***
The tarmac was chaos.
Vehicles screeched in from every direction, headlights slicing through the dark. Sirens wailed. Radios crackled. A helicopter churned the air with violent gusts, the rotors already spinning, the pilot poised for takeoff once his passengers were aboard.
“Not if I can fucking stop it,” Leland growled.
His SUV fishtailed around a barricade and jolted to a stop. He was out the door before the engine stopped humming, boots pounding on asphalt.
Up ahead, Enzo sprinted toward the chopper, flanked by two brutes—thick-necked, armored, moving like linebackers. One carried a rifle. The other acted as a moving, human wall.
Fucking Denali was not worth the sacrifice.
His comm crackled to life.
“Do not let him get away,” ordered Rogers, the FBI Special Agent in Charge. “Lethal force is authorized.”
That was all the permission Leland needed.
He raised his weapon, centered his stance, breath controlled.
Damn. No clean shot.
At the open chopper door, Enzo grabbed the frame, but he didn’t haul himself up and through. The arrogant bastard couldn’t resist gloating. He turned, smirking, chest exposed between his guards.
“You’re too late, boys,” he crowed.
It was the opening Leland was waiting for.
One breath. One squeeze of the trigger.
The bullet sliced between the two huge men and hit Enzo dead center. His body jerked, and he collapsed backward onto the tarmac, blood spreading across his shirt.
The guards froze, shock etched on their faces.
The pilot didn’t wait. The helicopter lifted off without its cargo.
Leland lowered his weapon, calm as though he’d just finished a round at the range.
“Not late, you fucking piece of shit,” he said, coldly. “Just patient.”
Then he turned and strode unfazed to his vehicle.
***
The SUV hummed down the highway. Every seat was filled, yet silence sat heavy from the weight of what they’d just pulled off, and the adrenaline crash.
Devil drove. Emily curled against Alec’s side in the second row, his arm draped around her, protectively. Gaby and Rhys, behind them, sat in much the same way.
Dev’s phone buzzed. He touched his earpiece, listened, then said, “Yeah. We’ll talk more at debrief.” He ended the call and announced, “They got him. Denali is dead.”
Emily let out a breath that broke halfway through, a shudder racking her body. “Thank God.”
Alec pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple. “The man who ordered the hits on your father and Ethan finally saw justice,” he murmured. “It’s over, baby.”
Emily shook her head. “My part may be over, but there are other girls. Beth Ann and Gaby’s sister. What happens to them?”
Silence filled the SUV. Into it, Gaby whispered, “God willing, there is useful information in those files.”
