by E. L. Todd
There was nothing that got under my skin more than listening to men talk about my wife like that. It made me desire bloodshed in desperation. It made me want to kill every single person in the room with me. But I didn’t rise to the bait. Depending my wife’s honor wasn’t important right now. Getting back to her was my priority. “She wouldn’t have let you. She’s stronger than I am.”
“I figured she must be. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have let you replace your son.”
“When it comes to our children, we are of one mind.” We both knew it was the right thing to do. We could accept my death if it came down to it. But neither of us could accept the death of our children. It wasn’t an option that either one of us could live with.
“How touching.” He cocked his head to the side, grinning.
We hit a bout of turbulence and shook the small plane violently. I held onto the armrests and felt my body shake with the shift. I didn’t get motion sickness and never had but I had to pretend I felt sick. I leaned forward and closed my eyes for a moment.
“Not a fan of turbulence?”
“I’m fine.” I gave a half-ass lie and returned to my upright position.
He pulled out an electronic scanner then moved it across my body, searching for a transmitter to give my location away. It beeped loudly when it reached my watch. “Really? You thought I wouldn’t check.” He ripped off the watch and crushed it under his shoe.
“I like the way it looks on me.”
He finished running the scanner across my body and moved over my heart. The sensor didn’t go off, mistaking the electric current as the natural electrodes of my heart.
It worked.
He stuffed the scanner into his pocket then returned to relaxing in the chair. “Can I get you anything?”
“No.” I looked out the window, seeing Manhattan fade far into the background.
“You did a noble thing. I wouldn’t have done that for my own child.”
“Then good thing you don’t have kids.”
He chuckled. “You’re funny, Sean Preston. You know, if I didn’t despise you so much I might actually like you.”
I kept my gaze out the window. “The feeling isn’t mutual.”
He chuckled again. “Witty. I like it.”
We hit another patch of turbulence and I gripped the armrests. I did my best to look sick while trying to cover it up at the same time. If I made it too obvious he would know it was all just in act. I leaned forward and closed my eyes, feeling the sweat form on my forehead.
“No a big fan of flying?”
The turbulence passed and I leaned back again. “Why do you have such a shitty plane? We’re supposed to make it across the Atlantic like this?”
“It’s a special plane. Not detected by radar.”
Shit. That meant I’d have to swim all the way back—if I escaped.
We hit another small patch of turbulence. I tensed in my chair and rode through it, pretending to be sick even though I was fine.
“Not looking too good, Sean Preston.” He shook his head back and forth. “You better not get any shit on my shoes.”
“Then can I have a paper bag? A bucket?”
“You’re seriously going to throw up?” he asked incredulously.
“Look, if you don’t want me to throw up on your shoes or on the floor, give me something to puke in.” I rested one hand against my stomach and closed my eyes, using my limited acting abilities.
He rolled his eyes and turned to one of the gunmen. They put their rifles on the seats beside them. “Any of you have a bag?”
They both shook their heads.
“Use the restroom.” He dismissed me with a wave of a hand. “It’s small but it works. You have two minutes.”
Fucking idiot. I walked down the aisle until I reached the front of the plane. The cockpit was locked like I expected it to be, and the code was digital. That was the best news I had all day.
I got into the bathroom but didn’t lock the door. It would click and they would know when I was finished if they happened to hear it. I yanked my shirt up so I could see the stitches holding my skin together just above my heart. The surgeon numbed the area so I couldn’t feel anything. It made this a lot easier.
With my bare hand I pulled the stitches apart and stuck my fingers inside my warm flesh. I didn’t think about was I was going and just concentrated on the task. I had to work fast otherwise I would die from the loss of blood.
My fingers found the waterproof device and I yanked it out.
Blood got everywhere.
I didn’t have time to wash off so I cracked the door open and placed the decoder right underneath the pin pad. I turned it and watched the numbers slowly pop up as it decrypted the password.
Now I just had to hope they didn’t notice.
I stood there and held my breath, watching each new number pop up. Blood oozed from my chest, and I allowed myself to think about Scarlet to pass the time and keep me calm. I pictured returning to her and seeing the relief on her face. I pictured Skye’s smiled. I imagined what it would be like to hold my son again.
The decoder beeped when it was finished.
Shit.
“What was that?” one of the man said.
I didn’t have time to think. I just acted. I pulled the open door open and dove inside, taking the decoder with me. I shut the door behind me and locked it.
The pilot took one look at me and pulled out his pistol.
I punched him so hard he blacked out immediately.
“What the fuck?” Shot’s voice sounded through the door. “Break it down now.”
“Let’s shoot the door.” The gunmen kicked his foot against the panel.
“Don’t shoot, idiots!” Shot ordered. “Otherwise, this plane is going down, and we’re going down with it. Break down the door.”
They would get in eventually. The door wasn’t made of concrete.
I snatched the pistol that belonged to the pilot and fell into the chair. My previous training kicked in, and I took over the plane. I made a violent turn, knocking all the men over with the unexpected dive. Their bodies rolled to the right side of the plane and made a loud thump.
Take that, assholes.
I increased the speed of the plane and headed back for Manhattan. It was far in the distance and would take me several minutes to arrive. I didn’t have that kind of time. The men would break down the door, and I doubted they would let me live. They’d be too pissed off to show any kind of mercy.
I had to crash the plane.
I made a few sudden turns to throw the men off course. Their bodies rolled back and forth as I navigated over the water. Then I took a nose dive and pointed straight down to the water, making them smash hard against the door.
“He’s gonna crash the plane!”
I pulled up at the last minute and flew straight over the water. Manhattan was close but still farther than I wanted it to be. The crash may not be visible from shore, and if we weren’t seen on radar, no one could find me. I’d bleed out in the middle of the ocean.
“Get the fucking door open!” Shot yelled.
I pushed the plane as fast as it would go and waited until the very last minute. When the door was about to burst apart, I would dive down and collide with the waves of the ocean. My hands held the wheel with a steel grip, and I waited for the right moment. The sensors inside the plane were going haywire, and the door continued to thump every time their bodies were thrown against it. They slammed their guns into the wall and finally made a crack.
I was running out of time.
“Shoot him!”
I took a deep breath then dove head first into the water. The collision was just as rough as driving into a concrete wall. My entire body shook with the jolt but the straps kept me in. The men fell silent as they were thrown off balance.
And then the water came.
It didn’t take a minute like it was depicted in movies. The water broke through the glass and immediate rushed in. With
in seconds, my body was covered in water except my head. I only had a second to react.
Then my head went under.
I yanked the straps off and swam out the broken window located to my left. Once my body was on the other side of the wreckage I pushed off with my feet to get to the surface quicker. The plane was already fifteen feet under water and was steadily sinking at a quicker pace. I kept swimming until I finally breached the surface.
I turned to the site of the wreckage and saw a piece of the plane floating across the surface. I was still miles from shore, and with my injury I couldn’t swim that far. I grabbed the metal and clung to it with my feet still dangling in the water.
Then I tried to think of what to do next.
Chapter Twelve
Roland
“How could you let him do this?” I stared at my mother with hatred. My dad was now a prisoner to psychopaths and we would never see him again. “It was my fault that I got captured to begin with. This isn’t fair!”
“Roland, calm down.” Mom grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the street. She kept a calm composure but her eyes were wet with tears.
I yanked my arm out of her grasp. “I will not calm down. How could you let him take my place? What the hell is wrong with you?” My father had been through enough as it was. Now he was imprisoned by some foreign criminals. We would never find him again. My father would suffer until they killed him in the most brutal way. It was more than I could stand. He shouldn’t have sacrificed himself for me. He’d already did it once and he shouldn’t have to do it again.
“Enough of this.” Mike turned around and grabbed me violently by the shoulder. He gripped me tightly, almost puncturing the skin. “Straighten up. Now. Your mother is going through a lot right now. She doesn’t need your bitching and whining. Now shut up so we can think.” Mike had never talked to me that way. There was no remorse in his eyes as he turned away and pulled out his cell phone. He made a call and stepped away.
I stared at his back, feeling ashamed and deflated. Only Dad could put me in my place like that. No one else.
Mom crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the ground. Her face was a stoic wall. She closed off from the world around her, becoming desensitized to everything and everyone. She held her head high and didn’t give into the grief—not in front of me.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m just…”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m upset too. Your father is a man who’s suffered so much. He shouldn’t have to suffer anymore.”
“I don’t want him to. He should have left me there.”
She turned her gaze on me, life coming back into her eyes. “Your father and I would never abandon you, Roland.”
“But he shouldn’t have sacrificed himself—”
“I would have done the same in a heartbeat. But your father was the only one they wanted. Neither one of us regret the decision. You and Skye are the number one people in our lives. Our existence is irrelevant in comparison.”
Ashamed, I looked at the ground. My father had been right to follow me in Switzerland. He was just trying to protect me—from shit like this. He did so much for me and I never truly appreciated it. Now he was gone and I could never tell him how I felt. “I’m so sorry…I wish I could take everything back.”
“Roland…” Mom wrapped her arms around me and held me against her chest. She gave me her motherly affection just as she did when I was a boy and I cut my hand playing outside. “Your father knows how you feel. He’s sorry too.”
“”He has nothing to be sorry for. I was the asshole.”
“He doesn’t think that, Ro.”
“I just…we have to get him back.” I pulled away, feeling the tears come out. “I can’t lose him. He would never give up on me and we should never give up on him.”
She grabbed both of my hands and squeezed them. “Mike and your father came up with a few plans. And your father promised he would come back. You know how he is.”
“He never makes a promise he can’t keep.”
She nodded. “Not all hope is lost. Let’s just stay calm and figure out our next step.”
“What is the next step?” I would do anything to get him. I’d break him out myself if I had to.
Mike returned when he was off the phone. “I’ve got the coast guard deployed and the swat team helicopter. If the plane crashed, they’ll find him. They’re looking for the plane on radar but aren’t picking anything up.”
“Does that mean it already went down?” I asked hopefully.
“Not sure,” Mike said. “It might just mean their plane is small enough to remain undetected.”
The hope seeped out of my body.
“Sean was supposed to crash the plane after takeoff. If he’s successful, it should happen in the next fifteen minutes,” Mike said.
“Then the coast guard should go out pretty far,” Mom said. “Ten minutes by plane is several miles.”
Mike nodded. “They understand.”
“Why would Dad crash the plane?” I asked. “He could kill himself doing that.”
“Your father knows how to fly,” Mom said. “If he crashes it, he’ll do it safely.”
Like there was such a thing. “So what do we do now?”
“We wait.” Mike held up his phone.
“Shouldn’t we be out there looking for him?” Roland asked. “Dad has a helicopter. We could take that. Mike, you know how to fly, right?”
“I do,” he answered.
“Then let’s do that.” I couldn’t sit around and do nothing when my father was fighting for his life.
“I’ll just go and give you two updates,” Mike answered. “It could be dangerous.”
Mom and I both stared at him with terrifying glares.
Mike eyed us before he changed his mind. “Or…you should come with me.”
That’s what I thought. “Damn right, we’re coming with you.”
***
“Roland, you should call Heath.” Mom was about to mount into the helicopter located at airport.
He completely slipped my mind. “Shit.”
“He’s worried about you,” Mom said. “Let him know you’re safe.”
“We’ll get the engine started while you make the call.” Mike put on his helmet. “Get a few yards away otherwise you won’t be able to hear anything.”
I took Mom’s phone and jogged to the edge of the landing pad. I typed in his number by memory and listened to it ring. My heart skipped a beat as I waited to hear his voice. I couldn’t imagine how terrified he must have been while I was kidnapped. He shed a million tears for my absence.
He finally answered. “Any news?”
His voice was the most soothing thing I’d heard in days. It jump-started my heart and brought happiness into my body. It was the first time I felt good since being snatched. “Heath, it’s me.”
Heath paused on the phone because he couldn’t believe what he just heard. “Roland?”
I placed my palm over my other ear to muffle out the sound of the propeller. The spinning blades sliced through the air. “Yeah. I’m back. I’m okay.”
“Fuck…thank god.” He breathed hard into the phone, the relief loud in my ears. “Roland, I’ve never been so fucking terrified in my life. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.”
“You’re on your way back?”
Mom asked me not to tell anyone Dad was gone—not yet. “We’re with the police right now. We’re trying to nail these guys.”
“Okay. You’ll be back soon?” he asked hopefully.
“I’ll return the second I can.”
“Okay…it’s so good to hear your voice.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “You too.”
“I love you, Ro.”
“I love you too, Heath.”
He didn’t hang up because he wanted to linger on the line.
I wanted to do the same. “I have to go.”
“I know.”
“See you so
on.”
“See you soon.”
I hung up and walked back to the helicopter. Mom handed me a helmet and I got into the backseat. A headset was constructed inside the helmet so I could hear Mike and Mom talk.
Mike checked everything before he lifted for takeoff. The helicopter quickly ascended and flew high above the building of Manhattan. It was dark outside, darkest just before the dawn.
He flew to the water’s edge then flicked on the spotlight. It shined into the dark water but nothing was visible. Mom and I kept our eyes peeled searching everywhere for any sign of life.
Mike drove the helicopter forward and approached the shipping dock where the plane took off. He followed the same projector, hoping to find clues along the path. After ten minutes of searching, we ran into the coast guard. They were on one of their speedboats searching for any sign of wreckage.
Mike switched the frequency on the receiver so he could communicate with them. “Mike Preston. Any sign of him?”
“No,” the guy answered. “There’s no sign of wreckage either.”
I tried not to lose all hope. There’s nothing I wanted more than to seem my dad’s face again. The idea of losing him forever was something I couldn’t handle.
“Anyone else seen anything?” Mike asked.
“No,” he answered. “We’ll stay for a few more hours but if we don’t anything we’re heading back. It doesn’t look like there’s a site to investigate.”
Mike clenched his jaw like he wanted to argue. “Alright. Over and out.” He pulled the helicopter away and kept up the stretch. The black waves were lifeless and there wasn’t a sign of activity. He glanced at Scarlet before he spoke over the radio. “We’ll find him, Scarlet. If he’s not here we still have plane.”
All Mom could do was nod.
Chapter Thirteen
Sean
I made it to shore, but I was barely functioning. I lost too much blood, and I felt weak. My body wasn’t cooperating like it usually did. There wasn’t enough strength for me to keep going.
Somehow, I migrated two blocks until I reached a hospital. I wanted to find someone with a cell phone so I could call Scarlet but I knew I wouldn’t survive if I did that. I needed medical attention.