Page 108 of NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority

But as soon as the Airstair was lowered, the three of them emerged from the tree line alongside the runway and walked toward the plane.

Theo was in the lead, with Megan right behind him, and Tate taking up the rear. Theo’s wrists werezip-tied, and when he got to the base of the stairs, he placed both hands on the right handrail and took a step up. Megan followed him, her right hand holding on tightly to his belt. Tate stood on the tarmac, pistol at the ready, making sure that no one came up behind them.

One by one, Theo gingerly sidestepped his way up the stairs. As soon as his upper body came through the door, I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him into the plane. Megan, still clutching his belt, was propelled inside the cabin with him.

Ikarate-choppedher hand, and as soon as she let go of Theo, I shielded his body with mine.

The look in her eyes was a mix of shock, panic, and total bewilderment. How could I have possibly gotten on her rescue plane?

“Police! Don’t move!” Kylie yelled from the opposite side of the door.

Megan’s instincts kicked in. She lunged at Kylie. Big mistake. She may have been aworld-classlong-distanceshooter, but she had all thehand-to-handskills of a TV anchorwoman. Kylie unleashed a right hook. I heard bone crunch as Megan flew backward, skittered down the stairs, and hit the tarmac headfirst.

Tate, who’d had his back to the cabin door, wheeled around, gun in hand. He fired at Kylie, who was standing at the top of the stairs. The bullet went wide. One of the deadliest snipers in the world had missed.

He never got a second chance. A volley of gunfire rang out from the cops and FBI agents who had taken positions inside the terminal and in the parking lot two hundred feet away.

Kylie, gun drawn, ran down the stairs to where Megan was sprawled on her back, not moving.

“She’s out cold,” Kylie yelled up to me, and as our backup team came running toward the aircraft, I turned and looked at Theo.

“You okay?” I said.

“I’ll be a lot better if you can get me out of these freaking cuffs,” he said.

“Hold on,” I said. “I’ve got a knife.”

“No, Zach, wait. Do me a favor. Reach under the waistband of my jeans. Left side. I’ve got a can opener.” A wide grin spread across his face. It’ll be a better ending for the movie.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him I loved him more than I’d ever loved anyone in my life.

But I didn’t say a word. I pulled back the waistband and found Martin Sheffield’s trusty littleP-38that he’d carried since Vietnam. I folded out the metal tooth and slowly gnawed away at the plastic zip tie until it finally snapped.

Theo rubbed his wrists.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Gobsmacked,” he said, pulling out his favoritetwenty-dollarword. “How the fuck did you and Kylie get on this airplane?”

“We found Mother. She’s Sonia Blakely, the Hellman brothers’ lawyer.”

His mouth opened, but he couldn’t find the words.

“Once we had her, we cut a deal,” I said. “As soon as she told us about the plane, we had her call the pilot and tell him to pick up two passengers at Teterboro. Kylie and I came onboard, arrested them, brought in a crew from NYPD Aviation, and the rest, as they say, will soon be television and/or motion picture history.”

“Cool,” he said, reverting toteen-speak.

“That’s exactly what I’m hoping the police commissioner and the mayor say.”

“Zach! Zach!”

It was Kylie. I went to the cabin door. Megan was still flat on her back on the tarmac.

“She’s okay. She’s coming to.”

Megan sat up slowly, realized she was in handcuffs, and let two cops help her to her feet.

She squared off with Kylie,face-to-face, hate in her eyes.