Cade frowned at his bosses. He could see by the movement of their shoulders they were still discussing it. This not being on the same page thing was unusual for them. More normal was when disagreements like this took place behind closed doors. Together, his bosses nearly always presented a united front.
“He’ll be okay.” Danny dropped a bag of ammo on the table next to Cade. He picked up a weapon, his hands automatically syncing with Cade's as they went through the motions of checking each item they were taking with them. “He just has to hold on for another couple of hours.”
“I’m good with doing TOC,” Angelo’s shoulder bumped off Cade’s, offering quiet support. The Italian’s hands, rather than doing their normal gestures when he spoke, worked on the attached pouch to the vest he normally wore. “It’s all set up… right?
Thank fuck.Cade knew he should have discussed it with Angelo first, before he volunteered him for staying out of the action. But the words had been out of his mouth before he thought of it. “Yeah,” Cade confirmed, “the TOC is just off their tower room.”
“Rio is not Sharr,” Grif growled, “I get it babe—”
All three of them turned to see Grif dragging Rock through the door to a spare storage room.
“Shit.”
“Makes sense now why he is being such a dick,” Danny agreed with Angelo.
Cade leaned his head into his hands and blew out a breath. He needed for Rock to focus, Rio was counting on them. Not that he knew it. Neither did any of the passengers waiting to get on that plane. Ghost Protectors were all that stood between them and another headline making a news story of a terrorist horror story.
Chapter Seventeen
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia, el Señor es contigo.Sweat dripped down the back of his neck. How the hell had it come to this?Scream, shout, tell them you are wearing a bomb.But he couldn’t, Cade’s life depended on his silence. Instead, he prayed in the words his Abuela had taught him as a child.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres, y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.His knee bounced up and down. Rio didn’t even try to stop it or try to put some kind of rhythm to it. His soul wanted someone to notice. Maybe the old lady sitting across from them would see and get suspicious.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores,Jesus, they all couldn’t think he was acting like this because he was nervous to fly. Had these people not learned anything from September 11th?
“Stop it,” Saad hissed out of the corner of his mouth, “You will make them suspicious.”
Ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.In his head Rio kept praying that someone, anyone, would get suspicious. “I can’t help it.”
“This is your penance for shaming our family.” Haaz muttered from his opposite side. Both of his brothers were sent to escort him onto the plane. Rio didn’t know who his father had paid off to get the documents needed. But it had to be someone important that they had been ushered through security clearance.
“Do you see the girl?”
“No.” Saad scanned the waiting area at the gate. “She will be here,” he reassured his brother. “Our sources told us so.”
God, Rio hoped they were wrong. Taking out the daughter of an Israeli Mossad operative would cause a shitshow in the Middle East. How did nobody know this was coming? She was meant to be on the plane today. Doing this would have grim implications for Lebanon, which depended for its well-being on an always difficult balancing act among Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and Druze. Hezbollah would no doubt pay the price. Which was probably his father’s end game? Since he had been exiled to South America for his extreme cruelty, he was looking for vengeance.
Argh, I have to do something.But here, Rio knew he could do little. Not right at this second.
Over by the gate, he could see the flight attendants handing the security people their documents. This was it. Struggling not to hyperventilate, he needed to come up with a plan, and he needed to do it fast. He had to give Rock and Grif time to find Cade. They had to; Rio would gladly sacrifice himself if he knew that Cade would survive. But could he do it at the cost of these innocent people? “I need to use the restrooms.”
“No.”
“If I soil myself…” Rio would take any delay he could.
“You will wait until you are on the plane.” Saad instructed. He caught Rio by the arm and hauled him to his feet. Rio dug his heels into the blue carpet, trying to stop their progress, but he was no match for both of his brothers.
“Yes, yes.” Haaz spoke to the flight attendant, “He will be cuffed to the seat. Nobody will be in the row with him, correct?”
“That’s correct, officer.”
No, I have a bomb, don’t let them take me to the plane.
“Follow me, gentlemen.” The flight attendant opened the rope across the gate. “We will walk down the corridor and out onto the tarmac. From there, it’s a short bus ride to the plane.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Saad nodded to Haaz, silently telling him to bring Rio.
“Move.” Haaz pushed him forward, while Saad walked ahead of them with the flight attendant. Rio tugged at his arm, trying to free his grip. He could run, he had to run. He could not get on the damn plane. This was it, he was stepping into the lion’s den and about to be served up as dinner.
