I sense the unspoken ‘but’ at the end of that sentence.
Before I can question Terry, my cell phone rings, and my heart leaps with joy when I see Sienna’s name on the screen. I’m so relieved that I don’t question why she is messaging me from several thousand feet above the ground.
I open the message and my stomach lurches, nausea crashing through my body.
It takes several beats for me to understand the image on my screen. At first, all I can see is pale skin, a blanket, and blood. Then the shape comes into focus, and I realize that it’s Sienna. She’s slumped across two seats on our private jet, a blanket thrown over her as if she’s napping during the long journey.
But it’s the blood-smeared face that causes my pulse to race and every muscle in my body to constrict. Her eyes are closed. Her lips parted. I zoom in to find the source of the blood, but there’s nothing visible. Head wound perhaps.
The question is: how bad is it?
Another message pings through:
If you want to see her alive, you’ll hand over the Titan by midnight. Instructions will follow.
“Kyle?” Caleb’s voice brings me spiraling back to the room, clutching my phone tightly.
“They have Sienna. She’s hurt.” I feel numb.
“Who?” Caleb presses. “Where is she?”
“Still on the jet.” I need to mentally shake myself; I’m useless to Sienna if I can’t think straight, if I’m functioning on autopilot.
Terry heads into the boardroom with his phone pressed to his ear and closes the door behind him.
“Okay.” Caleb takes control; this is his forte, seeing the situation and being the first one to cross the starting line. “Terry will turn the plane around, and we’ll scour every fucking CCTV footage the airport can give us. The fucker who killed Seamus will lead us to the assholes who thought they could steal our aircraft, hurt Sienna, and get away with it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Bash is still here, but I can see the conflict playing out behind his eyes. His twin is in trouble. The ropes binding them together are stronger than any other family ties.
“Go to the Titan as planned.”
My cell phone is heavy in my hand. “There’s more,” I add before Bash can leave. “They want the Titan in exchange for Sienna.”
“They can fuck right off,” Bash growls, his jaw clenched so tightly I can hear his back teeth grinding. “If they want my brother’s business, they’re gonna have to go through me first.”
“They won’t be getting anything.” Caleb is outwardly still calm. Inwardly, I imagine him to be a seething, bubbling mass of molten lava. “The Titan is a stepping stone to taking everything that we own. They’re testing the waters, and we’re going to show them what a big fucking mistake that is.”
“Why the Titan first?” Bash asks.
“Good question.” Caleb stares at a spot somewhere above and behind my left shoulder. Thinking. “They must’ve known they could frame Cash. We need to tread carefully where that’s concerned, but I’ll speak to Mateo Dragonetti. Bash, run a background check on every member of the staff at the Titan. I don’t care who they are or who they know. No one gets overlooked.”
“You think these people have already infiltrated the business?” I ask, finally finding my voice.
“This is all a little too convenient, too flawless for it to have been actioned on a whim. Bash, who else knows about Cash’s alibi?”
“Apart from the woman in question? I’m not sure she’d even risk telling her best friend.”
“Suits us better that way.” Caleb turns his attention back to me. “Find her. I want to know everything about her. What toothpaste she uses. Where she buys her groceries. Who else she has messed around with behind her husband’s back. She’ll do whatever it takes to stop her husband from hearing about her infidelities, which makes her our best chance right now of getting Cash off the hook.”
The boardroom door opens, and Terry comes back into the room. “I can’t turn the jet around.”
“Why not?” My heart rate immediately spikes.
“The pilot has dropped contact with Teterboro and Dublin.”
“Last contact?” Caleb jumps in before I can speak.
“Dublin. Seems the pilot was still following the flight plan until I started asking questions.”