CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
THE NEXT MORNING Nolan and Ivy were awakened by the sound of Nolan’s cell phone. Using his hand to wipe sleep from his eyes he reached out with his other hand for the phone, recognizing the ringtone. He glanced at the clock—it was five in the morning.
“Alex?”
“Yes, it’s me. Put your phone on speaker so Ivy can also hear. I understand Damien Fargo’s plans have changed.”
“In what way?” Nolan asked, switching to speaker.
“Whomever he works for doesn’t want to wait. They want Ivy in place within twenty-four hours.”
“Twenty-four hours!” Ivy said, quickly sitting up in bed.
“Yes. Not sure why their schedule changed but we’re checking it out. Expect a call from Fargo, Ivy. He will make threats of what will happen if you don’t cooperate.”
“The hell she will,” Nolan snapped.
“I assure you she’s going to be okay,” Alex said.
“And how can you assure me of that, Alex? You don’t know these people.”
“Now we do. Their target is the US government, which is why it’s important for Ivy to leave with Fargo.”
“No! Absolutely not. I don’t want Fargo near her.”
“Listen, Nolan, you’re going to have to trust me that she will never be alone.”
“And how do you plan that?”
“Fargo’s people ordered a private plane to fly Ivy to where the others are waiting. We were able to intercept the request and will control the situation by using one of TDA’s aircraft. FBI agents will be tracking the plane and a couple of agents will be hiding in the cargo area of our jet. If things go according to plan, Ivy won’t even have to get off the plane when it lands. The entire plane will be wired for audio. When Fargo makes contact with his people to verify plans, we’ll have it all on tape.”
Nolan shook his head. “I still don’t like it, Alex.”
“Will you feel better if I told you that two of our own will be posing as pilot and copilot?”
“No.”
“Let’s see about that. It’s Sir Drake and Tori.”
“Damn,” Nolan said, drawing in a deep breath. And for the first time he found a reason to smile. “Okay, I admit that’s definitely a game changer.”
* * *
“ALL YOU HAVE to do is say the word, Ivy, and we can call everything off.”
Ivy smiled at Nolan when she rolled her luggage out of her bedroom. “I’m fine. Honest. I just want to get this over with and bring an end to what Damien and those people he works for are doing.”
If she didn’t allow the FBI to stop Damien and the group he was affiliated with now, no telling what else they might do later. Alex had been right about Damien calling to demand she leave within eight hours. She had argued with him and tried her best at resisting; however, just like Alex had said he would do, Damien made more sinister threats against Nana.
“The only reason I’m going along with Alex’s plan is because of Sir Drake and Tori,” Nolan said. “Both are kick-ass and they won’t hesitate to take Fargo down if they have to. I know you will be safe with them.”
Ivy didn’t know the Warrens that well. In fact, she’d just met them yesterday. But if Nolan trusted their ability to keep her safe then she would, too.
Alex had also explained to her and Nolan that once Sir Drake notified everyone of the trip’s destination, which Fargo was withholding so far, the FBI would have men on the ground as well as in the air to converge on the location.
“I’m ready to leave now, Nolan.” Damien had given her instructions to drive her car to the private airstrip and park it. He would be waiting for her there.
“I don’t like the fact that you have to be anywhere near Fargo. Letting you walk out that door is going to be hard, Ivy.”
It would be hard for her as well. But she knew she had to assure him everything would be fine, even when she wasn’t truly confident of that. “I’ll be okay, Nolan. You trust Alex and his team, and because you trust them, I trust them as well.”
She leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him, but Nolan wasn’t going to settle for a chaste kiss. He slanted his mouth over hers, giving her a kiss she would remember for days to come.
It took Ivy less than an hour to drive to the private airstrip. She wasn’t surprised to see Damien pacing when she pulled up to park. “It’s about time you got here,” he snapped at her.
She glared. “I am in the time frame you gave me, Damien, so back off. You just better make sure nothing happens to Nana.”
“Whatever.”
The pilot was indeed Sir Drake, dressed in a pilot’s uniform and looking serious as usual. He was standing next to the plane. “Isn’t this a big plane?” Ivy asked Damien. It looked to be one of those private jets that were big enough for at least ten or more couples.
“Yes, but it’s the smallest I could get on short notice.”
They stopped before boarding the plane and Damien spoke to Sir Drake. “We need to leave on time.”
Sir Drake, with an unreadable expression on his face, said, “We will, sir. My copilot has arrived.”
Damien glanced to where a woman, also dressed in a pilot uniform was approaching. He frowned and looked over at Sir Drake. “That’s your copilot?”
“Yes, sir, that’s the copilot.”
“She’s a woman. Are you sure she knows how to fly this thing if she needs to?”
A slight smile touched Sir Drake’s lips and Ivy thought it was too bad Damien didn’t notice that it really didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yes, sir. I’m sure. To be honest, she’s probably a better pilot than I am.”
“I would find that hard to believe,” Damien said frowning. “Just make sure that you’re the one flying this thing at all times and not her.”
He then turned to Ivy. “Let’s go.”
* * *
“WAKE UP, IVY. We’re here.”
Ivy wasn’t sure how long she slept. The brevity of sleep last night from making love with Nolan had tired her out. The last thing she remembered was boarding the plane and putting on her seat belt before drifting off to sleep. That suited her just fine since she didn’t want to have to converse with Damien.
She glanced out the window as the plane was landing. “Where are we?”
“El Salvador.”
“El Salvador? You didn’t say anything about leaving the country.”
“Didn’t I?”
She glared at him. “No, you didn’t.”
Ignoring her comment, he said, “It was a great flight. The smoothest two and a half hours I’ve ever flown. Need to commend the pilot.” He then pointed out the window. “See that warehouse? That’s where your office will be.”
Ivy noticed what appeared to be a huge building in the middle of nowhere with an airstrip on one side of it and a jungle on the other. It appeared so isolated. “Are you sure this is the place?”
He chuckled. “Positive. Don’t let the outside fool you. It’s all state-of-the-art on the inside. You won’t believe what all they have going on. They run a huge operation.”
“Who are they?” she asked him.
“You will find out soon enough. We even have a couple of politicians in the group. They pay well. Maybe we’ll be able to talk you into coming on board full-time.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Damien.”
Instead of coming to a stop on the runway, the plane kept moving. “What the hell?” Damien said, looking out the window. “What is the pilot doing? He’s going to hit the damn building.”
Damien quickly unbuckled his seat belt and moved in the direction of the cockpit. When the pilot finally brought the plane to a stop, Damien lost his balance and tumbled back down in his seat.
Ivy fought back a smile at the look of anger on his face. “Remember what you said, Damien. It was the smoothest two-and-a-half-hour flight you’ve ever flown.”
He glared over at her. “Shut up.”
At that moment the cockpit door opened and the two pilots came out. Smiling sweetly, Tori Warren said, “I hope the two of you enjoyed your flight. Personally, I think it was the easiest I’ve ever piloted.”
Pure rage consumed Damien. He pointed at Sir Drake. “I told you not to let her fly this plane.”
“What’s your complaint?” Tori asked, still smiling. “I believe in door-to-door service. Look how close I got you to the entrance so you wouldn’t have far to walk.”
The plane door opened and Ivy looked out. OMG! They were definitely close to the door. She was convinced only a very skilled pilot could get this close to the building without hitting it.
“What kind of pilots are you two?” Damien was asking, quickly grabbing his briefcase. “You put people’s lives in danger. This plane is not even on the runway. I will notify the owners.”
“We are the owners,” Sir Drake said, smiling. “And if you ever need to fly anywhere else, just give us a call.”
“I’ll never use the two of you as pilots again.”
“Honestly?” Tori asked, smiling. “I could have sworn I heard you tell Miss Chapman this was the smoothest flight you’ve ever flown.”
Damien eyed Tori suspiciously. “How do you know what I told her when you were in the cockpit?”
Sir Drake chuckled. “She has bionic hearing.”
“Stop messing with him like that, Sir Drake,” Ashton Sinclair said, coming on board.
Damien stared at Ashton like he was seeing a ghost and took a step back. “Hey, wait a minute. You’re that man from Sisters. Where did you come from? Who the hell are you?”
Ashton smiled. “Doesn’t matter who I am. The important thing is that I know who you are.” He then glanced over at Ivy. “You’re okay?”
Ivy nodded and smiled. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good. Nolan should be arriving any minute. He’s flying Clayton’s Cessna.”
“Who the hell is Nolan? What the hell is going on?” Damien all but roared.
“I’ll tell you who Nolan is,” Ivy said, glaring at Damien. “Nolan Madaris is the man who loves me. Sorry, but what you said the other day wasn’t true. You aren’t the best I can do. Not even close.”
Damien frowned. “Madaris?”
Ivy knew the Madaris family was widely known in the state of Texas. Damien had clearly made the connection. “Yes, Madaris.”
“Go ahead and get off the plane, Mr. Fargo,” Tori said. “Looks like there’s a welcome party of federal agents here to greet you. I’m sure they will explain everything. Oops, I guess they aren’t going to wait for you to get off. They’re coming up to you.”
At that moment several FBI agents boarded the plane. One of them said, “Damien Fargo, you are under arrest.” He then read him the Miranda warning.
“Why? What did I do?” Damien asked as he was being handcuffed.
“You’re being arrested for human trafficking, computer espionage, treason against the United States of America and plotting to kill Ms. Ivy Chapman.”
“Kill me?” Ivy said, swallowing deeply.
“Yes,” Tori said, glaring. “He and his associates never intended for you to return to Houston.”
“Lies! All lies,” Damien screamed. “You can’t prove a thing.”
“Sorry, but we can,” one of the agents said. “We heard everything. This plane was set up with an audio recorder. Every conversation you had with Albert Whitfield was recorded. Including the one you had while seated in the back of the plane on your phone while Miss Chapman was napping, just in case she woke up and overheard.”
“That same conversation where you said you were going to use her for more than one computer hacking job before getting rid of her,” Sir Drake said. “Yes, we heard you, too, in the cockpit. Every single word. Every sordid detail. Get him out my sight before I decide to beat the hell out of him.”
As if the agents were concerned Sir Drake just might do that very thing, they quickly got Fargo off the plane. Ivy glanced over at Tori. “They really planned to kill me?”
Tori crossed over to her and gave her a hug. “Yes. They couldn’t risk you being a liability. But you were never in any immediate danger. Drake and I made sure of it. Once we knew of our destination, we notified Alex. Whitfield and his cohorts were caught red-handed bringing in a load of kidnapped women to be flown to South America. Even those two politicians were here to look over the women to select any they wanted as a playmate before shipping them off.”
“How sick,” Ivy said, not wanting to believe anyone could be that demented.
“Yes, it was. I understand federal agents were able to raid the place and stumbled on more than they’d bargained for, including weapons and explosives that were being shipped to ISIS,” Tori added.
At that moment Nolan rushed on the plane. He immediately went to Ivy and pulled her in his arms. “You’re okay, baby?”
She nodded, not believing all the excitement. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Give her a chance to breathe, will you?” Tori teased.
Alex and Trevor then came on board. Trevor shook his head at Tori. “What were you trying to do? Give them front-door service? We were inside the warehouse and saw the plane headed toward us. You wouldn’t believe how many agents dived out of the way, convinced the plane was going to hit the building. You scared the shit out of a few people today, Tori.”
“She was just being a show-off,” Sir Drake said, coming to stand beside his wife and taking off her pilot’s cap.
“I never show off,” Tori said, running her fingers through her hair and tossing it out of her face.
“Whatever” was Sir Drake’s response.
“Thanks to you, Ivy, a lot of arrests have been made today,” Alex said, grinning. “The feds were able to bring down the entire operation.”
“They can send Ivy a thank-you card in the mail. I’m flying her home now.”
“She needs to make a statement first, and then the two of you are free to leave,” Alex said.
Nolan nodded as he took Ivy’s hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. Then, as if deciding that wasn’t enough, he leaned down and captured her mouth, as usual not caring they had an audience.
“Think they need privacy much?” Ivy heard Sir Drake ask.
“Yes. They deserve it” was Alex’s response.
“Then by all means, let’s get out now,” Tori ordered.
Nolan continued to kiss her and Ivy was getting aroused with every sensuous stroke of his tongue in her mouth. She had to break off the kiss to tame her rapid heartbeat.
“Do you know what we’re going to do when we get home?” Nolan asked against her wet lips.
“Umm, I have an idea,” Ivy said, smiling.
Nolan chuckled. “Yes, that, too. But I’m also going to go to the jewelry store to get an engagement ring to put on your finger.”
“Oh, Nolan...”
And then they were kissing again and Ivy knew that in the end, the best-laid plans were the ones they’d always made together.