Page 68 of Mile High Heist

Grinning, I flexed my fingers, cracking my knuckles. The cargo hold hatch was located at the rear of the cabin, just before the galley. The two Vipers were seated conveniently on either side of it. Thankfully, the rest of the economy cabin was sleeping. Those who weren’t were thoroughly invested in catching up on whatever they’d missed when the Wi-Fi returned.

Glancing around, I noted the determined faces of a dozen lawyers behind on their billable hours. I could fire a gun and none of them would bat an eye.

Convenient for us. Bad for the snakes.

It also spoke to the impressive size of the plane that news of two more dead passengers hadn’t reached this cabin yet. I suspected that was the work of the flight attendants, who were hovering around like morose guards. Ready and waiting to shut down any panic.

On my signal, we moved as one unit. The trick was to overwhelm them before they knew what was happening. Luckily, neither of the men seemed to recognize us. That gave us the element of surprise.

“Surprise,” I grunted. Ponytail glanced up, his eyes flashing when he realized our intention. Before he could so much as blink, I slammed my fist into his face. Then I hit him again, hard enough that his teeth cracked like drywall beneath my knuckles. He flopped into the seat, blood dripping down his face. Opposite me, I heard a small grunt, and then the sound of elastic snapping.

“Really?” I said, watching Madoc slip an eye mask over his Viper who now had a pen lodged in his jugular. “You think that’ll sell it?”

Instead of replying, Madoc tossed a neck pillow at my head. I caught it, then shrugged and put it behind my unconscious guy. Blood aside, he really could be napping.

Madoc finished by throwing a blanket over his guy, buying us some time before someone noticed. Then he bent down and swiped Julie’s ID badge on the electronic lock. It flashed green with a beep, and we lifted the hatch.

We didn’t hesitate.

In seconds, we’d climbed down the ladder, careful not to slam the hatch above us. The cargo hold was cold as balls. Good thing I was boiling inside.

Any and all thoughts about sneaking up on the fuckers vanished when I heard her.

Olivia.

I knew the sound of her weeping. I’d heard it before, right when her world fell apart. Delicate as she was, she didn’t cry easily. She was too prideful for that.

Which meant they’d hurt her badly.

I stormed over, weaving around the large aluminum containers of luggage until I found them. Two Vipers stood over a distraught Olivia, curled up in a tight ball on the floor.

I saw red.

Just as I prepared to charge, Madoc’s arm snapped out and held me back. I glared at him.

Madoc smiled coldly. “They know we’re here.”

I looked up just as the two Vipers turned around. Their faces were smug, expectant. The large one had a scar slicing up his ugly ass face. He had at least forty pounds on me.

And then there was him. The one who’d started it all with his threats and venom and coin games. I was going to make him bleed.

Before I could do anything, though, their faces changed. It was small, barely a crack in their masks. The leader was looking at Madoc, his eyes narrowing.

Oh. Right.

Madoc, who was supposed to be dead. Julie was supposed to stop him from taking the prototype. She’d failed, which meant their plan had failed.

Just like that, the atmosphere shifted. It had been cold before, but now it was borderline frigid with danger. The big Viper shifted, adjusting his stance slightly. Beside me, Madoc did the same.

“Jax,” the leader greeted me in a friendly tone. “You made it.”

My eyes flicked to Olivia, who wiped her tears quickly, hiding the evidence. Her solemn face made something in my chest crack.

“You hurt her.” My voice was steel.

“Not at all. In fact, I’d say I…enlightened her.”

I stepped forward. Neither of them moved an inch, but I could tell they were bracing. Preparing.