Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(71)

CHAPTER 32

RIO gently shook Grace awake as the plane touched down on the private airstrip owned and maintained by KGI. He dreaded being separated from Grace, especially when he had no idea if he’d make it back to her. But what mattered was her being safe, and he didn’t want her anywhere near when Titan made their eventual appearance.

Grace sat up, sleepily rubbing at her eyes, and then she looked at Rio, sorrow tugging at her features as she realized where they were.

“Don’t look like that,” he said, forcing a smile. “I’ll be back for you before you know it. And you’ll get to see Shea.”

Grace nodded. “Yes, I can’t wait to see her, but I don’t want you to go, Rio. I hate that you’ll be so far away and I won’t know what’s happening.”

He touched his mouth to hers as the plane came to a stop near the hangar. “You’ll know. We have a connection that distance can’t break. We’ll still be together.”

She smiled then and squeezed his hand. “I love you, you know.”

“Yeah, I do know. We’re going to do this, Grace. Go see your sister and get better for me, okay? I want you at full strength when I get back.”

Rio stood and then motioned for Alton and Decker to follow him. Grace also stood, but Rio put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.

“I don’t want you to get off,” he said. “Terrence and Diego will stay on with you while the plane is refueled and you’ll be taking off immediately. You have clearance to land at Fort Campbell. Sam brought along an army pilot who’ll fly you to Kentucky.”

Panic flared in her eyes as the hatch opened and the steps were pushed to the doorway. Rio leaned in one last time, kissed her hard and then pulled away, not looking back as he disembarked the plane. If he looked back, he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

On the tarmac stood the rest of KGI. It was an impressive sight. Sam and his brothers Garrett, Donovan, Ethan, Nathan and Joe, along with Swanny, their newest recrnuit, stood next to Steele and his team. Dolphin, Renshaw and Baker stood on one side of their team leader, while Cole stood near P.J. Rutherford, the only female member of KGI. P.J. was in civilian clothing, though she didn’t look too happy about it. Her hair hung loose, fashioned like Grace’s. She wore jeans, a T-shirt and simple tennis shoes.

As soon as she saw him, she walked toward him. When she neared, she bared her teeth in a smile and spoke from behind those teeth.

“Hello, sweetheart. I hear we’re off on a lover’s retreat to bum f**k Alaska.”

Rio chuckled. “And may I say how lovely you look, P.J.”

“It’s Grace, dumbass. We can’t afford any f**kups, so get it right.”

Rio looked beyond P.J. to where Sam stood next to Garrett. “We ready to roll?” The longer they stood around, the uneasier Rio grew. His gut was screaming and the hair prickled and stood up on his nape.

There was something decidedly wrong with this picture.

He was about to shout a warning when a gun barrel was shoved against the back of his head. In his periphery, he saw the men who were refueling the jets yank out automatic rifles and train them on the assembled group.

The reaction was instantaneous. Steele and his team dove behind the pile of bags and supplies. Sam and his brothers scattered, some hitting the ground, others diving for cover behind one of the planes. Guns came up in all directions.

Hancock grabbed P.J. by the hair and yanked back. Then he glanced sideways at Rio. “Do you think I’m that dumb, Rio?”

“Do you really want an answer to that?” Rio snarled.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Hancock called out. “This can be as bloody or as civil as you choose to make it.”

“You aren’t getting her,” Rio gritted out.

“You’ll never make it out of here alive,” Sam returned from behind a barrel where he’d crouched.

Dolphin scooted out to the side, rifle up, aiming toward Hancock. A shot rang out, knocking Dolphin back several feet. He hit the ground hard.

“Son of a bitch!” Dolphin yelled. “Fuck, I’m hit! Goddamn it!”

“Get him back,” Steele snapped. “Get him out now!”

Cole grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him to cover.

“Sniper at six o’clock!” Garrett yelled.

“And nine and noon and three,” Hancock calmly called out. “We have you completely surrounded. Yeah, we can shoot each other all to hell, but in the end, you’ll all be dead and I’ll still get the girl. If I die, she still gets delivered. Mission accomplished. Maybe Rio hasn’t informed you, but Titan never fails to complete their mission.”

“Bunch of crazy-ass motherf*ckers,” Donovan snarled.

“So how do you want this to go down?” Hancock yelled. “Grace, I know you can hear me. Is this what you want? Do you want them all to die for nothing? If you come with me, there’ll be no further need for bloodshed. My mission isn’t to kill all these men. My mission is to bring you in however I have to accomplish it. So, it’s all up to you. We can do it the easy way. Or we can do it the hard way.”

“Fuck you!” Rio snarled. “Grace, don’t you goddamn do it, do you hear me? You stay the f**k out of sight.”

Inside the plane, Grace shook so hard that she managed to shake Terrence, who covered her. The mod her. Tment the gunshot sounded, Terrence and Diego had hauled her over the seat and stuffed her underneath them. They were crouched behind a row of seats, using them for cover, their rifles up and trained on the doorway.