Page 31 of Marcellus: House of Drakos

But outside was a different vibe altogether.

The horde of press outside of the security gate were mesmerized and taking every photo and live shot they could take as the events unfolded before their very eyes.

Marcellus had heard the sound of aircraft in the sky when he was in the bedroom talking with Niko.

It sounded like routine flyover at the time.

But when he and Savannah ran outside and onto his front lawn, and they could see two small, single-engine jets buzzing above his property with both of the planes seemingly in great distress, Marcellus was floored. “Are they ours?” he asked his sons anxiously, as all three were out there too.

“Looks like it,” said Olivier. “Gotdammit!”

“What’s happening?” asked Savannah.

“Engine failure,” said Freddy, the only true engineer in the family. “They’re in trouble.”

“Good Lord. Is there anything we can do?”

She noticed that tears appeared in Olivier’s eyes. “No,” he said. “Nothing.”

Marcellus looked stricken, too, as he was helpless to do anything but watch the slowly unfolding disaster. “How could this be happening?” he said out loud.

Then both planes whose pilots had been struggling to keep afloat, began to spiral.

Freddy placed his hands on his head.

Kalayna covered her mouth.

Juliet and Sharon, who had run out to see what all the commotion was about, looked on in horror as the spiraling turned into a freefall.

And then, when they thought it couldn’t get any more horrific, both planes collided midair, causing an instant fireball of an explosion, and then they nosedived into the field across the street. Directly in front of the boss’s mansion.

The reporters ran from the security gate to the scene across the street, with many of whom broadcasting the disaster on live TV or live over social media.

Freddy and Olivier, the two heads of Drakos Aeronautics, ran out of the gate and across the street as well, to confirm that both were their planes.

But that was already confirmed in Marcellus’s eyes. He couldn’t miss that big D that was plastered on all of his planes for nothing in this world. It was his trademark.

“Good Lord,” Savannah said again.

Freddy and Olivier made it back inside the gate, with the press hounding them all the way across the street.

They wanted answers already. But the press was forced to remain on the outside of that gate as Marcellus’s gate security let the two bosses in and kept the press out.

But their little appearance across the street was bound to make headline news around the world.

“Is it ours?” Juliet asked her son.

“It’s ours,” Olivier said.

“Any survivors?” asked Sharon.

But Freddy could only shake his head.

“Oh my,” said Sharon.

And then Scottie’s phone rang. He wasn’t going to answer it, but something inside of him pushed him to do so. He answered. “Yes?”

“Put your Daddy on the line.”

Scottie recognized that voice as the voice of the kidnapper that had called him to first report Niko’s abduction. He quickly handed the phone to Marcellus. “The kidnapper,” he said.

Marcellus quickly answered the call. “Yes?”

“Thought you outsmarted me, didn’t you? Thought you’d get your precious little baby boy back and that would be the end of it, didn’t you?

Now the news won’t be about your daring rescue, but about the fact that another one of your shitty-ass planes failed again.

Six onboard this time. All presumed dead.

And you thought it was over? How stupid can you get? ”

Marcellus’s heart nearly stopped. “You had nothing to do with this crash,” he said as if it was a fact.

“I didn’t? That’s news to me.” Then the caller began laughing. “I can do anything I want to you,” he said, “and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it, Mr. Drakos.” And then he ended the call.

Marcellus was terrified. This was getting scary crazy.

Then he looked at Olivier. “Contact the FAA. Tell them it is my recommendation that they ground every Drakos plane. And they do it right now,” he added as he began hurrying for the entrance. Savannah hurried behind him.

His sons were stunned. They had thousands of planes in those skies. “All of them?” Olivier was horrified.

“All of them,” Marcellus ordered. Then he glanced back as he walked. “Now!”

Olivier and Freddy looked at each other. They could not believe it. It reminded them of Nine-Eleven, when all air traffic came to a screeching halt. Only it was their planes alone. They could not believe it!

But Olivier and Freddy got on their phones. They both saw that look of terror in their father’s eyes: Something they’d never seen before. They did as they were told.

Marcellus, with Savannah on his heels, hurried back into the house and didn’t stop hurrying until they were entering the room where Niko was convalescing.

Marcellus hurried to his bedside. “What are you involved in?” he asked him anxiously.

Natalia and Peggy had run to the window when they heard the collision and then the crash, and had informed Niko of what was happening. He knew something unspeakable was up. So he didn’t hesitate. “Shipments,” he said.

“Of what? Drugs?”

“Ammo.”

“To whom?”

There was a slight hesitation.

“To whom gotdammit?!” Marcellus blared out so loud that it made the ladies jump.

“To whomever needed ammo,” he admitted. “Mercenaries mostly.”

“But the mob too?”

Another hesitation.

“But the mob--”

“Yes!” said Niko. “Why is that so important?”

“Which mob? Italian?”

Niko shook his head. “No. Russian.”

“Just Russian?”

“Yes. I mean . . .”

“You mean what, Nikolas? Tell me!”

“I overheard Boris Escabatti, he was one of my kidnappers.”

“What did you overhear?”

“He was complaining about how much some guy expected from him.”

“What guy?”

“He never said. But he kept mentioning those Greek motherfuckers.”

“Greek?”

Niko nodded. “I remember him saying that over and over. They had me tied up in the back room, but I could hear them talking. He was talking to this other guy and he kept mentioning those Greek motherfuckers.”

It was what Marcellus feared. Even Savannah could suddenly hear him breathing heavier. “Tell me everything he said.”

“He kept saying how those Greek motherfuckers were some vicious-ass mobsters and how he never thought they would be smart enough to pull off something like this.”

“Like what?” Marcellus asked him.

“He didn’t say what,” said Niko. “Then some other guy said, ‘but they did it.’ And then Boris said something like ‘yeah they did alright. And with more to come.’ Then I couldn’t make out what else they were saying.”

Marcellus let out a harsh exhale. He felt as if his very world was crumbling around him.

And in that instant he made a decision. A monumental decision that in many ways was more impactful than grounding their planes.

He left the room. Savannah hurried behind him.

“There goes Tonto,” Savannah heard Natalia say, and then Peggy laughing, but she didn’t give a shit. She felt her place, in this hour of his greatest need, was at Marcellus’s side.

When they got on the elevator that would take them to the top floor, Marcellus looked at her. She’d never know how much he needed her. “Pack a bag.”

“May I ask why?”

“We’re going to Florida.”

“Florida? Who’s in Florida?”

The elevator door opened. Marcellus hesitated before getting off. “My brothers,” he said, and then stepped off.

Brothers? What brothers? He never mentioned any brothers, Savannah thought, as she stepped off too.