Everything was created with a deliberate intention to throw any prying eyes off their scent. Adria had reached out to a contact in the FBI and gotten their official ICAO flight path. With paperwork to make it look like they were landing in an alternative location but without their new identities they were dead in the air.
Elena didn’t love depending on a complete stranger, but after hours of talking it became clear that she was outvoted. She either left her brother alone with the Federov head, or she shut up and went with the group.
Their actual destination was a small airport in Sinaloa, one where flight plans could easily be changed, for the right price. With fake names on landing, and a large bribe to take off unannounced, if everything went well, they would be untraceable in less than twelve hours.
Eric sat in the upper aisles, and the foursome sat together in the back.
Their soft conversations dying before reaching her ears.
“So, pops, what’s your story?” Elena said, flopping down in the seat next to him.
He shifted uncomfortably. “Nothing to tell really, I’ve worked with Adria for over ten years. Navy Seal before that,” he replied. Not because he wanted to, Elena could tell. But because he was a gentleman and gentlemen didn’t ignore the women sitting next to them.
“What about you, miss, what is your story?” Eric asked, again trying to be polite.
Elena glanced at the back of the plane, giving her brother one last visual pat down before turning back around.
“I don’t have a story, pops,” she said, pulling her baseball cap down to cover her eyes and sinking into her seat. Maybe if she was really lucky, she would get a nap in before they landed.
CHAPTER 16
IN FLIGHT TO SINALOA
Adria checked her phone for the thousandth time.
Nothing.
“The pilot says we are about fifteen minutes out,” Elena said. “Any word from your man?”
Adria fought the urge to roll her eyes. Maxim was most certainly not her man.
She would have preferred to involve almost anyone else. But any person she contacted might put a target on their back, and Adria wasn’t willing to risk it.
Maxim seemed like the lesser of two evils, and like Eric had pointed out, he still had the brand.
Adria looked up. “If he doesn’t come through, what’s the backup?”
“He’ll come through,” Eric said, sure as always.
It was just like Eric to think the brand meant more than a scar on his chest. To Adria, the wings on Eric’s chest didn’t change who he was. It wasbecauseof who he was that she even agreed to give it to him.
But Maxim she didn’t know. And her father had given him the brand, not her.
Elena seemed to think about their options when Adria’s phone buzzed.
Maxim: These names should work when you land.
Adria looked them over. They seemed legit. After sending them to Elena, she responded.
Adria: I better not regret this.
Maxim: You’re welcome ;)
She could almost see the annoying grin on his face.
Adria sent a quick text to X, confirming their flight plans, and put her phone away.
Bryson was sleeping across a row of seats, and Kaydon and Seth were talking on the far side of the plane.
