“I KNEW IT was you,” Hope said to Deirdre, ignoring the bite of Anso’s fingers into her arm. “I always knew you were a coldhearted bitch, but I didn’t realize you were corrupt, too.”
Deirdre ignored Hope, her eyes flashing with jealousy. “I told you we don’t need her. I have her notes. I can replicate the results without her.”
“Darling, I don’t traffic in maybes. If you’d been able to replicate the results, we wouldn’t be here now, would we? She’s coming and that’s final. If you have a problem with it, please, by all means, go home.”
Deirdre paled, sputtering. “You know I can’t do that. I risked everything to get you those notes. You promised me you would take me with you.”
“Yes, well, if you stop bitching and moaning with your petty womanly complaints, then you may still come. I always like to have a backup,” he said cruelly, and if Deirdre hadn’t been such a terrible person, she might’ve felt sorry for her, but as it was, all she felt was rage.
“It was you. You got Tanya killed.”
“Tanya got herself killed,” Deirdre said, casting her a withering look. Good gracious, how had she never noticed how much Deirdre hated her? “She had an opportunity and she squandered it on useless morality. I was the one who approached her, so she had to go. No loose ends.”
“You’re an awful person.” She looked to Anso. “Actually, you two are perfect for each other. Two peas in a rotten pod.”
“Careful, darling—one does not need a tongue to do one’s work,” Anso warned, smiling when she shrank away from him. “But I’d hate to see that beautiful face of yours marred so terribly. Perhaps if you plead prettily, I will show you some mercy.”
Hope tried not to cry. The threat of Anso “educating” her made her shake like a leaf with fear even though it shamed her that she couldn’t spit in his face.
Her thoughts returned to J.T. and she sucked back a ragged sob. She wouldn’t give Anso the satisfaction of seeing her cry. He’d all but said that he’d planted a bomb at Blue Yonder and she had no way of warning them.
Teagan, J.T., Kirk, Ty, Harris...they’d all risked their necks to save her and she was repaying them with a first-class ticket to heaven.
“You’re a bastard,” she whispered, and Anso laughed.
“Come. The pilot is ready for us.” As they walked to the plane, he took a deep breath as if he were enjoying the night air. “I’d forgotten how invigorating it is to do your own work. I could’ve hired someone to get you, but I wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself, and I’m so glad I did. Reminds me of my younger days.”
“Why am I not surprised that you come from a life of crime?” she quipped with a spurt of bravery. “I won’t do what you’re asking of me. I’ll die first.”
“You’d be surprised how motivating pain can be.”
“You’d be surprised how fortifying hatred can be,” she shot back with a calm she didn’t feel.
Deirdre was practically burning a hole into Hope’s back, and it was apparent Anso had made romantic promises to the crusty bitch that he had no intention of fulfilling. If Deirdre were smart, she’d realize that Anso would likely kill her once they left the United States.
In Brazil, Anso was king and Deirdre was nothing.
Anso shoved her in front of him to the steps. She took the first step and sirens split the air as a bullet whizzed past, striking Deirdre in the leg.
Deirdre went down with a scream and Anso tried pushing Hope up the stairs, but she knew this was her one chance to get free, even if it meant risking injury. She would do anything to avoid getting on that plane!
* * *
J.T. TRIED TO wait, but he couldn’t a moment longer. The police wouldn’t get there in time to stop them from boarding, and if that happened, they’d never catch them.
He took careful aim and shot the woman in the leg, dropping her like a doe in the field.
Anso reacted by shoving Hope, but she fought back and J.T. started running toward them, using the fact that Hope was keeping Anso busy to cover more ground.
The woman was screaming, but Anso didn’t seem to care. He was too focused on Hope to notice his companion was down.
Hope reared back and punched Anso right in the face, causing him to stagger and fall back, tripping on the woman and landing hard on his ass.
“You bitch!” Anso roared, struggling to his feet. But Hope didn’t hesitate and kicked him in the face, bloodying his nose.
“Hope!” J.T. yelled as he ran toward her. Almost there! Hope’s face lit up with joy and relief as she started to run toward him, but Anso grabbed her ankle as she ran past him, sending her sprawling to the pavement with a scream.
She kicked at Anso. “Let me go, you dickhead!” And managed to grab the gun that’d skittered out of Anso’s hands when he fell. She pointed the gun at his head, holding it with shaking fingers as J.T. caught up to her. “Let’s see if you can stay dead this time!”
“Easy, babe,” J.T. said, slowly easing the gun from her hand. “The police are on their way. You don’t want to do this.”
“Yes, I do,” she said vehemently. “He deserves it. He deserves to die for what he did to me and what he did to Tanya and Carina and God knows how many more people. You know the justice system will let him walk!”
“He won’t. We’ll make sure of it,” he promised as she reluctantly released the gun from her stiff fingers. “There’s my girl...”
Realizing she was safe, she turned and buried her face against his chest, sobbing. He held her, but kept the gun trained on Anso and his accomplice. Until suddenly, she stiffened and cried, “Blue Yonder! He’s planted a bomb! You have to tell Teagan to get out of there!”
The police skidded onto the tarmac and pulled out their guns just as J.T. was calling Teagan.
“Hands on your head!” a police officer shouted over a loudspeaker. “On the ground, all of you!”
“He’s a madman! He shot me in the leg!” Deirdre screeched. “Help!”
“I want this man arrested,” Anso said, trying to claim some authority. “He showed up and started shooting at us!”
“He kidnapped me and he planted a bomb at Blue Yonder Charter!” Hope cried out, refusing to be silent. “Someone needs to go check on Blue Yonder before the bomb goes off!”
“She’s clearly crazy,” Anso protested from his prone position on the ground as an officer handcuffed him. “I want to speak to my lawyer.”
“Is this the guy you were talking about?” a man in a dark suit asked as Harris appeared with a shit-eating grin.
To J.T. he said, “I told you I had a friend in the FBI. You owe me twenty bucks. Danny-boy, this is my friend J.T., and yes, that’s the man I was telling you about.” Harris’s voice rang out over the din of the airport. “That man is as corrupt as they come. Too much money, if you ask me. My mother always said money was the root of all evil and I said, well, my soul was for sale, and then she’d beat my ass for saying such blasphemy. Good woman, she was. God rest her soul. But this son of a bitch is a liar and a killer.”
More police officers converged on the scene and after they concluded that J.T. was not the one who needed to be arrested, they took Deirdre away in an ambulance and Anso was taken into custody.
J.T. called Teagan as soon as he was able. “There’s a bomb at the hangar. Don’t go there. The bomb squad has to clear it first.”
“Well, that’s one way to get out of the biz,” Teagan said. “Imagine the insurance payout. Maybe I ought to let it go up in smoke.” He paused. “Did you get the girl?”
J.T. tightened his hold on Hope. “Yeah, I got her.”
“Good. Now, don’t be an idiot this time and don’t let her go.”
“Good advice, big brother.”
Harris grinned up at J.T. and said, “Well, you’re going to have to give me a ride because my buddy just left with the prisoner.”
“How’d you convince him to show up? It must’ve sounded pretty crazy.”
Harris laughed. “I told him if I was wrong, he could have my boat.”
Hope’s eyes widened. “You wagered your boat?”
J.T. frowned. “I didn’t know you have a boat.”
Harris’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t, but Danny-boy didn’t know that, now, did he?” He tapped his head. “Always gotta be thinking, boy. Always gotta be thinking.”
“You missed your calling as a con artist,” J.T. quipped, but Harris didn’t take offense. If anything, the little bugger took it as a compliment.
“How about we get a drink and celebrate not dying...yet again?”
He looked to Hope and she gazed up at him, saying, “If you don’t mind...I’d like J.T. to take me home.”
That was all he needed to hear.
Slapping a twenty in Harris’s hand, he said, “I’ll take a rain check on that drink and you can take a cab.”
And then he and Hope climbed into his truck and put everyone and everything in their rearview mirror.