Chapter 30

 

Joe found it hard to relax on their uneventful trip to the airport. After days of being on high alert, it was difficult to switch off. Although, when it came to Julia’s safety, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to stop being vigilant. If anything happened to her, he’d lose his mind. He’d known months ago that she would be special to him. What he hadn’t realised at the time was that she would become everything to him.

He ran his hand along Julia’s thigh as she chatted with Elle, who was in the back seat. Joe kept his eyes on the road, aware he was the navigator for both their vehicle and the one behind him, which held Patricia and Alice.

They made their way out of the city, past the grand old Spanish buildings towards the beige shanties with their unfinished brick box homes. The grey tarmac roads turned to hard dirt, and everything in sight became a different shade of red and beige sand. Dirty-faced children played at the side of the roads. Chickens ran around between the houses. Crisp white laundry hung on lines strung outside houses with dirt floors. Rebar poked into the sky from the brick homes, waiting for another level to be added when the owners could afford the bricks. Most windows were without glass. Some buildings were painted bright pastel colours, making them stand out like gems in the desert.

In the distance, further up the hills around Lima, were houses made out of straw matting. Hundreds of them that blended seamlessly with their sand-coloured environment. Dented cars sat outside houses that acted as grocery shops, bottles of soda being sold through the bars on the glassless windows. Every now and then they’d pass a massive, steaming pile of garbage. Each one had children scrambling over it, looking for items they could reuse or sell on.

“I never knew it was like this,” Julia said. “I thought Peru was full of rainforest and Incan temples.”

“Some of it is, but these huge shantytowns sprang up in the nineties when the Shining Path terrorists were at war with the government,” Joe said. “People ran from the rural areas, where they could grow their own food, to the safety of the city.” He had run missions in Peru long after the guerrilla war ended, but still remembered the fear in the shantytowns. People who’d lived through terrorist attacks and police raids. People caught in the middle of a conflict they didn’t fully understand and would gain nothing from.

“They keep it so tidy.” Julia watched a woman sweeping the ever-encroaching sand out of her house.

“Proud people. Hardworking. They’re good people to know.”

“I wish I’d had a chance to get to know some of them. This whole trip has been one short hit-and-run experience.”

They passed a tiny church crowded with people. They were laughing, music playing, food being cooked over open fires, ready to share.

“Had one of the best meals of my life in a church like that,” Joe said. “Aji de gallina. It was a creamy chicken stew thing served with rice. Although it might not have been chicken. It could have been guinea pig. I didn’t care. It tasted like heaven.”

Julia smiled at him. “What temperature was it cooked at?”

There was a twinkle in her eye that made it clear she was making fun of herself, and Joe laughed. After their lovemaking, and the fact she’d come to his bed, Joe felt hopeful. They had a future together. He knew it. And he was beginning to think Julia might come to know it too.

They rode out past the shanties, into the flat desert, the mountains a distant blur through the heat haze that constantly shrouded the city. They passed a small house further from the rest. A tiny child was sitting in the dirt, playing with a stick. Joe glanced over to see Julia’s face soften and then a look of pure determination replace it. He would bet his life that the shanty dwellers of Lima had just gained a powerful advocate in Julia Collins. With her soft heart, her contacts and her organisational skill, she could change the world. Joe grinned with pride, as he planned to be by her side while she did it.

He turned into the long road leading to the old military airport. They could see the hazy white building in the distance, their plane easy to spot on the paved runway, as it was about ten times the size of any of the others. Although, to be fair, there were only two other planes sitting beside the hangar. The ex-military airport was used for the odd chartered flight and for some cargo runs. Joe suspected that most of those cargo runs were less than legal, because the airfield was perfect for smuggling. It was isolated enough to be private and open enough to see cars coming for miles.

The last mile of the road was suddenly tarmac again, and ended in a turning loop outside the airport office building. A building that had definitely seen better days. Someone had thought painting it pink would brighten it up. It didn’t. There was one man, sitting in the shade of the office doorway, watching them as they approached. Joe lifted his hand in greeting, but there was no response.

On their right was a large hangar with a worrying dip in the middle of the roof. There was a sign on the turning loop that pointed to the dust-covered area beside the hangar and gave permission to park there, which was entertaining because vehicles seemed to have been abandoned and left to rot in random spots all over the airfield. There was another shed on their left, with two more four-seater planes sitting beside it—between the shed and the runway. A runway, he was pleased to note, that wasn’t filled with potholes. At least something around the place was maintained.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Elle said as Joe parked the car beside the hangar.

The rental company had promised to send someone out to get the vehicles later that day. Joe hoped the cars would still be there when the company man turned up.

“We’ll only be here a matter of minutes.” He saw Ryan’s vehicle coming a distance down the road, kicking up dust behind it.

He’d received a disgusted call from Callum twenty minutes earlier, saying they would be delayed because the two women needed to go to the toilet. A pit stop for the female bladder was another one of those things that Callum insisted never happened during his military career.

“I should have slept instead of trying to find out more about the mysterious David,” Elle said as she climbed out of the car. “I feel terrible and my head is thumping. I’m going to sleep all the way back to England, and if anybody wakes me, they’ll have all their accounts mysteriously frozen.”

They started walking towards the steps that led up into the startlingly white plane as Callum’s vehicle pulled up beside theirs. Joe scanned the area, but apart from feeling slightly uneasy, he saw nothing out of place. Two men in overalls were working on a small plane inside the hangar. Joe’s glance in their direction confirmed they weren’t a threat. Although Julia stared at them a moment longer, with a look of confusion on her face.

“Problem?” Joe said as the pilot appeared in the doorway of the plane.

“I think I’m imagining things,” she muttered.

Joe stopped and placed his hand on her arm. Julia didn’t imagine things. She noticed and remembered things.

“What?” He studied the men as he held her in place, then scanned the rest of his team.

A door slammed and Ryan climbed out of the other car. The women were busy getting their belongings together in the back seat, and Callum was still in the passenger seat, waiting for Ryan to get his wheelchair.

“I could swear that one of those engineers is the double of one of the men in Elle’s photos of Esteban’s army. See the blond streak at his temple? There can’t be two men with hair like that, can there?” Julia’s eyes were wide with worry as she looked up at him.

“Back to the car,” Joe snapped.

He’d damn well check everything before they set foot on that plane.

“I’m probably wrong.” Julia seemed embarrassed.

“Better safe than sorry. I’ve learned the hard way to trust my instincts. We’ll check the guys out before we board.”

She nodded, but still bit her lip, second-guessing herself.

“What’s happening?” Elle whined. “Why am I not on that plane sound asleep already?”

“We’re going to do a check first.” Joe motioned to Ryan, who saw his signal and stopped retrieving the wheelchair from the boot. Instead, he lifted out their weapons bag and headed back to the driver’s seat.

“Mr. Barone,” the pilot called. “We’re ready to leave.”

His voice wasn’t right. A little too tight. A hint of strain.

“Didn’t Rachel say that one of the crew always waited at the bottom of the steps to help the passengers?” Elle wasn’t concerned about her headache any longer.

“Yeah.” Joe guided them back across the dirt to the car. “She did.”

“Mr. Barone, I must insist that you board. We have a schedule.” No, they didn’t.

“Don’t run, but hurry. Get in the car.” Joe pushed the women forward.

And then he heard it. A gunshot. He glanced back in time to see the pilot crumple and topple down the stairs.

“Run!” Joe shouted as he grabbed his gun.

Esteban appeared in the doorway of the plane, weapon in hand. “¡Persiguelos!”

Get them, he shouted. The men in the hangar pulled guns out of the engine cavity and ran at Joe. Julia scrambled into the front of the car.

“You drive,” he snapped at her.

She didn’t hesitate in climbing over to the driver’s seat. Elle slammed the door as she got in the back. Joe was in the passenger seat a second later. That was when the men started firing at them.

“Go!” Joe rolled down his window and shot back at the men.

Ryan was already speeding forward, towards the tiny planes on the edge of the runway.

Joe’s phone rang. He tossed it at Elle, who put it on speaker.

“Where are you going?” Joe barked.

“We’re surrounded.” Callum’s voice was even. Calm. “Two more came out the office, one from the front of the hangar. There’s another in that shed to your left.”

“Still better to make a run for it.” Joe shot at the men chasing them as Julia sped after Ryan’s car.

“Can’t,” Ryan said. “They blocked the road behind us.”

He didn’t need to say that they weren’t in all-terrain vehicles. Their cars would never make it over the pothole and shrub-laden landscape surrounding the airport, and then they really would be sitting ducks.

“We’ll pull up at those two planes and use them and the shed for cover,” Ryan said. “Callum has the sniper rifle the Lima crew gave us for him. He’ll pick them off while we go hunting.”

“What about us?” Julia asked. She sounded afraid, but was keeping it together.

“You’ll stay with Callum and follow orders.” Joe didn’t have time to soften it.

And Julia didn’t argue. Bullets hit the back of their vehicle, making a hollow pinging sound. The car swerved.

“Sorry,” Julia said. “First time driving while people shoot at me.”

“And the last.” Joe took aim and managed to hit one of the guys in the leg. It was a lucky shot; no one could hit anything deliberately when they were in a moving vehicle.

“Park beside Ryan,” he ordered as Julia pulled a sharp left behind the shed.

Ryan was already out of his car and running towards the man who’d been stationed behind the shed. One bullet and Esteban’s man crumpled.

“Oh my goodness, he’s dead.” Julia came to a screeching halt beside the body of the man.

“It was him or us,” Joe said.

“I know. I’m okay.” She wasn’t freaking out, and that was good.

“Callum, I’m sending the women your way. They can hunker behind the cars and shed. You got a line of sight.”

“Enough,” his boss said. “You take Ryan. Finish this.”

“You heard the man,” Joe said. “Get to your gran and keep her and Alice as sheltered as possible.”

“Be careful.” Julia’s wide eyes pleaded with him. “Come back to me.”

Joe ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I’ll always come back to you, beautiful girl.”

With one last look, Julia was out of the car and running around the other vehicle.

Joe didn’t have time to think about Julia. The only way he could keep her safe was to eliminate the threat. He climbed into the driver’s seat as Ryan got into the passenger seat.

“Plan?” Ryan asked as he reloaded his gun.

“Mow them down, get out and shoot the ones that are left.” He revved the engine and set off towards the men attacking them.

Esteban’s men were shooting wildly. They also had more firepower than Joe’s team.

“Hold on.” Joe aimed the car at two men, clipping one and sending the other flying.

Ryan fired a shot out his window as two more bullets hit the side of their car.

“Esteban is still in the plane,” Ryan said.

“How many men?”

“I count six still mobile, two injured and two dead.”

There was the unmistakable sound of rifle fire. “Make that three dead,” Callum said through Joe’s phone.

Joe swerved across the sand, aiming for another two men. A burst of heavy fire hit them from the left, taking out their tyres. Joe lost control of the car. He fought with the steering wheel as they hit a shrub, managing to get them back on four wheels. Another hail of bullets took out the back window.

“You hurt?” Joe shouted as the car careened off course.

“No, but they’ve got automatic weapons.”

More gunfire hit them, making smoke billow from the engine.

“That isn’t good,” Ryan said.

“No shit. Buckle up, because this is going to get rough. I’ve lost the brakes and we’re heading for the plane. I’m going to try to slow us by shifting down gears, and then I’ll have to pull the handbrake.”

Ryan’s head snapped to the front. “Aim for the sand. It’ll slow us.”

“Too far away from the rest of the team. I’ll spin us on the runway and hope the lack of gas and the handbrake are enough to stop us. Hold on.”

The car screamed as Joe forced it into a lower gear. Another burst of gunfire made the vehicle shudder.

“They’ve broken through the gas tank casing,” Ryan said.

Another gear shift.

“One more down,” said Callum’s steady voice.

Another burst of fire took out their last two tyres, and all hope of controlling the car disappeared.

“Fuck!” Ryan shouted.

Joe pulled the handbrake. It was their only option.

The car spun, turning three-hundred and sixty degrees with a screech. The metal rims ripped at the tarmac, making them spark.

“The sparks are going to ignite the fuel,” Ryan said.

They tilted and then there was an almighty crash. Joe ducked, but the car came to a halt.

“You okay?” He looked behind him to find the roof crushed where the car had wedged under the carriage of the plane.

“Yeah.”

Without another word, they shoved at their doors.

“Mine’s wedged, too warped to open,” Joe said; he caught sight of flames in his mirror. “The petrol’s on fire.”

“Over here. Mine’s open.” Ryan scrambled out, and Joe followed.

The car had been flattened from the boot to the back of the front seats. It was pure luck they hadn’t hit the plane front end first. The line of petrol from their damaged tank was burning on the ground. It was only a matter of time before it spread to what was left in the tank.

“Time to go,” Joe said.

“Left,” Ryan called, and took off at a jog, weapon up and crouching for cover.

Joe took the right. He’d lost his phone somewhere in the car during the crash, so there was no way to check in with Callum. Not that it mattered now. All he could do was what he’d been trained to do. Find the enemy and eliminate the threat.

 

 

“They’re okay. I see them.”

Callum’s words made Julia’s hands shake. Her gran placed her hands over Julia’s to keep them steady. The four women were kneeling behind the car, which was shielded by the shed. Callum was firing from the passenger seat, and Esteban’s men couldn’t get close enough to stop him.

Julia had been peeking through the car windows when she saw Joe’s car hit the plane. She hadn’t been able to look after that. The women jerked as Callum took another shot.

“Three down,” he said.

“How many does that leave?” Alice whispered. She looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

“Two injured,” Julia said. “Three alive, and Esteban.”

“I won’t go back with him,” Alice declared. “Kill me if he takes me, because I won’t go back.” She cradled her injured hand to her chest and rocked back and forth.

“Nobody is going anywhere with that son of a bitch,” Callum said evenly. “This ends today.”

“What does that mean?” Alice had a panicked look on her face.

“It means,” Callum said with ice in his voice, “that Esteban will die today. I can promise you that.”

“I can’t go back,” Alice whispered as silent tears fell down her cheeks.

Julia leaned forward and cupped Alice’s cheek. “Believe in Callum. He knows what he’s doing. He’s done this before. All the men have. They won’t let you get taken. It’s a promise. The Benson Security team are experts at what they do.”

Patricia shifted to wrap her arms around her friend. Alice leaned into her.

“Does it bother anyone else that the guys are out there fighting and we’re cowering behind the car?” Elle looked down at them from where she was kneeling, watching the gunfight. “Doesn’t that seem sexist to you?”

“It’s got nothing to do with sexism,” Callum said. “It’s to do with training. If any of you had combat experience, you’d be out there with Joe and Ryan.”

“I need combat training,” Elle said. “Because I really want to shoot someone right now.”

A staccato burst of gunfire rang out, followed by two distinct shots.

“Joe got another one,” Callum reported.

More gunshots. It was never-ending. Julia didn’t dare ask Callum for a status report on their ammunition stores, but she knew what they’d started with and that they had to be running low.

“The car’s on fire.” Elle actually sounded a little worried. “That isn’t good, is it?”

No, it wasn’t good that there was a burning vehicle wedged underneath a multimillion-dollar plane.

“Maybe we should move back,” she said to Callum. They were awfully close to the plane.

He didn’t answer; instead he aimed and took another shot. “One of the injured men is now out.”

Another death.

“How many left?” Patricia asked.

“One injured, two uninjured and Esteban,” Julia said.

“Who was hiding in the plane until he noticed it was sitting on top of an inferno,” Elle said.

Julia couldn’t not look anymore. She went to her knees beside Elle to spy through the windows of the car. Esteban was running down the stairs, gun in hand.

Another burst of gunfire to their left caught their attention. Julia gasped. Ryan was hit. She watched blood blossom on his leg before he dove behind a pile of junk.

“He’s fine,” Callum said tightly before they could ask.

Julia wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t argue. Instead, her fingers curled around the door handle in front of her and she held on tight enough to make her knuckles turn white. She saw movement to the right and watched as Joe crouched as he ran up the airplane steps. A minute later, he appeared again and ran for the hangar.

One of Esteban’s men saw him and opened fire. The bullets sprayed the side of the plane, barely missing Joe.

“Elle?” Julia whispered with growing horror. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse. “That’s the plane’s fuel tank, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, the idiots hit the tank,” Elle said in the same tone.

Julia fought the urge to run towards Joe, screaming a warning. The plane’s fuel was trickling towards the fire beneath it. And Joe was much too close. Her mind threw up every fact she’d ever learned about aviation safety. She was grateful that her freaky need to make sure she was secure before she travelled had given her the data.

“Planes rarely explode,” she said, more to herself than anyone else. “The fuel usually burns and the body of the plane goes on fire. There might be a fireball, but they rarely explode unless there’s been a build-up of fumes in the tank.” She looked at Elle. “But the tank was full, right? The pilot refuelled in Cusco, didn’t he? There’s no space for fumes to occupy.”

“No,” Callum said. “We didn’t want to tip Esteban off that we were leaving the country. We planned to refuel over the border before carrying on home.”

Her eyes shot to the plane. “So the tank has plenty of space for fumes to build up. We have to warn them,” she said to Callum, aware of how hysterical she sounded.

“How?” he said.

She had no answer. Joe was out there. Close to the plane. With men shooting at him. And his phone was dead.

“We need to move back,” Callum said. “Everybody in the car. Julia, you’re driving. Move it. Now!”

As Julia clambered in behind the wheel, another thought made her stomach heave. “Where’s Esteban?”

Callum’s expression was tight. “The bastard is in the hangar.”

“With Joe,” Julia whispered as she put the car in gear and drove around the building, away from the blaze.