Chapter 31

 

Joe spotted Esteban running for the hangar, and took a minute to check inside the plane. All three members of the crew were dead. Assassinated by Esteban’s bullets. As he ran through the cabin, he stumbled on two large crates and his heart stopped beating for a second. The crates were marked as full of ammunition. Esteban had obviously thought to kill two birds with one stone when he’d hijacked their plane in Cusco. He’d planned to use it to get Patricia and the treasure, and to transport his illegal weapons one step closer to Lima.

Now, those weapons were sitting in a plane that was resting on a burning car. And there was nothing Joe could do about it. The crates were too big, and the priority was protecting the team.

Protecting Julia.

With one last glance at the crew members who’d been brutally slaughtered for doing their jobs, he ran down the stairs and headed for the hangar.

A burst of gunfire came at him from the left, almost hitting his head before he threw himself to the tarmac and fired. Three bullets. He’d hit the guy’s arm. His attacker retreated, but the damage to the plane was already done. There was fuel leaking from the tank. And it was heading straight for the fire beneath it.

It was past time to end this thing.

Joe ran for the hangar, hugging the wall at the side of the gaping doors, all too aware of the heat at his back telling him time was running out fast. Esteban wasn’t even trying to hide; he was over at the door on the opposite side of the building from the entrance the planes would use, and was shouting at his last remaining men.

“Get the woman,” he told them. “Stop fighting the men and get the woman.”

It was too late. Esteban had lost. He just didn’t know it yet.

In the corner of the hangar, the man Joe had shot in the leg when he was still in the car, sat pressing a cloth to his wound and moaning for help. Esteban walked up to his man, who was stupid enough to look hopeful at the sight of his boss. Esteban shot the wounded man in the head.

“Weak,” he spat.

Joe inched further into the cavernous space, making sure he kept the two-seater plane between himself and Esteban. The noise of gunfire covered any sound he might have made.

Esteban pulled out his phone, and Joe sneaked closer, looking for a good shot.

“We need reinforcements. Now!” Esteban didn’t even wait for a reply. In his arrogance, he assumed his people would jump to fulfil his wishes.

He spun, catching sight of Joe as he rounded the plane. Esteban’s gun came up, and he fired. Joe dove for the tatty old sofa someone had put in the corner at the back of the hangar. There weren’t many options in the way of cover inside the space.

“Give it up,” he called to Esteban. “Your men are dead. You have nowhere to go. You can’t get out of here alive. Surrender and you keep your life.”

A burst of machine-gun fire erupted outside and echoed through the room.

“Does that sound like my men are dead?” More shots hit the sofa as Joe ducked down low and tried to make himself as small a target as possible.

He peeked out and saw Esteban was slowly making his way to the wide open doors and his escape. Joe fired. Two shots. He’d emptied his spare clip. He was out of ammunition. He chanced a glance at the dead man on the other side of the hangar. A gun lay beside him. If he could get to it…

“This is my treasure. Mine! You dare to come into my country and take what belongs to me? This is my country. I am the power here. You are nothing.” Two more shots hit the sofa, one perilously close to Joe’s head.

He had no option—he had to make a run for the dead man’s gun. Mind made up, Joe sprinted for the other side of the hangar, bullets spraying the wall behind him. He glanced at Esteban. That was when he saw a line of fire race up the fuel that leaked from the plane. It was heading straight for a tank full of fumes.

Joe abandoned his attempt to get the dead man’s gun, and veered to the left instead. He bolted for door at the back of the hangar. Shots rang out. He felt a bite to his shoulder. He barely noticed. He was out the door in record time, running for the low concrete wall that ran around the hangar. There was an almighty blast. Joe felt a full body punch hit him in the back. He was flung into the air, as the sky over the airfield turned black.

 

 

“Joe!”

Julia didn’t care about bullets or gunmen or danger. All she cared about was Joe. He’d been in the hangar. The hangar that was now a blazing pile of rubble and twisted metal. She was running around the car, heading for the blaze before anyone could stop her.

A man with a gun, dazed and dangerous, staggered towards her. A shot rang out and he crumpled. Callum. The horror of seeing the man die wasn’t enough to stop her from running straight at the fire. She waved smoke out of her eyes, but it made no difference. The thick black plume was being carried over the area by the breeze.

“Stop her,” someone shouted. Callum, she thought.

A strong arm hooked around her waist. “Don’t be dumb,” Ryan said as he held her tight. “You can’t run into a fire.”

Her eyes were fixed on the mass of debris that used to be a building. Jagged pieces of warped metal. Remnants of walls that now lay crumpled. And parts of the plane that had exploded. She struggled against Ryan’s hold.

“We need to get Joe!”

“I saw him run out.” Ryan’s words made her stop.

Hope was a flame that burned hotter than the blaze in front of her.

“Where?”

“Come on.” He tugged her towards the road side of the building.

Part of the plane’s wing was in their path, and they skirted it. What looked like the remnants of an old sofa lay propped up against a low concrete wall, dropped there by the blast.

And behind it all, lying on his back, was Joe.

Julia shrugged out from under Ryan’s hold and ran for Joe. She fell to her knees beside him and cradled his blackened cheeks. There were cuts and scrapes all over him.

“Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…” she chanted as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Oh God, please don’t let him die.” Her vision blurred and she realised she was crying. Again.

Joe stirred under her touch and groaned.

“Damn, my head hurts,” he said.

A surge of elation, and Julia’s lips were on his. Joe. Her Joe. Always her Joe. How could she have thought of leaving him? How could she have let her fears take him from her? Never again. She’d never let her lack of courage stop her from trying with this man. Never.

“Baby,” he said against her lips as his hand threaded into her hair. “I’m fine. It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” She gave a hiccupping sob before she kissed him again. “I can’t cope with this. You can’t die. And you keep trying!”

He choked back a laugh. “Babe, trust me, I really don’t try.”

“When we get back to England, you’re going to make Callum give you a training job, Joe Barone, do you hear me?”

His hand tightened in her hair. “Does this mean you’re giving us a chance?” His voice was flat, as though he was afraid to let her hear what he felt.

“No,” she said against his lips, “It means I’m giving you all of me. Every freaky part. And you can’t complain when I start to annoy you, because I told you it would happen.”

He growled and pulled her in for an all-consuming kiss. He smelled of smoke and dirt. And Joe. Julia clung to him as she sobbed tears of relief. He was here. He was alive. He was hers.

“I love you,” she said into his kiss. “I’m sorry I tried to make you go. I’m sorry I was scared.” She looked at him, letting him see the truth. “It will probably happen again.” And again, knowing her.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you screw things up.”

She almost laughed at his audacity. Like he could stop her. Crazy man.

“You’re mine,” she told him.

“Forever,” Joe told her. “That’s what we’ll have. Forever.” He looked into her eyes, letting her see that intense, possessive nature of his. “I won’t settle for anything less.”

“Forever,” she agreed, because there was no other answer.

“This is great stuff,” Ryan said from beside them. “And I’m touched to be included in your moment. But you’re lying in the middle of Armageddon. There has to be a more romantic, and private, spot for this kind of thing. Think we can keep the lovey-dovey crap to a minimum until we get out of here?”

Elle came running up. “Holy hotcakes, Batman, did the world end?”

“Looks like it from here, doesn’t it?” Ryan said. “Rachel is going to be pissed that we blew up her dad’s plane. I vote we let Callum tell her.”

Joe struggled to sit up, and Julia helped him. Her hand came away bloody.

“You’re hurt!”

“Flesh wound, shoulder.”

He was moving slower than normal, and Julia wondered how many other injuries he had from the blast.

“In case you were wondering,” Ryan said, “I took a bullet to the leg, and I think it’s still in there.”

“Ryan!” Julia reached for him, because there was no way she was leaving Joe’s side. In fact, she might have to keep her hands on him every minute of the day for the rest of her life.

Ryan held up his hands. “Too little, too late. I know where your priorities lie.”

“I was about to ask if you were okay,” Elle said.

“Thanks,” Ryan said. “It’s nice to know someone cares.”

“I care.” Julia was distraught that he would think otherwise.

“He’s yanking your chain,” Joe told her. “He’s fine. He’s still standing, isn’t he?” Joe struggled to get up, and Julia helped him.

“Callum says we need to clear the debris from the road so we can get out of here,” Elle said.

“Wait.” Julia was shocked. “Shouldn’t we stay until the authorities get here? There has to be an investigation. Rachel will need to claim insurance on the plane. What about the plane crew? We can’t just leave them here.”

Joe put a hand on her cheek as Elle shuffled in place and Ryan became stony-faced.

“Babe, if we hang around we’ll be tied up in a police investigation for months. That means months sitting in a cell while we wait for someone to sort through this mess. I don’t think your gran or Alice could handle it. You’ve seen what the prisons are like.”

“But we can’t walk away.” It was wrong. It felt too much like running. And the plane crew? What would they tell their families? That they’d abandoned their bodies in Peru?

“The crew,” she said.

“They’re in the middle of that.” Joe pointed at the blaze that was sending a thick plume of dense black smoke into the air. A signal for everyone for miles around that disaster had struck. It wouldn’t be long before the police arrived.

Elle brought out her phone, pressed a key and held it up for everyone to listen on speaker.

“Julia doesn’t think we should leave without dealing with the police,” she told Callum.

“Get that bloody road clear. I want out of here in five minutes, tops. Julia, I understand your sentiment and I know it’s the legally correct thing to do, but it isn’t the wise thing to do. Lake has a contact in the British Embassy that will forward all of our findings here and keep our business out of it.”

“What about Rachel’s plane and the crew?” Julia said.

“It will be dealt with later.”

“But—”

“No buts! Get the road cleared!”

Elle shut the phone off. “He’s touchy because he can’t get out of the car—it isn’t set up for a person who doesn’t have legs. He has to wait for someone to drive him.” She looked at Ryan. “We need to get him new legs, and fast. He’s going to be hell to deal with if we don’t.”

“You know those curved blade ones that runners use?” Ryan said as he started to clear a path. “I think he should get a set of those. Very cool. Did you see the movie with the woman who wore a set and they doubled as swords?”

“I can see Callum chopping people up with his prosthetics,” Elle said.

“Joe?” Julia didn’t like this situation one bit.

“I know it’s hard,” Joe said. “But this is the best for everyone. Lake and Callum will make sure justice is done here and that the remains of the crew are sent back to their families. You know if there was an investigation we’d eventually be cleared. But it’s the ‘eventually’ that’s the problem. It could take years and a helluva lot of money to sort this out. It’s better to give the Peruvian government Esteban’s head and strike a deal that leaves us out of it.”

“It doesn’t feel right,” she whispered.

“I know, baby, I know. We’ll get them home. And we’ll make sure Ed’s buried in Lima too.”

“I hate this,” Julia told him.

He kissed her forehead, and together, they went to help clear a space for the car.

“Joe?” Julia had another worrying thought. “How are we all going to fit in one car?”

He grinned at her. “Either we cosy up, or we see what we can hot-wire.”

“And now I’m a thief too.” She let out a sigh and carried on clearing the road.

“I’ll pay someone to bring it back here. Does that make you feel better?”

“Yes.” She stuck her nose in the air. “Yes, it does.” She dared him to laugh at her.

Instead, he kissed her hard.