Page 25 of Serving my Dragon (The Dragocracy Chronicles #2)

Chapter Nineteen

I couldn’t believe the excitement of my family at what should have been a serious situation.

You’d have thought they were readying to go to a festival the way they changed their outfits and even did their hair.

Quickly, I should add. They understood speed was of the essence.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at and infiltrate the airport, putting our plot into play.

Juan’s contact had sourced two private jets with flight itineraries taking them to the United States.

Of course, they were parked in hangars at opposite ends of the airport.

It led to us splitting into two groups. Juan and I teamed up with Cousin Sophia and her husband Lorenzo while the other contained my remaining uncles along with Emilia and Manuel.

As for my aunts? They were in charge of creating a distraction that would draw security.

They’d not mentioned how they planned to create a distraction, but given I saw Carmelita wearing her fortune teller garb—chunky jewelry, lace headdress, flowy skirt, and crazy red lipstick—and Consuela shoulder a bulging canvas tote, it would most likely be entertaining.

To get to the hangars holding the private conveyances we needed to get past a checkpoint marked with an “authorized personnel only” sign, guarded by a corpulent man scrolling his phone looking bored until Sophia sauntered close, held out a cigarette, and said, “Hey handsome, do you have a light?”

“You can’t smoke in here,” he stated.

“Which is so dumb,” she responded with a laugh we could hear from where we stood just out of sight. “That door you’re guarding goes outside, doesn’t it?”

“It’s for private jet passengers and crew only.”

“Ooh. Rich people. You must see celebrities all the time,” she gushed.

“I do. I even have a few pictures. Want to see?” the man asked, already scrolling through his phone.

Sophia made sounds of admiration. “These are amazing and I’d love for you to show me more, but I really need a puff before I board my flight. Are you sure I can’t convince you to join me?” Spoken in a flirty tone.

“I really shouldn’t.”

“I totally understand. Pity. I do so love a man in uniform.” Disappointment hued her words.

“Maybe we could go outside for just a few minutes.”

There was a dinging as he used his keycard to unlock the door, and as it opened, Lorenzo played his part.

“There you are,” bellowed her husband. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Just having a cigarette,” Sophia huffed.

“More like cheating on me again.”

“Now listen, sir.” The guard tried to intervene, and Lorenzo went full jealous husband.

“Don’t think I’m stupid. I know what’s going on here. Wait until I tell your supervisor.”

“No need for that,” stuttered the guard.

“We’ll see what your boss says,” Lorenza threatened.

As hoped, the guard followed in his wake, arguing against being reprimanded. Juan and I moved quickly, reaching the door where Sophia had dropped her bag to keep it wedged open.

“Good job,” I murmured in passing.

Juan chuckled. “That was excellent. Now go help Lorenzo.”

Their verbal spat would provide a second distraction to ensure security had other things to keep them busy while Juan and I headed for the hangar holding one of the two jets to see if it held Kayleigh and Pollita.

Outside, the storm still raged, drenching us in seconds. The occasional flash of lightning provided an eerie and fleeting glimpse of the tarmac and the buildings.

“This way.” Juan led me at a quick pace towards a hangar a fair distance from the main terminal.

The downpour made visibility poor which worked in our favor, especially since it kept most employees inside.

Smart, since getting struck by a bolt of electricity would most likely kill.

Not a good thought to have, though, as I raced under the thunderous sky.

Juan reached the side of the hangar first and flattened against it.

Once we got a peek and confirmed if it held Kayleigh and Polly, we’d message the others and wait for them to join us.

The more of us, the better. Those gringos had come armed with tasers to my uncle’s house.

Started the place on fire. Had been willing to kill. We had to be ready for anything.

Juan had wanted us to be armed until he realized the difficulty in getting weapons past security. The airport crawled with measures to prevent it. Would that apply to passengers of private jets? We could only hope.

The small side door to enter the hangar boasted a square window. At Juan’s nod, I glanced through it.

And saw nothing because of a stack of boxes.

I shook my head and murmured, “I don’t have a clear line of sight.”

As I spoke, we heard the rumble of machinery and Juan’s brows rose. “Sounds like they’re opening the hangar doors.”

“Surely they haven’t gotten permission to leave?”

“Doesn’t seem likely. Let’s go see,” my uncle whispered.

We crept to the corner of the building and paused. A good thing, because we heard voices.

“How long did you microwave that thing for?” exclaimed a male voice with a nasal twang.

“I thought I punched in thirty seconds,” a second man replied in a deep tone.

“It’s fucking burnt.”

“I know,” grumbled Deep Voice. “Boss is pissed.”

“No shit. Place smells like smoke and burning beans.”

“He’s the one who told me to find something for that lizard to eat.”

I stiffened. No need to tell Juan we’d found them. He was already texting.

“Can’t believe the other team fucked up and we got called in. Sucks for them. They won’t be getting a cut of the fat bonus,” exclaimed Nasal Twang.

“Bah, we’ll make even more when we sell the story. I didn’t believe Blake when he said we were hunting for a dragon, but goddamn if that thing don’t have wings and it talks!”

“Shh. You don’t want him hearing you,” warned Nasal Twang.

“What’s he gonna do? Shoot me?” chuckled Deep Voice. “He needs us. Besides we’re on the same side.”

“Were,” another male entered the conversation. “Consider yourselves fired.”

Bang. Bang.

My eyes widened and I looked at Juan mouthing, Were those gunshots?

Judging by his grim expression, yes.

“What the hell, Blake?” a woman exclaimed. “Did you just shoot Murray and Victor?”

“Unknot your panties, Sally. We didn’t need them anymore, so might as well. The fuckers were planning to sell us out.”

“Those rats. Guess they didn’t read the non-disclosure agreement.”

“They won’t be disclosing anything now. How did your chat with your cunt friend go?”

“Leigh’s not a cunt,” Sally huffed. “But she is being stubborn. Don’t worry, she’ll come around and help us with the dragon.”

“She’d better, or she’ll eat a bullet as well.”

“Try to not be too hasty. The dragon seems attached to her. Until you or I form a bond with it, she’s necessary.”

“Fuck being friends with it. A thing like that only understands strength. Bruise it a bit and it will fall in line.”

“Beat the dragon and it will hate you.”

“So?”

“So, don’t be surprised if it turns on you,” Sally interjected. “Better to make it dependent on us, gain its trust, convince it to cooperate.”

“I am not catering to that creature,” was Blake’s sour reply.

“Have you forgotten what happened in Canada when they tried to grab the male from the trailer he was living in? The extraction team barely escaped with their lives.”

“I’ll kill it before I let it torch me,” exclaimed Blake.

“No, you won’t, because it’s worth nothing to us dead.”

“There are other eggs still to be found.”

“Assuming they’re viable. I’d rather work with the living dragon we already have. We’re so close, baby,” Sally crooned. “Once we get back to the US, just imagine what comes next.”

“More money than we can spend,” chuckled Blake.

“Exactly.” A short silence before Sally added, “When is this damned storm going to end?”

“Not soon enough. I want out of here.”

“Since we have some time to kill, want to celebrate? There’s a couch in the office.”

“And leave that cunt and dragon unguarded?”

“Hardly unguarded. Gary’s in the cockpit and let’s be honest, there’s no one stupid enough to go wandering in this storm. Come on, baby. We’ll only be ten minutes or so. Less if I do that thing you like.”

“Let’s go but make it quick.”

Juan tapped me on the arm and whispered, “Now’s our chance.”

“The others aren’t here yet,” I reminded.

“Might not need them if we can free Kayleigh and Polly before they’re done.”

A good point. Could we rescue them without violence? It was worth a shot seeing as how they appeared to only have one other person around.

We swung around the side of the building with Juan murmuring, “I’ll handle the pilot, you locate and free the girls.”

Only my uncle would label a dragon and a grown woman as girls. In his defense, he had quite a few years on both and was raised in a different time.

We entered the well-lit hangar, drenched head to toe. I expected someone to yell or start shooting, however, nothing moved. A quick glance showed a few closed doors, the nearest one labelled office, the window on it obscured by a drawn Venetian blind.

The jet sat parked in the middle, its door open and stairs pushed up to it. Stairs that already held my quickly moving uncle.

I jogged to join him, wincing at the slight creak of the steps as I climbed.

Inside the aircraft, I spotted no one, the leather recliners vacant.

Juan moved to the gaping cockpit door where we could see a man within, his head tilted back, eyes closed, having a nap.

At least he wouldn’t be giving a warning.

I traversed to the closed door at the back of the jet, my heart pounding. Not in fear. Nor even anticipating. More like worry. What if they weren’t there? What if?—

I flung open the door and a beaming Kayleigh exclaimed, “You came for us!”

Which came with a rebuke from Polly. “About time you did your job.”