planning to have me arrested. At the very least, I had definitely failed my probation.

“Where have you been?” Lucille hissed at me.

“I, um—"

“I told you to stay with Marcus.” She stepped over the thrashing pair. Ryle was threatening to bite off the air marshal’s balls. Delightful. “It astounds me how you fail to follow even the simplest of instructions.”

Heat rushed to my face. Two men were bleeding on the floor, but somehow Lucille managed to steal the show with her viciousness.

“HELP!”

Our heads snapped to the doorway. A thin woman in a pale mauve pant suit was clutching her pearls, her face as pale as a sheet. “The bartender is dying. We need a doctor!”

To her credit, Lucille didn’t waste a second. She rushed toward the bar while the air marshal heaved a resistant Ryle to his feet.

“Shouldn’t you go see to that, officer?” Ryle taunted him as the man handcuffed him directly to the seat.

“I’ll be back for him,” the air marshal told me before joining the crowd pushing into the bar.

I turned to Ryle, my heart thumping in dread. “The Vipers have killed another passenger.”

Ryle sighed and went slack. A big bruise was already forming over his left eye. “Yeah. But don’t worry. Jax won’t let them take you.”

“Maybe he should.”

Ryle frowned at me. Then his eyes narrowed. “Don’t start that. Jax would kill me dead if I let you give yourself up now.”

I crossed my arms, a lump in my throat. I needed a good cry, but I was afraid that if I started, I’d never stop. “People are dying because of me,” I whispered.