Page 54 of Queen's Move

Vee ignored her daughter and reached out to grip her wrist dragging her across a dip in the lawn. Raina tripped and nearly landed face down in a puddle. Their timing was definitely bad. Especially if they went through all this and rescue wasn’t able to land in the deluge. She just had to hope that they were coming no matter what.

The trek out to the small airfield took much longer than usual since they were on foot. Her getaway plan was going to go down in a fizzle if they both caught pneumonia and died. She gripped Raina harder as they sloshed across the soggy lawn under the cover of darkness. They stopped at certain points while Vee looked down at the timer on her phone counting down the seconds until she knew security had either passed or not arrived yet, then she would hustle her daughter to the next stopping point.

She had decided to leave the mansion directly after their evening meal. Sotza always closeted himself in his office after supper, attending to oversea markets as they opened. He rarely paid Vee any attention once he disappeared, leaving her alone for three to four hours until he was finished and ready to come to their bed. His predictable pattern was a benefit to Vee, though if she’d been a good wife she would have pointed it out, insisted he change his routine so he wouldn’t be caught by surprise by an enemy. Instead, she was taking advantage. She shoved a sliver of guilt aside. She had no choice, she needed this to work. After spending two decades protecting her child she wouldn’t just roll over and allow the mafia to have her.

As they approached the airstrip, Vee looked around, her sharp eyes attempting to see through the haze of rain. It was difficult to tell but she was pretty sure that there was no security beyond one man, who was currently hiding out inside the control booth. She gritted her teeth, hoping she was right about both her observations and instincts. She watched her phone intently. It was turned off to any signal, but the timer and clock still worked. She hoped Sotza wasn’t tracking them by any other method, that her careful planning would be enough to enable an escape.

She stared down, hunching to protect the device from getting wet, counting down with the clock until it ran out. 19:10. Time to go.

“Now,” she said to Raina.

Raina glanced back toward the estate, almost longingly, before she nodded decisively and followed her mother onto the tarmac. They didn’t run, they didn’t hide. They strode confidently toward the shack, two soaking wet blonds with matching attitudes that blazed bright despite the rain.

Vee flung the door to the control room open, surprising the man who huddled within. He leapt to his feet, gun in hand, facing the two women. He gaped for a moment before lowering his weapon.

“Señora Sotza,” he said, surprise in his voice.

“Rodrigo,” she acknowledged, nodding toward the instrument panel in front of him. “Someone will be landing here in two minutes. You need to give them clearance.”

He eyed her sceptically. “Do they have permission to land?”

“I’m giving them permission, Rodrigo. They’re my friends.” She stared him down until his dark eyes darted away. “Tell me, what has my husband told you and the other men about my needs?”

“That any and all requests are to be met immediately,” he said without hesitation.

“And I am requesting that my friends be allowed to land,” she said sharply. “Without difficulty from you or anyone else on the Señor’s security team.”

He frowned as though contemplating her words. She glanced out the window and was gratified to see a shadow against the mountainous backdrop moving rapidly toward their positon, all but obscured by the rain. It didn’t matter what conclusion he came to at this point, the helicopter was about to land. Apparently Rodrigo decided that he didn’t entirely trust her. He began reaching toward the phone on the desk. “I think I’d better…”

Vee pulled her gun from the holster hidden beneath her dark jacket and pointed it at him. “I was a little worried you would think something like that,” she said coldly. “Drop your weapon. Hands up and away from that phone, Rodrigo.”

“Si, Señora,” he said, his eyes darting around nervously. He carefully placed his gun on the desk and raised his hands slowly. They twitched a little as though he wanted to go for the phone anyway, despite her threat.

She sighed and tapped the gun against her thigh. “I think you better step over here so you won’t be tempted to interfere. I don’t want to have to kill you Rodrigo. Up now, please stand and walk toward us, slowly. Hands behind your head, fingers locked.”

He did as he was told, perhaps correctly reading the deadly glint in Vee’s eyes. Her gaze snapped rapidly from him to the incoming helicopter, still barely visible through the rain. He took two steps toward them, away from the panel, away from the phone. Vee shot him and barely paused to let him fall as she stepped over him and reached toward the phone. She lifted the receiver and pressed it against her ear and then glared down at Rodrigo.

“You need to shut up so they can hear me,” she snapped impatiently over his shouts of pain.

“But you shot him!” Raina said loudly crouching at his side. “Why did you do that?”

Vee ignored her horrified daughter and called the cell number her friend had provided. “We’re here,” she said, then listened for a moment. “Yes, both of us. You’re safe to land.”

She dropped the phone back into the cradle. Although most people used cell phones, land lines were better for security. Sotza was smart in his choice to keep parts of his organization old-fashioned. She dropped to her knees next to Rodrigo and pressed her gun against his side so he wouldn’t do something stupid like grab her or Raina. She checked his injury and nodded to herself. “You’ll be fine. I didn’t hit either arteries or bone.”

He glared at her and didn’t respond.

“But why did you do it?” Raina asked angrily, her hand on his shoulder. “You promised no one would get hurt, yet you shot the first person we came across.”

Vee frowned a little. Clearly Raina didn’t understand. “He’s not hurt.”

“He has a gaping hole in him that you put there!” Raina snapped. “Obviously he’s hurt.”

Vee thought ‘gaping’ was a little melodramatic. She raised an eyebrow considering, trying to see things from her daughter’s perspective. Was this what Sotza experienced when he tried to understand her objection to the way he cold-bloodedly tortured his victims? She tried to calm her annoyance and said, “He isn’t dead, child. He’ll survive. Trust me, it needed to be this way. If your dear step-daddy thought that Rodrigo had let us land a helicopter here he would do a lot worse to the man. I’m saving him from Sotza’s wrath and making sure he doesn’t get in our way. You know, killing two birds with one stone.”

Rodrigo’s complaints suddenly died away as he saw the truth of her words. He pressed his hands against his wound and watched her silently, new respect lighting his brown eyes. Raina frowned down at him unsure. Vee wanted to hold her daughter. She was caught between worlds. Between the brutality of mob life and the kind, loving family she’d grown up in. This was why Vee wanted her out. She wanted Raina to have the choices she didn’t have.

“We need to tie him up,” Vee said, her voice hardening. “So he can’t come after us or call for help while we’re boarding the helicopter.”

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