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“Great job! Fuck that was close!” Nate yells.
“You’re all clear, Matt, but if the drones had a track on you, it won’t be hard for them to come at you again. The Gulfstream’s ready and waiting, and you already have clearance. Have the driver put his foot down. You’re about ten minutes south from a private strip,” Cole says from the overhead.
“I’m already on it,” our driver growls, accelerating behind the security car still in front of us.
“We made it for now, Princess, but you and I both know they’re not going to stop until they get what they want. We need to get onto the plane and out of the country, where I can protect you, and we can talk, okay?” I say, pushing a long length of her blonde hair out of her face so that I can see her eyes, what she’s thinking, and alleviate her fears.
The light from the moon and the illuminations of the city at the bottom of the hills gives me a little view of her eyes, and I watch as she processes. The solemn nod of her head tells me there’s more I don’t know. Our driver navigates us to the strip, and the security team guides us out of the car and onto the plane.
Marenah settles onto the sofa and buckles in, and the crew prepare for takeoff while waiting for the rest of our team, and Nate heads into the security area.
I text Cole and get no response. I scowl, trying him on the two-way and still nothing. I connect with Jay, who answers almost immediately. “Cole saved my ass, we’re at the strip and he’s gone silent. The pilot’s ready to take off,” I say.
“Cole’s got a drone over his head, hang on,” Jays says, placing me on mute while I wait with growing impatience, not sure what the hell is happening to the man that just saved our lives.
“Jay, you gonna let me in on this?” I say, but he doesn’t respond, and I know that Jay’s gonna do what he needs to do, and I’ll have to wait it out.
The pilot’s voice comes on overhead alerting us to the near departure. “Everyone in the cabin get situated. When we get the word that we’ve got our man, it’s going to be a quick takeoff.”
“What’s happening to him?” Marenah asks. I can tell that she’s concerned about Cole, too.
“I don’t know yet, but Jay will get him out of harm’s way. It may just take a bit,” I say, pushing a dangling strand of hair behind her ear so I can see her emotion-laden eyes.
I’m trying to keep her calm as we wait, but my insides are bunched, thinking that he could be in serious danger because he helped us. “Jay, you have an update?” I ask, my impatience getting the best of me.
“Yep, hold tight,” Jay says as the night around us lights up with siren wails and blue and red flashing lights all over the tarmac, and what looks like Cole’s car screams past us with cops on his tail, flying down the runway to the other end of the strip. A couple minutes later, another vehicle makes its way to the plane, squeals to a stop, and Cole jumps out of the front seat, running up the ramp and into the main cabin out of breath.
As the door closes behind him the pilot’s voice comes over the speaker again. “Buckle up boys!” the pilot says as the plane begins to drift across the tarmac, gaining speed at an unusually rapid pace and then begins to careen down the runway, gaining even more speed before lifting into the air just as the car that Cole left idling on the tarmac blows up, igniting into flames right below our very eyes.
Cole slumps onto the leather couch, catching his breath, and looks at both of us, one and then the other. “Alright, someone’s going to tell me right the fuck now what the hell we’re into? These fuckers have goddamn drones, heat-seeking fucking drones, and they just about roasted our asses,” he says.
“Fuck!” The mafia boys are high tech, but they’re not equipped like that. I have a pretty good idea who is, but I want to talk with Marenah in private about this. “I’m not sure if I fully understand what’s going on myself,” I say as Marenah’s eyes drop to the floor.
I think she’s going to stay silent, and that’s fine, because the conversation that I plan to have with her isn’t one that should be done in public, but she surprises me. “I’m sorry that I brought you both into my world. If I had it to do over again, I would have pushed you far, far away,” Marenah says.
I lean over and lift her chin, because I want to see her eyes when she either tells me the truth or tries to lie to me about who she’s working for. These people, whoever they are, want us dead. Fucking drones that had no issue with taking what they thought was Cole’s car out right at the airport. Whoever these people are, they have balls, big ones, and while I thought at first my little princess may have be working for the Russian government, I now wonder if she is running from them, because it’s become extremely obvious that whoever these fuckers are, they not only want her dead, but will take out anyone helping her.
“Marenah, we can talk privately, but either way, we need you to tell us what the hell is going on if we’re going to protect you and stay alive,” I say.
Her wide sky-blue eyes are swirling with emotion, but she looks me straight in the eye. “I told you, I’m trying to do the right thing. I have to help the women and children. The people that are after me want to prevent me from doing that,” she says.
Cole’s looking at her and then at me. “Trafficking,” I say.
“Fuck!” Cole says. “No wonder they were trying to take our asses out.”
“So, you’re working for the United States and pretending to be working for the Russian government, they found you out and brought a shit ton of heat down on us?” Cole asks.
She pales at his reference to who she’s working for, not realizing that my security men have eyes and ears on all our conversations if it means potential security breaches to us or the families we protect. The way she’s breathing leads me to believe he’s not far off with his assessment. “Enough. Marenah and I will talk,” I say, taking her hand and leading her to the door of the bedroom suite to the Gulfstream and closing it behind us. “Are you going to tell me which country you’re working for Marenah? I can’t keep you protected or help with the trafficking issue unless I know what you’re up against and what we need to mitigate as a security team,” I say, running my hands along the moist seam of her mouth, and across her bottom lip.
19
MARENAH
The feelof his finger on my lip, so sensual and intimate leaves my heart racing, but I know that he’s looking for answers, things that I can’t tell him if I am to keep him and his security team alive.
“I told you what I could, Matt. I wasn’t lying when I told you that I was trying to help the women and children that are snatched into a life of trafficking. I just didn’t tell you who I work for, and unfortunately I can’t, because if I did, it would put you and your men, my sister, and basically anyone that is close to any of us in jeopardy.”
“Princess, I know you’re doing right by those people but if we’re going to get those women and children out alive, you’re going to need to trust me, and right now I’m not feeling it. Where are they being held? What can you tell me that will help my security team get a lock on them? Once we know who and where they are, we can put a plan together and deal with it, Marenah, you have my word,” Matt says.
