AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hugo stood with his arm around Sylvia in the forward galley area, looking out over the tarmac and the airport. The door at the front of the aircraft was open, and stairs had been pushed up to the forward cabin door of the plane. The air smelled of jet fuel and heat, thanks to the planes, but if he breathed deep enough he could smell the sea. Given the size of the Isle of Man, the airport was comparatively large. Hugo was fairly certain he had a great uncle who’d helped arrange for the small British protectorate island to have a large airport, all so it would be easier for members of the Masters’ Admiralty to travel to their headquarters at Triskelion Castle.
Charlie—nope, now he was Lancelot again—had given Hugo orders as the plane parked on the tarmac, about fifty meters from the terminal. Stay with the plane, and with Sylvia, until he, Eric, and the Spartan Guards had successfully transferred Alicia into the medical transport they had waiting. From what he’d overheard, the ambulance driver was yet another member of the Spartan Guard posing as a paramedic, and once they were away from the Isle of Man’s airport, the ambulance would be escorted by two additional vehicles, also driven by members of the guard.
An armored SUV would pick up Eric, Lancelot, Marie, Sylvia, and himself, only after the ambulance was well underway.
“These security measures are all a precaution,” Marie said in French. She was standing in the open doorway of the aircraft. Her body acting as a shield, and the fact that he and Sylvia were standing far enough back from the open door that they couldn’t be seen—or targeted by a sniper—were the only reason Marie had allowed them to get out of their seats and watch what was going on.
Hugo turned his head to look at the Spartan Guard, replying in the same language. “An abundance of caution?”
“There is no such thing,” Marie said darkly as she stepped out of the plane onto the stairs. Marie was a quintessential Frenchwoman, with bobbed dark hair and bangs, high cheekbones, dark brown eyes, and a slight build. Prior to this trip, he could have at best called her an acquaintance—someone he had a passing knowledge of simply because they were both legacy members from the territory of France. He’d chatted with her briefly on the flight, laughing when they discovered they might be distant relatives, in the way so many of the legacy families—his great-great-grandmother had the same last name as her great-great-grandfather’s second wife’s cousin.
“I would have preferred that we fly to a small private airport in England, and come by boat,” she continued. “Here we cannot shut down the terminal, and EU regulations mean we can’t bring the ambulance or cars to the plane.”
“Why don’t we pull up to a gate?” Hugo asked, nodding his chin to the terminal building.
“Gangways are a weak point, security-wise. A narrow hall with limited visibility. This way we can see what’s coming. Two of the baggage handlers are actually Spartan Guard. They maintain relief worker contracts with the baggage handler union on the island, in case we need access to the airport.”
Sylvia was looking between them, and Hugo gave her a squeeze to let her know he would translate everything in a moment.
Marie’s phone rang. She lifted it to her ear, her eyes hard.
“Will you teach me French?” Sylvia asked him in a whisper.
“It would be my pleasure. I was asking her why we’re parked back here. She said it’s a security measure,” he replied quietly.
“We’re in danger. You think he might try to get Alicia back.”
It wasn’t a question, but Hugo treated it as if it was. “They are being paranoid.” What he was more worried about, and the reason Marie was staying on the plane with them, was that it was possible the mastermind would send someone after Sylvia again.
Lancelot, Eric, and the Spartan Guard had discussed the security protocols for when they landed. Hugo had overheard a bit of their discussion when he got up to go to the bathroom. Alicia, Eric, and Sylvia were all potential targets the mastermind might send someone after. The most likely target was Alicia. She knew things, and the mastermind had to be worried they’d be able to break her. Eric and Sylvia were tied for second tier target. Marie had tried to convince Eric that meant he should stay with the plane, but the fleet admiral had just stared at her.
There were the two guards on the plane, plus two guards who were working as baggage handlers for the day, and then two more with the ambulance. Hugo, Sylvia, and Marie would stay on the plane, while Lancelot, Nikolas, and Eric escorted Alicia to the ambulance. The two baggage handler guards would serve as lookouts and backup, while maintaining their cover.
“I don’t think it’s paranoid if someone is really out to get you.” Sylvia winced. “To get us.”
Hugo’s heart clenched. “You’re regretting your decision?”
Her face softened as she turned to look up at him. “No. Deciding to love you and Lancelot isn’t something I’ll ever regret.”
“Back away from the door,” Marie ordered as she hung up the phone. “We can’t close the doors due to airport rules, but I want you both deeper inside. They’re bringing out Alicia now.”
Marie put a wireless earpiece in as she tucked her phone into her pocket. When she adjusted her jacket, he saw the holstered gun at the small of her back.
Hugo escorted Sylvia back to their seats. They could hear voices coming from the rear aircraft door, which opened directly into the bedroom where Alicia, in her hospital bed, was being prepped to move.
Sylvia slid into a window seat. Hugo sat beside her, leaning into her shoulder to look out. They’d positioned a large hydraulic platform at the back door. Nikolas—the other Spartan Guard—and Eric were gripping the footboard of the hospital bed as they wheeled it onto the elevator platform.
That meant Lancelot was probably at the head of the bed, not visible from this angle.
The platform jerked, then descended. Hugo found himself holding his breath, but nothing happened. Once they were down, Eric opened the gate, and Lancelot and Nikolas started wheeling the hospital bed toward the terminal building. They had put on nylon jackets with medical patches on the back and arms. People watching out the windows of the terminal would see a sleeping person on a stretcher—her face covered by a mask, hair by a blue cap—being wheeled quickly toward the building by three paramedics.
Marie had stepped back so she was inside the plane, but still looking out the open door. Hugo just happened to be looking at her when she frowned and put a hand to her ear.
Hugo’s stomach sank.
“I’ll check it out,” Marie said in French. “You guard the assets.”
