As soon as she saw him, she walked toward him. When she neared, she bared her teeth in a smile and spoke from behind those teeth.
“Hello, sweetheart. I hear we’re off on a lover’s retreat to bum f**k Alaska.”
Rio chuckled. “And may I say how lovely you look, P.J.”
“It’s Grace, dumbass. We can’t afford any f**kups, so get it right.”
Rio looked beyond P.J. to where Sam stood next to Garrett. “We ready to roll?” The longer they stood around, the uneasier Rio grew. His gut was screaming and the hair prickled and stood up on his nape.
There was something decidedly wrong with this picture.
He was about to shout a warning when a gun barrel was shoved against the back of his head. In his periphery, he saw the men who were refueling the jets yank out automatic rifles and train them on the assembled group.
The reaction was instantaneous. Steele and his team dove behind the pile of bags and supplies. Sam and his brothers scattered, some hitting the ground, others diving for cover behind one of the planes. Guns came up in all directions.
Hancock grabbed P.J. by the hair and yanked back. Then he glanced sideways at Rio. “Do you think I’m that dumb, Rio?”
“Do you really want an answer to that?” Rio snarled.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Hancock called out. “This can be as bloody or as civil as you choose to make it.”
“You aren’t getting her,” Rio gritted out.
“You’ll never make it out of here alive,” Sam returned from behind a barrel where he’d crouched.
Dolphin scooted out to the side, rifle up, aiming toward Hancock. A shot rang out, knocking Dolphin back several feet. He hit the ground hard.
“Son of a bitch!” Dolphin yelled. “Fuck, I’m hit! Goddamn it!”
“Get him back,” Steele snapped. “Get him out now!”
Cole grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him to cover.
“Sniper at six o’clock!” Garrett yelled.
“And nine and noon and three,” Hancock calmly called out. “We have you completely surrounded. Yeah, we can shoot each other all to hell, but in the end, you’ll all be dead and I’ll still get the girl. If I die, she still gets delivered. Mission accomplished. Maybe Rio hasn’t informed you, but Titan never fails to complete their mission.”
“Bunch of crazy-ass motherfuckers,” Donovan snarled.
“So how do you want this to go down?” Hancock yelled. “Grace, I know you can hear me. Is this what you want? Do you want them all to die for nothing? If you come with me, there’ll be no further need for bloodshed. My mission isn’t to kill all these men. My mission is to bring you in however I have to accomplish it. So, it’s all up to you. We can do it the easy way. Or we can do it the hard way.”
“Fuck you!” Rio snarled. “Grace, don’t you goddamn do it, do you hear me? You stay the f**k out of sight.”
Inside the plane, Grace shook so hard that she managed to shake Terrence, who covered her. The mod her. Tment the gunshot sounded, Terrence and Diego had hauled her over the seat and stuffed her underneath them. They were crouched behind a row of seats, using them for cover, their rifles up and trained on the doorway.
The door was wide open. She could hear every single thing that had occurred. She knew that a member of KGI had been shot. He may even now be dead.
She opened her mind, put all her strength and energy to reaching out, casting her net wide to pull in the surroundings. She was instantly bombarded by a myriad of adrenaline, anger, fear, calm assurance. There. She refocused on the calm one. He was the one dictating the action. He was the one who’d issued her the challenge. Come quietly or suffer the consequences.
She focused intently on him. His mind was a fascinating irregularity. More machine than human. He had an objective and he was single-minded in his determination to achieve that objective. But what she saw, what she knew without doubt, was that he was utterly serious about killing every last person who stood between him and his objective.
He may die doing it, and he was at peace with that outcome. But he’d turn the airfield into a war zone and take out any threat to his success.
She pushed at Terrence, panic rising sharp and furious within her. Diego turned, his face a mask of anger and determination.
“Do you honest to God think Rio would ever let you just walk into the hands of the enemy? Think about what you’re doing, Grace. He’ll go crazy. He’ll get himself killed. Is that what you want?”
“He’ll be killed anyway,” she said with forced calm. It was imperative that she convince Terrence and Diego that this was the only choice. This was their only option. “I saw into his head, Diego. You don’t understand. I saw him. I know how he thinks. I saw his resolve. He has a sense of honor, as twisted as it may be. His only objective is to take me. However he has to do it. He is absolutely prepared to give the order for every single person out there to be killed.”
“You aren’t giving us any credit,” Terrence snarled.
She shoved at him again, pushing herself up into the seat. “It has nothing to do with credit. What I’m trying to tell you is that he is perfectly willing to die. It doesn’t matter to him because he has men behind him who’ll complete the mission. He has snipers surrounding us all. They’ve already shot one of your men. How many more are you willing to sacrifice?
“He’s not normal. Threats won’t work. He doesn’t care if KGI starts shooting back. He doesn’t care if they take a stand. He’ll mow down anyone who gets in his way. Will we win in the end? Maybe. But at what cost? How many families will lose their husbands, fathers, sons, brothers? Is one person worth that many deaths? No. It’s not. And what you’re not considering, what you don’t realize, is that they have no intention of killing me. They want me for what I can do. And that buys you and Rio and KGI time. This isn’t the time or place to take a stand. They have the advantage.”