Joe frowned, annoyed at the unexpected interruption. Why did it have to be Drew, of all people? “You shouldn’t be here. Go back to Finn. You need to take care of him while I’m gone.”
“Finn is just fine.” Drew stood beside Joe and rested one hand on his shoulder. “We’re more concerned about you.”
“I’m fine, too.” Joe didn’t lower the gun, keeping it trained on Emani. “You should go. You don’t want to be a witness to what I have to do.”
“You don’t have to do it,” Drew said, his voice low and gentle, and he squeezed Joe’s shoulder. “I’m sure this asshole has enough on his record to get sent away for life. He’s not worth killing.”
Joe considered for a moment. He’d not thought beyond getting rid of Emani to eliminate the threat to Finn, but maybe Drew had a point. “I can’t stick around for the cops. I need to get to Pakistan.” He glanced at Drew. “And I warn you, I’m not going to let you stop me. I have to do this. I have to make sure no one comes after Finn.”
“Then let’s truss him up and call Herc,” Drew said. “Let him handle it. We’ll head on to Pakistan.”
“What do you mean, we?” Joe shrugged off Drew’s hand. “This is my problem. Not yours. I’ll handle it. Trust me, you don’t want to be involved. This whole situation takes fucked up to a new level.”
Drew moved to face Joe and fixed him with a relentless stare. “After you left, Finn and I had a talk. We agreed that you’re a stubborn dumbass, but you’reourstubborn dumbass, so one of us needed to go with you to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. Finn couldn’t, so here I am, and this is definitely my problem, too. I wantbothof you to be safe.”
While Joe no longer thought that Drew had it in for him, and had even started to trust him a little, he had no doubt Drew was there only because Finn requested it. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much Joe could do about it at the moment, so he’d have to let Drew ride along. But Joe had a plan, and it didn’t involve taking anyone with him, so he’d just have to lose Drew as soon as he could. “Fine. I don’t have time to argue the point with you right now. This plane has a takeoff window in about ten minutes, and I intend to use it.”
“Then let’s get him secured and be on our way,” Drew said, appearing satisfied.
“You want him secured, you do it.” Joe holstered his gun and then stepped over Emani. He slid into the pilot’s seat. “I have to finish preflighting the plane.”
“On it,” Drew said. “Won’t take but a couple minutes.”
Joe shrugged and picked up the headset, putting it on before reaching for the clipboard. If Drew wanted the guy alive, it was now his problem. If he didn’t make it back to the plane in time, Joe was leaving, no matter what. Dismissing Emani from his mind, he turned his attention to readying the plane for takeoff.
Less than five minutes later, Drew dropped into the copilot’s seat. “Package is secured in the hangar and ready for pick up. The delivery service will be here shortly.”
Joe didn’t acknowledge the comment, instead turning his attention to the telltales and seeing that Drew had secured the door. “Fasten your seatbelt. We’re cleared to head to the runway.”
The next phase of Joe’s plan was underway. Ismail Abbasi was already a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.
