Page 81 of Crossed By the Stars
It made no sense—unless he was putting her on a bigger plane to take her farther.
Cillian dialed a number and spoke into the phone. “I need exfil at San Francisco International. Client Jada Mori. Landing within ten. Private jet tail number J-A dash M-O-3-8. Minimum of two combatants. Guns and knives on board. Additional security unknown.”
He was silent and then grunted out, “Understood.”
He hung up, looking back at me grimly. “They’re not sure if they’ll make it, but they’ll do their best. They’re taking a chopper to the airport.”
I understood. It wasn’t like they were the military. They had red tape and a set amount of resources. But worse…I didn’t trust any of them now. Not Cillian. Not Terrence. Not any of the men in the SUV behind us or the ones left at Vanya’s.
“Is it Reinard?” I asked, repeating my question from the day before.
Cillian glanced at me in the mirror, and the look held none of the fierceness he’d had when I’d asked it the first time.
“No!” Terrence exclaimed but then took in Cillian’s silence with wide eyes. “No way, Cillian. Reinard has too much at stake to be in Mori’s pocket. He cares too much about his company and his clients.”
“Everybody has a price,” I said, closing my eyes and resting my head on the headrest.
“Do you?” Terrence tossed back.
I snorted. “I don’t need to have a fucking price.”
“Then not everyone does, right? Reinard has as much money as you. He doesn’t need to be in anyone’s pocket.”
I didn’t know the extent of Reinard’s finances, but I seriously doubted it ranked anywhere near my father’s or Tsuyoshi Mori’s. Maybe it was close to my personal income from Armaud Racing, but if you factored in the larger Armaud wealth, we ranked in the top twenty richest families on Earth. Reinard was definitely not on that list.
Cillian listened to something in his earwig and then looked back. “We have a helicopter picking us up in King City,” Cillian said.
It was still too long. She’d already be landed and gone before I was anywhere near her. My body was tight, every inch on alert and aching.
The tension in the car increased as Cillian and Terrence both listened to whatever was going on in their heads. I stuck out my hand to Terrence. “Let me hear.”
Terrence looked to Cillian who gave a curt nod. Terrence pulled the earwig out and handed it to me. I stuck it in mine without a second thought, the chatter coming across quiet but full of intensity.
“Exfil Team One approaching J-A dash M-O-3-8. Plane has taxied from runway 1-L to a private terminal,” the man on the other end said.
Heavy breathing was all that could be heard.
“Plane passengers have already disembarked into a black sedan. No plate. Requesting approval to shoot out tires for exfil?”
“Negative, Team One. No shots. Tag the SUV with a geolocator.”
“Roger that, Base.”
Quiet, a loud hiss of compressed air, and then, “Locator landed successfully. Handing off to Exfil Team Two en route to intercept via land. Exfil Team One out.”
Silence filled the car and the airwaves as the first team signed off, and we waited for the second team to engage.
“Base, Exfil Team Two. Black sedan bearing geolocator alpha fifteen has been spotted heading north on the 101 toward San Francisco. Intercept or follow?”
“Follow, Exfil Team Two. Client is to be retrieved unharmed.”
“Roger that, Base.”
I pulled the earwig out and handed it back to Terrence. There was nothing I could do at this point. There was nothing anyone could do without causing Ito-san to crash the vehicle that was headed back into the city. At least they were on the ground. At least I had a chance to get her back.
I sent a silent thanks to the universe that he hadn’t hurt her yet, followed by prayers that she would remain unharmed until we could get to her. My chest heaved at the thought of the alternative.
“I need to be in the city. Now,” I told them.
