by Em Petrova
“Stay put, he says,” Cora muttered under her breath, though nobody was around to hear her. She stood at the window. Did Hank ‘Eagle’ Hutton ever stay put in his life? The man had taught her never to back down or run from a fight.
This wasn’t her fight, but shouldn’t it be? Avenging her father was one thing, but as she stared out at the bleak wintry landscape of the small town, she realized she would be doing this for her people. Fellow Alaskans. Surely those two reasons were worth the risk.
But if Penn found out she didn’t stay in the room…
Then she’d charm him with a finger up his ass again. Having a big, tough man at her mercy had excited her far more than she ever imagined. Thrill seeker took on a whole new meaning in her life.
She snorted and swung toward the door. When she opened it and looked out into the hall, she breathed a sigh of relief. She half expected to see a member of the Xtreme Ops team standing guard. But they would need all six of them to meet the danger of this mission.
She glanced toward the end of the hall, and an iron fist closed around her heart.
Something about the man looked familiar. Out here in this remote town, it was unlikely she’d ever seen this man before, yet she narrowed her eyes.
She needed a closer look.
Heart thumping, she stepped into the hallway. Behind her, the door clicked shut in that metallic way of all hotel rooms. Her senses were always heightened. Her father taught her to always be on the alert. But after spending a few days with the Xtreme Ops team, she felt herself shifting into another level of operation.
She reached the end of the hallway. A couple vending machines and a coffee station sat there for guests to use. Finding that she needed caffeine more than anything in the world, she stepped up to the small cabinet and grabbed a paper cup. Two men stood a few steps from her, and one was the man she swore she recognized.
“He must have arrived in the town by now.” From the corner of her eye, she saw him glance at her. He spoke in low tones.
“What if he boards the ship?” the other asked.
The taller of the pair had thick brown hair and dark…
Her gut rolled. Dark eyes. Like the hijacker. The man who crashed our plane and killed my father. The man we’ve been hunting.
Yahontov.
She pretended to pay no attention to the men as she poured herself a cup of coffee, battling her shaking fingers. She added several spoons of sugar that would make the drink sickening sweet but would buy time for her to eavesdrop.
The man had to be a relation of Yahontov’s, a brother or a cousin at the very least. He leaned closer to the other man.
“He won’t board until we signal him, and if we can’t find him…” He shook his head. “Damn. We need to get out of here.”
“What about the ship?”
He leveled his black eyes on the other man. His gaze was equally as cold and heartless as Yahontov’s, and Cora knew without a doubt that she recognized the man for his family tie to the hijacker.
“What about it?” the man asked. “We need a plane. We need to leave before they return.”
Was the ‘they’ he referred to, the Xtreme Ops team? In a small town with a single hotel to its credit, surely the pair knew the whereabouts of the men who were after them. They most assuredly had watched them leave and knew they were heading to meet the ship.
Why didn’t they care about the ship? If it carried drugs or would be their means of escape with Yahontov, then they would need the vessel.
She moved to the vending machine and pretended to have trouble deciding between a candy bar and a bag of pretzels. With her back to the men, her senses felt dulled, and she could hardly hear their quiet voices.
“We need a pilot. We don’t have much time.”
Her stomach hollowed. They needed someone to fly, and she had the credentials.
She pivoted to see the men had moved positions, and she dumped her coffee in the trash and hurried out into the main lobby. One of the men stood to the side and the other she believed to be related to Yahontov was at the counter asking the young girl where he could find a pilot.
Cora’s gut told her she had to do this.
She stepped up to the counter. “Excuse me, did I hear you say you need a pilot?”
His icy cold gaze landed on her, which set her insides shivering now that she knew what a man of this bloodline was capable of. “Do you know of one?” he asked in an equally chilling voice.
“I’m a pilot.” She kept the quiver from her tone. “If you have a plane, I can fly it.”
He dropped his gaze over her in an appraising manner that raised the hairs on her nape. “I can get a plane.”
“Okay. We can discuss fees later.” She waved a hand as if putting her life on the line would cost these men pennies. Her idea to go with these strangers might be the last act of courage she ever displayed, but her instincts were rarely wrong.
Her fear factor meant nothing right now. What did she have to lose? And she could be helping so many, including the man she was growing to care for. That alone made her agree to follow the men out of the hotel and into a car.
As they drove from the hotel, she realized they weren’t heading to the small runway that served the fishing village and instead headed to the harbor.
Through the window in the rear of the car, she stared at the gray waves of the ocean, and a ship on its way toward the shore. In minutes it would be docked, and though she saw no trace of the Xtreme Ops team, she knew they were lurking here, waiting to pounce.
“She is a beauty,” the man driving said.
“Yes, it’s almost too bad she’ll be at the bottom of the sea soon.”
She blinked rapidly to conceal her shock. The ship was…rigged to blow? It must be. What else could they mean by the ship being at the bottom of the sea?
The car stopped, and she scoured the area, searching the buildings for signs of the team. She had to do something to lure them from the ship.
If Penn saw her—or any of them did—they would follow her instead of attempting to board the Grisha.
On impulse, she reached for the door handle and whipped it open. She started to climb out, twisting in broad daylight so anybody looking their direction would see her—hoping that was a member of Xtreme Ops.
“What are you doing? Idiot woman, did we tell you to get out of the car? Do you see a plane here?”
“Oh, sorry. I thought we were getting out.” She offered a half-witted smile and slipped back into the seat, closing the door behind her.
The man with black eyes glared at her until a chill crept over her bones. “You offered to be our pilot, and now you work for us. You only take our orders, understand?”
She nodded. Men like these ones would assume her to be a stupid woman and she could use that to her advantage. To cover any trace of her motives for stepping outside the vehicle, she said, “Maybe we can discuss my fee now?”
“You’ll be paid. Do not worry.” The clip of his voice sounded with a hint of the same perfectly cultivated accent the hijacker had used when he demanded her father fly to another destination in the middle of a storm.
Fury bubbled in her blood. She folded her hands in her lap and said nothing more. The streets of the small village took only a minute to navigate, and then they arrived at the runway. There a few bush planes waited.
“Stay here. Watch her,” the man resembling Yahontov so much shouted to the driver and then got out of the car. He walked into what served as a terminal in these parts. Seconds later, he exited and pointed to the Cessna.
The driver glanced over his shoulder at her. “You can get out now.”
She did, forcing her legs not to shake as she walked to the plane.
“You can fly this model?” the man asked her.
“Yes, of course.”
He drew aside the opening of his jacket to reveal a weapon tucked against his side. He made sure she got a good look at it before he released his jacket. “Get into the cockpit and don�
��t make a fuss, or you’ll regret it. Understand?”
With her tonsils tangled with a knot, and her heart too, she nodded and reached for the door to the cockpit. The men climbed in and the man she was certain must be Yahontov’s relation handed her a set of keys. Smaller planes such as this had keyed ignitions, since owners didn’t always have secure places to be left at night, and to prevent people—such as these ones—from commandeering their own crafts.
She accepted the cold metal into her hand, concentrating on a way out of this. Now that she’d stepped off the cliff, she must find a parachute to make a safe landing.
At least the guys won’t get on that ship.
She started the engine and began to adjust the controls for takeoff.
Then the boom of an explosion rocked the craft.
“Take off—now!”
Hands shaking, she threw a look toward the direction of the harbor. Please don’t let them be on that ship. Let them be safe.
She taxied toward the head of the short runway, which was all she needed to liftoff. When she wheeled the plane around, she said, “I need some coordinates. What is your destination.”
He spouted it off, and the ice already flowing through her veins jammed up into a glacier. The coordinates matched the same ones Yahontov demanded that her father fly.
She looked to the edge of the runway and tears blurred her eyes with relief. Six big bodies formed a line. They were safe—her ploy of being seen had worked.
She had no choice now.
She gave Penn one long look and then turned her attention to the sky. At least this time she wouldn’t be flying into a storm.
Chapter Eleven
“Jesus Christ, they have her!” Penn’s throat slammed shut on the words that he never thought he’d hear himself say.
What had made him ever think she’d sit in the hotel, waiting out the fight? The woman didn’t know the meaning of the words “back down.” He’d all but taunted her with the temptation to disobey his direct order simply by giving it.
He couldn’t breathe. He tried to find air, but the world was too small, too tight, this box he had jumped into suffocating him.
Lipton brought his hand onto Penn’s shoulder and squeezed as he barked orders for Penn. “Broshears, find someone to get that plane on radar. Keep eyes on it! Gasper, go inside and ask about those men.”
His first in command swung his gaze to Penn. “We’ll get her back.”
“She knew… She fucking knew that ship would blow, and that’s why she got out and made sure we saw her going with Yahontov’s brother and Antonov.” A bloody rage lit up the world with a red haze he could barely see through.
He watched the bush plane carrying the only woman he’d ever truly cared about gain altitude until it flew out of sight.
Grabbing the device out of Broshears’ hands, he accessed airspace traffic. Seeing that small blinking dot on the radar, and the direction it was heading, jumpstarted his brain.
“They’re headed to the dropping point. Yahontov is searching for his brother and hopes he’ll find him there, since he hasn’t reached the Grisha.” He slammed his phone to his ear. “We need a chopper. Right. The fuck. Now.”
The operator for OFFAT, and their primary support, responded instantly. “We’ve got a chopper ten minutes out.”
Penn issued a growl. Ten minutes was better than hours, but it wasn’t fast enough. He ended the call and looked at the faces of his men. “Goddammit. If we’re going to do our jobs in Alaska, we need our own aircraft.”
The sirens of the few firetrucks in the village blared a short distance away. Penn thrust the device into Broshears’ hands. “Don’t lose sight of that plane.”
Just then Gasper sprinted back to the group. Penn shot one look at his face and knew that he was about to lose his shit.
“Report!” Penn barked out.
“Yahontov’s brother paid for the plane in cash.”
Not surprising.
Gasper continued, “He didn’t say where he was taking the craft, but he dropped ten thousand in cash for it.”
Lipton whirled to stare at the spot in the sky where the plane had vanished. “That plane’s not worth five.”
Gasper’s lips hardened into a grim line. “I don’t think he plans to return it.”
Penn clenched his fists, unable to breathe.
“What the hell was she thinking, going with them?” Lipton asked.
“She’s a fighter,” Penn said. “We’ve all seen it. The woman climbed from the wreckage of her plane, walked away from her dying father and led us through the perils of the wilderness without batting an eye.”
He wanted to shake her.
He had to get her back first.
“She showed herself to lure us from the ship. She must have overheard Gavrie Yahontov speaking to Antonov and jumped in.” Hepburn shook his head. “That woman’s got a set of brass balls.”
“She’s reckless.” Penn sliced his hand through the air.
Broshears stared at his screen. “Reports are rolling in about the explosion.”
“Send backup to investigate,” Penn ordered. It was obvious to him that they needed a larger team. Six men wasn’t enough in a place as big as Alaska. First thing, he’d speak with Colonel Reinsel about increasing their ranks and getting them that aircraft he mentioned.
While waiting the full ten minutes for the chopper, Penn ground off most of the points on his teeth. When he got hold of Cora… If he ever laid eyes on her again…
He cut off those thoughts before he lost control. Right now, his objective was to follow that plane and see what was waiting at the destination. But as the chopper landed and he led the team onboard, Cora’s words echoed in the recesses of Penn’s mind.
The conversation they had on their long trek that first day. She was rambling about her dad and mentioned he taught her everything she knew. How to survive a plane crash…and how to cause one and be able to walk away.
He stared at Lipton. “I know what she’s going to do.” He leaned toward the chopper pilot. “I need to catch up to that plane,” he barked out.
“I’ll do my best, Sullivan. Hold onto your asses, boys.”
Penn’s backside barely hit the seat before the chopper lifted. In seconds they hit top speed, roaring through the sky on the tail of the plane Cora flew.
When he caught up to her, he would shake her. Then kiss her. Then shake her some more. Then tie her up in a cabin someplace where she couldn’t get herself into any trouble.
Damn her for pulling these heroics and taking matters into her own hands. His chest burned. In the past, he’d mark the sensation as anger and nothing more. Was he angry? Fuck yes. But this had a different intensity.
His mind flipped between scenarios.
If they didn’t reach her in time... If Gavrie Yahontov decided she wasn’t worth keeping around anymore…
He pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the throbbing headache starting from the adrenaline rush that wouldn’t quit anytime soon.
As more intel came in with the coordinates of the plane and how many minutes ahead of them they were, Penn formed a plan in his head, along with a plan B and C just in case. When it came to Cora’s life, he couldn’t be too careful. And now the Yahontov family had threatened her life not once but twice. That spelled vengeance in Penn’s mind.
“Sullivan, we’ve got an issue.” The pilot had synced with their comms devices.
He half rose from his seat and then sat once again. “What is it?”
“Storm ahead. Thick too. That plane will be lucky to land.”
His mind blanked, and he couldn’t think. “Dammit,” he bit off. He wanted her safe from the ruthless monster who didn’t give a damn for her safety.
“And if they can land?” he asked the pilot.
“Then I don’t know if I can get you to the ground. The winds are whipping, coming in from several mountains and down the valley too.”
“We’ll rappel to the ground then. If
they land, we have to meet them.” His voice sounded as if his vocal cords had been dragged across several jagged mountain peaks.
“I’m not sure about rappelling either. The winds, as I said.”
“We don’t have a choice. We can make it—this is what we’re trained to do.” He looked to his five men. Each stared at him with the hardest resolve in their eyes and in the set of their jaws. Not one would argue the fact.
“Ten-four. We’ll see what we get into once we breach the edges of that storm. But let me warn you, Sullivan—we may need to abort the mission.”
“Like hell,” he growled out.
Silence followed. The pilot said no more, and neither did his team.
What felt like an hour passed, but he knew it was only minutes. His jaw ached from tensing it, and he had to shake his hands twice from holding them in fists until the blood restricted. Lipton gave him a knowing look, but Penn’s glare sent his gaze sideways.
“Sullivan.”
He didn’t like the pilot’s tone.
“What’s the issue?” he barked.
“The conditions are volatile. That isn’t any winter storm—it’s another blizzard, and it’s coming at us faster than I thought. We can’t slip in there and land.”
“Can that plane land?”
“She’s crazy if she tries.”
Penn needed to punch something. “Goddammit. She is crazy enough to try. Especially if Yahontov is pressuring her to put it down to search for his brother.”
“I can’t do it, Penn,” the pilot stated firmly.
The chopper shifted, and a heartbeat later, Penn realized they were turning around, away from the storm, putting distance between him and Cora.
He wanted to bellow until his lungs burst, but unleashing on the pilot wouldn’t solve his problems.
It was his own fault for leaving Cora alone.
“What is that up ahead?” Yahontov’s relation, who she’d heard the other man call Gavrie, demanded in the same lethal tone the hijacker had used on her father.
Cora centered herself. She would not allow this man to get to her. No wonder her father had thought to rise from his seat and take the hijacker out. If anybody was going down, it wouldn’t be her.
