Deep Under (Tall, Dark and Deadly #4)(78)

“A car is waiting on you outside, Kyle. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He moves toward the exit, and I take a step toward Myla, but the machine gun guy exits in front of me.

I follow him, my hand back on my gun, but as soon as the machine gun guy clears the stairs, two armed guards step into my path. My gaze reaches beyond them, to where Alvarez is leading Myla across the runway toward a black sedan, but I can’t get to her without ending up dead. “Alvarez!” I call out, trying to buy us time.

That’s when the first explosion happens, shaking the ground around us, and part of the runway goes up in flames. The guy with the machine gun and the guards rotate, looking for the source. The two men in front of me do the same. Another explosion goes off, and men swarm the runway, some in FBI jackets, others in military gear. Smoke is everywhere, and I run in the direction Myla should be, hearing a helicopter coming in low that I pray is one of ours. I clear the haze, and holy f*cking hell. Alvarez is climbing onto the chopper, and pulling Myla onto it with him. I run for it, burning every muscle I own, but it’s too late. They lift off.





***





Myla





I fight Michael when he pulls me to the chopper, but he is too strong. “What is wrong with you?” he demands. “Did you betray me? Is that it? Did you bring this raid on me?

“I did nothing of the sort, but they will shoot us down. We have to land.”

“We are in the air,” he says. “Calm down and we will be fine.” He shoves me into a seat and turns to talk to the pilot, and I know then that I have seconds to act.

I unzip my dress, and I waste no time, pulling out my gun. He turns back around and I shout over the engines. “Tell him to land.”

“We aren’t landing. Put the gun down.”

“Land the chopper!”

He takes a step toward me, more like a lunge, and I shoot him, not once, but three times. He falls, not forward, but out of the door. I rush forward to the pilot and hold a gun on him. “Turn around and land.”

“You can’t kill me,” he says. “You need me.”

“I can shoot your leg,” I say. “You don’t need that to land. I killed Alvarez, so if you think I won’t-”

“I’m landing, you little bitch.” He turns us and we’ve gone such a short way that we are quickly coming in low on the runway, and we are not even on the ground when the FBI swarms us. I rush to the door and Kyle grabs me, pulling me into his arms.

“Thank God,” he says, against my hair. “Thank God. You have no idea how scared I was for you.”

“I killed him. I killed Alvarez.”

He takes my gun. “I know you did. We saw him fall but I had a moment when I thought it was you that will give me nightmares for the rest of my life.” He kisses me, another helicopter coming in low. “That’s our ride out of here. Come on.”





***





Kyle

Myla starts to shake when we get in the air, in shock, but with good reason. She’s been through hell and back. But the ride is short and we land at a private airstrip off Long Island, where there’s a surprise waiting on her that even I didn’t know about until minutes ago. I get her the heck off the chopper, and Luke rushes forward, offering her a warm blanket, which I wrap around her shoulders.

“Myla, I’m Luke,” he says. “You kicked ass today and you’re safe now.”

“You look like Royce,” she says, her teeth chattering.

“But better looking, right?”

She laughs, but it’s a choked sound. “Yes,” she says, “but I’m going to tell him the same thing.”

Luke laughs now too, and looks at me. “You’re fueled up and ready to go.”

“Thanks, man.”

“We’ll see you both back stateside.” He steps around us and we start for the plane.

“Where are we going exactly?” Myla asks as we approach the plane.

“Out of the country until we’re sure everything with Alvarez is cleaned up.” I motion for her to head up the narrow stairs and follow her up.

She rounds the corner into the plane and it’s Kara’s screech of joy that tells me the surprise is now revealed. I enter just in time to find the two sisters clinging to each other, tears flowing, the two of them settling into seats just inside the door. I move past them and Blake greets me, his hands on the luggage bins, mine on the seats on either side of us. “Fuck, man,” he says, sounding emotional. “I can’t believe he’s dead. I feel…I don’t know what the f*ck I feel.”

I flash back to Blake holding Whitney, rocking her in a pool of her own blood, and I know this moment is surreal for him, “It’s over,” I say, “and as pissed off as I am that you came back to the States and didn’t tell me, I’m glad you’re here now. Italy will be good for Myla. She needs a safe escape to heal. And she needs time with Kara.”

“You and Myla-”

“I love her, so if you’re going to lecture me…”

“No, man. Just don’t hurt her. Then I’ll have to pull your f*cking balls out through your throat.”

“Kyle.”

At the sound of Myla’s voice, I turn and she hugs me. Kara’s standing behind her, and when her eyes meet mine, there are tears of thanks in them. I give her a nod and bury my face in Myla’s hair, holding onto her and planning to never let go.