Page 34

THIRTY-FOUR

A fter all the destruction, all the pain, and everything the people she cared most about had gone through, Penny was ready to end this. Sosa and Woods could not get away. She let Jude drive the big diesel truck this time and took the middle seat.

“Do we have a plan?” Penny asked.

Bryce reached for her hand, gave it a light squeeze. “We have no idea what we’re walking into. No idea how much the governor is involved or a victim.”

“Guess we’re gonna have to play this one by ear.” Jude’s gaze stayed fixed on the road.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that, Book.” But he was right. They were going in blind.

Jude adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “Believe me, I don’t like it.”

They parked at the edge of the airport field, keeping it hidden along a tree line. Zack met them there. “With the hotel bomb, your takedown at the barn, and everything else, there aren’t enough cops to go around. But we should have more support on the way.”

“Should we wait?” Bryce asked, although the way his thumb tapped against his leg, that probably wasn’t his first choice. He was a man of action.

“That’s a plane engine. Someone is getting ready to leave.” Jude jogged toward the hangars.

It helped that there was little moonlight tonight. The four of them ran alongside the building until they reached the corner. Light from inside the hangar spilled out onto the tarmac. They stayed in the shadows, trying to peek around the corner and scope it all out. A midsize Beechcraft King Air plane sat on the runway, the twin turboprop engines roaring. A man climbed the steps.

“Is that the governor?” Zack asked.

“Looks like it. But where is Sosa?” Bryce clenched his jaw tight.

This was their chance. “We have to stop him!” Penny ran past them.

“Wait!” Bryce chased after her. “Go check out that hangar!” he yelled back to Zack and Jude. “Make sure there’s no one there.”

Penny reached the plane just as the stairs were rising. She grabbed the bottom step and used her weight to pull it back down. Penny and Bryce climbed in.

The governor sat on a plush leather seat, lifted his head off his hands. He closed the door of the plane and then plopped back in his seat. “No more delays, Gary. Take off.”

The cushy commuter plane moved, turning until its nose pointed to the long stretch of runway.

“Wait. Stop!” Bryce called toward the cockpit.

“I suggest you buckle up, Mr. Crawford. Gary is under explicit instructions to stop for nothing.”

The plane quickly picked up speed.

“Where are you going?” Penny fell into the seat across from the governor. “And where have you been? You left your security detail. No one has heard from you or seen you in hours.”

“You had the wrong address! They have my family. What did you expect me to do? Once I’m in the air, they’ll give me coordinates to their location.”

Bryce glanced at Penny, a question so clear in his eyes it was impossible for her to miss. How much should they tell Noble?

But they really didn’t know how much to trust him. He’d been gone for hours. She wanted to believe him an innocent victim, but it could be an elaborate act. She gave Bryce a slight shake of the head.

He couldn’t stand straight in the cabin. Instead he leaned toward the governor. “You need to stop the plane. There’s probably a bomb on board. Alonzo Sosa is working with Jason Woods. They’re the ones responsible for kidnapping your family. You can’t believe anything they say.”

The engines grew louder.

The governor stared out the window, no expression. No acknowledgment that he’d heard anything.

“Tell the pilot to stop!” Bryce caught himself as the plane moved forward. He slid into the seat across the aisle.

“I won’t sacrifice them.” Noble didn’t bother to look at them. “If they want me to step down, I will.” His voice was hollow, sounding more like a bereaved husband and father. Maybe he truly was a victim in all this.

The plane lifted. They were airborne.

“Did you hear me? This is probably a trap.” Bryce couldn’t seem to get through to the man.

“Stop the plane!” Penny turned and yelled at the pilot behind her. “We need to go back.”

“He doesn’t want to do that.” A small door in the back of the plane opened. Sosa stepped into the tiny aisle, holding a Glock 19. His windbreaker and backpack made him look like he was out for a casual hike rather than a hostage situation. “You are right, Crawford. This is a trap. And while this wasn’t part of the plan to have you two joining us, it will work out rather well.”

That low-down dirty weasel. Penny’s muscles coiled, ready to pounce.

Sosa swung the end of the gun to point at her. “Uh-uh, darling. One move and the governor or your boyfriend dies. I won’t be picky.”

Penny glared at him, hand curled into a fist on the armrest.

Sosa slapped papers down in front of the governor on the small tray. He held the gun against the governor’s temple. “Crawford was almost right. There is a bomb. But not on this plane. Your son is wearing it. And he’s sitting right next to your beautiful wife. And all you need to do to ensure that bomb doesn’t go off is to sign these papers releasing Emma Kemper and offering her a full pardon.”

Sosa didn’t know she was dead? Penny looked at Bryce.

That worked in their favor, right? An element of surprise they could use?

But should Penny tip their hand and tell the governor that his family was safe?

It was probably best that she stay quiet. Signing the paper would mean nothing since Emma was lying in the morgue. And if Sosa lost his only bargaining chip, he might be even more dangerous. She didn’t relish the thought of a gun going off in these tight quarters.

But if she had a clear shot, she’d take it.

“Pick up the pen and sign them.” Sosa stood over them, his finger on the trigger.

“I thought you wanted me to step down from office.” The governor looked up, genuine confusion in his expression.

Sosa paused and then shrugged. “Sure, that too.”

The plane banked to the right, but Sosa didn’t let up on the trigger or lose his balance. The space was too small to make any sudden moves. Penny seethed to watch the criminal tower over them, his gun to the governor’s head.

But he wasn’t all-powerful.

Lord, I’ve seen some pretty miraculous things today that make me believe You really do hear us and care. Please get us out of this alive and protect the innocent.

Noble studied the papers in front of him. “How do I know you’ll let them live?”

Finally the gov was showing a little backbone.

“Don’t do it, sir.” Bryce’s hands gripped the armrests until his knuckles were white. He was probably dying to do something. She got it. It was everything she could do to stay seated and not pounce on Sosa herself.

“Is that something you want to risk?” The sneer on Sosa’s face was too much like his uncle’s. Penny wouldn’t put it past the evil man to have the papers signed and still kill an innocent kid if he could.

The governor must’ve thought so too. He picked up the pen and signed the paper. Penny didn’t miss the slight tremor in his hand though.

Sosa kept the gun trained on him while he tucked the paper into an inside pocket of his jacket. “Gary, are we high enough?” he asked the pilot.

“Yes, sir. Eight thousand feet.”

“Is there anyone on my staff you haven’t corrupted?” Noble’s voice sounded more like a growl. “Now have them release my wife and son!”

Sosa laughed. “Release them yourself.” He backed up to the cabin door.

Penny had one chance. She had to stop him. She sprang off the chair and aimed for the gun.

A boom sounded. He managed to get a shot off before she kicked it out of his hand. Sosa roared, but rather than go for the gun, he yanked the handle on the side door.

“Are you cra—” Bryce’s voice cut off with the wind that rushed in. Penny fell in the aisle, grabbed the gun, and pulled the trigger as Sosa was sucked out of the plane. The whole aircraft listed hard to the left.

Penny looked past her feet dangling out the door and caught a glimpse of a white parachute floating in the night sky.

Sosa! The scumbag had a parachute! The plane flew at a weird angle, though not completely spiraling, so it was probably on autopilot. But it was the human pilot that worried Penny. His head slumped to one side.

“Bryce! The pilot!” Penny nodded toward the front of the plane. She still lay in the aisle, hanging on to the bottom of the seat. The governor and Bryce grabbed her arms and pulled her farther into the plane. Bryce helped her up to the chair while Noble wrestled to close the door, straining to pull the cable in and lift the stairs. Bryce had to help him to finally secure the door and latch it once more.

Once it was closed, he turned and walked past the four other passenger seats to reach the cockpit.

“Well?” she asked him.

Bryce leaned farther over the pilot’s seat, probably checking the man for a pulse.

He looked back at Penny. “Buckle up. See if you can call Jude. Anyone. We need someone to tell me how to land this thing.” He had to yell over the wind and engine noise.

Her eyes went wide. “What?!”

Rather than take the time to explain, Bryce wiggled into the open seat in the cockpit. He yanked the spare headset on, situated the microphone near his mouth.

Oh my word. The pilot was dead? Did Bryce know how to fly a plane?

She looked over at the governor. He looked like he was going to be sick. She couldn’t sit here and do nothing. She stood and moved toward the cockpit. She had to hold on to Bryce’s seat to keep her balance.

Oh man.

The pilot was dead all right. Sosa’s shot had gone right through his skull.

“Mayday, Mayday. Anybody hear this?” Bryce spoke into the microphone. He studied the lit screens and knobs in front of him.

“Have you ever flown before?” she yelled over the wind and engine noise.

“Took one lesson with a friend who flew crop dusters. One.”

“Well, that’s…something.”

“Nothing about this looks familiar.” He adjusted the mic again. “Hello? Mayday!”

Penny grabbed the pilot’s headset and slipped it over her ears.

“Crawford? Is that you?” The voice was a little crackly but unmistakable.

Yeah, there was definitely a God out there.

“Jude. Man, you gotta help me. The pilot is dead. We’re losing altitude.” Bryce somehow kept his voice steady.

“I know. I’m in the airport control tower. We have someone coming. Tell me what you see.”

“A lot of blinking lights on these panels.” Bryce grabbed the two-handled joystick. He seemed to struggle to steady out the plane and pull it out of the big circle they were making. “I’m trying to steady her out, but it’s fighting me. We’re down to six thousand feet.”

“We need to slow you down.” A new voice came through the headset. “Can you see the altimeter?” The guy on the other end walked Bryce through the panel. “Now pull back on that lever a bit. Try to keep those rudders steady.”

Bryce took a moment to buckle himself in. “Penny, you should go back and sit. Please.”

She hated to leave him, but there was nowhere else to go. She couldn’t move the pilot. She could at least keep an eye on the governor and let Bryce focus on trying to land this plane. Because they were going to need another miracle to walk away from this.