Jason (Kings of Guardian #4) (13 page)

Jason watched the G6 that held his future take off and bank to the south before he turned to walk to the next structure over. He glanced at his silver Breitling aviator’s watch. An hour to kill before he was to meet Gabriel. Not a problem, he had mountains of paperwork to make his way through and the back of the limo had high speed data, comfortable seats and his soda stash.

He glanced at the aircraft in the hangar, momentarily distracted from his paperwork. He and Gabriel were flying to Los Angeles. Under the current expansion plan for Guardian Security, Los Angeles and San Francisco were both logical choices. This trip would kill two birds with one stone. They’d finalize the new location, approve the exoskeleton of the facility, then meet with one of Guardian’s black ops specialists. The operative had been on an off-the-books mission under Gabriel’s direct supervision, and this meeting with Gabriel would mark the official transfer of responsibility for the agent and the operation into Jason’s care. The agent’s groundwork would eventually lead to a global initiative involving numerous agencies, both foreign and domestic. For now, Guardian was once again the razor-sharp point of the spear.

Just before he’d left to pick up Faith and Reece for their visit, the agent had sent the emergency code to indicate he believed his cover had been blown. He’d taken action to pull the man out of his deep cover assignment despite the operative’s stated desire to continue his work. With the intelligence Yuri had already gathered, they could implement a slightly modified version of their original plan without endangering one of their best undercover assets. The Russian Mafia’s reach, influence, and power rivaled a rogue nation on their worst day. On their best? Guardian was in for one hell of a fight when they launched this op, and they were within a month of starting that war.

Right on time, Gabriel stepped from his car and headed straight for the Boeing beauty Jason still lusted after. He returned his documents to his briefcase and handed it to his chauffeur to load into the aircraft. He smiled and watched as Gabriel completed the walk-around and external pre-flight. His boss loved flying as much as he did, but the only time he indulged his passion was when Jason acted as his co-pilot. The demands of the billion-dollar businesses his mentor ran dictated his hours in the air be spent managing his assets. Now that Gabriel had arranged for people he trusted to run his dynasty, the man could indulge when he and Jason were required to travel. The absolute freedom of piloting a beauty like the Boeing gave them both a shot of adrenaline, and if either one of them cared enough to admit it, they
were
altitude junkies. He chuckled to himself. Maybe junkie wasn’t the best analogy.

“That woman must be special if you’re still smiling.” Gabriel threw the comment over his shoulder as he boarded the jet.

“You know she is. She’s moving up here. I’ll be needing a couple days off. I’m marrying her.”

Gabriel turned. The self-satisfied smirk across the man’s face said more than words could.

“You knew?”

“Had a feeling. I took the liberty of starting the wheels in motion to ensure you’d be able to adopt Reece.”

“Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Sure.”

“Like?”

“Like why you can’t see your own worth. Why your brothers feel the need to protect you, when, if they only opened their eyes, they would see you are the solid rock that the future of this organization will be built on.”

“Jacob, too?” Jason got that. Even though Jacob was the youngest, the man had a huge need to protect his family and his people.

“Jacob? I don’t know what his opinion is on this. I was talking about Justin and Jared.”

Jason sat down in the pilot’s seat and nearly broke his neck doing a double take at his boss. “What? Wait… Justin?”

Gabriel sat down and started powering up the aircraft systems. “I know I told you I’d give you six months. But if I explain Justin, I’m going to need a commitment from you.”

Jason busied himself with the business of getting the aircraft onto the apron so they could taxi.

He was staying at Guardian, that was a given. Faith knew the hours he’d need to work. He’d been honest during their late night telephone calls. Admitting that the demanding position had fed him in ways he didn’t know he needed wasn’t hard. When he started this journey, the certainty he’d disappoint Gabriel had fogged his belief in the clarity of the other man’s vision. Now he had no reservations about his mentor’s vision being the absolute best for everyone, including himself. But Justin? What in the hell did he have to do with Guardian? He was a successful businessman and restaurant owner. He had nothing to do with Guardian.

“Does Faith know what she’s signing up for?”

“Yes, and just so you know, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take care of your baby until Deacon and David are willing to assume the mantle. Faith knows the basics of what I do. Together we can and will take care of Guardian Security, but I won’t do this without her. She’s my center.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Gabriel waited while the tower cleared them for takeoff. Jason flipped the Guardian communications system on as the jet powered toward the end of the runway and lifted into the sky. Now that they’d cleared the ground support telemetry, their comms wouldn’t disrupt the aircraft’s systems.

“Anna has always been my ground zero. Just after I found her, there was a period of time when she disappeared. I thought I’d lost her. Fuck, I never want to experience that feeling again. As long as she’s with me, I can do just about anything.”

He nodded and guided the aircraft into a bank from their current path back to the east, easing into a staggered climb because of traffic around the airport. He pulled the stick back and felt the lady’s nose pull up.

A piercing wail sounded over their headsets. “Echo Papa! Echo Papa! Arch Angel take countermeasures for Echo Papa.” Jacob’s voice thundered over the radio. Jason immediately implemented the emergency procedures Jacob demanded.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday. Dulles Tower, Guardian One declaring an in-flight emergency. Request approval for immediate landing.”

“Negative, Guardian One. The approach is full. Hold at your current altitude.”

Gabriel switched on the radio. “Dulles Tower, implement DV 227 protocols.”

Jason lowered the stick, leveling out a mere ten thousand feet beneath their flight plan’s stated cruising altitude.

A new voice cracked over the radio. “Roger that, Guardian One. Turn left to heading 242 and descend to ten thousand feet. Hold on course for diverting aircraft. Give me two minutes, Guardian One.”

Jason keyed the mic for the Guardian radio systems. “Alpha One, sitrep now.”

Jacob’s voice rang over the speaker. “Aircraft ground crew, security and refueling contractor at the hangar found dead. Aircraft compromised… possible sabotage.”

Shit. Jason glanced at the tense face of his boss. “Any chatter?”

“No. Gabriel, Anna is fine, her car was run off the road. Her security detail pulled her to safety. She’s shaken but alright.”

Jason’s cell rang with Faith’s number flashing. Gabriel grabbed the phone and hit the speaker icon.

“Jason! My trailer, it just blew up! Oh my God, we were supposed to be in it!” The terror in her voice carried through the connection.

Jacob’s voice in the background barely registered. “Where are you, baby?”

“At Helena’s. Jason, I’m so scared.”

“Are you and Reece okay?”

“Yeah, but he was outside in her side yard when it happened. Jason, there was a man in a suit looking for me yesterday. Helena told him when I’d be back.”

He kept his voice calm, the antithesis of his raging emotions. “Alright, princess, is there a cop nearby?” He heard the tower’s direction and automatically put the plane into descent and decreased his speed as he changed his course direction to make the approach.

“Yeah, outside. Do you want me to go out and get him?”

“No!” Both Gabriel and Jason shouted the word at the phone. Gabriel lifted a hand in apology when Jason glanced at him.

“Stay in the house. Get away from windows. If the cops need to talk to you, make them come in. Do not leave Helena’s trailer for any reason, do you hear me?”

“Jason, what is going on?” Faith’s voice pleaded for answers he didn’t have.

“I don’t know yet, baby. I’m going to make a few phone calls. I’ll call you back. I need you to be strong for Reece. Just do what I asked. Stay inside. Keep Helena with you. Is Cal there yet?” He hit the switch to lower the landing gear and held Gabriel’s eyes as the wheels locked into place. One more way the plane could have been sabotaged and wasn’t. Thank God.

Reece’s cries intensified in the background. He could tell Faith was holding him now. “No. No, he’s not. It’s okay, baby.”

“Momma, tell Daddy I want to c-come back and live wif him!” Jason pulled back on the stick again, bringing the plane’s nose up out of the descent, lining up the instrumentation, and there was nothing he could do to stop the tears that welled in his eyes. Fuck the world if they saw what the little boy’s words meant to him.

“Tell him I’m coming to get you both, Faith. I’ll be there as soon as I can be. I love you.” God, he hoped he was telling the truth. He hoped he’d survive this landing, that the plane didn’t explode at a certain altitude, or when he engaged the brakes, or reversed engines. So many ways whoever had access to the bird could kill them—both him and Gabriel.

“We love you, too.”

“Babe, I have to make some calls. Hang up. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“Alright. Goodbye.”

He refused to say that word. “I’ll call, princess. Hang on.”

Both he and Gabriel saw the red strobe of the emergency vehicles’ lights lining the runway. The altimeter’s digital readout counted down the landing. With practiced ease, they sat the bird on the runway and glanced at each other as he applied the brakes and Gabriel hit the reverse thrusters to slow the aircraft. The beautiful lady lurched as he maneuvered her off the active runway toward the waiting emergency vehicles.

“Get to the door and open it.” He demanded his boss move as he maneuvered the aircraft to a stop. Gabriel had the hatch open and was back at the cockpit as Jason was unbuckling. They made quick work of dropping to the tarmac and sprinting to the convoy of black Suburbans that raced onto the runway.

Jared pulled them both back behind the vehicle. “Jacob and I have locked down your family, Gabriel. The personal security details have reported in and all have gone underground.”

“Jared, Faith’s trailer was just blown up. I need a team out there to bring in both Faith and Reece.”

Jared’s head snapped toward Jason. “Holy fuck! This was a coordinated attack against both of you?” He grabbed his cell phone and started barking orders.

Gabriel grabbed his arm and brought his attention from Jared’s shouts. “This has to be linked to a recent event. The last twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”

He knew the second Gabriel said the words. “The Russians.”

Gabriel nodded. “They got to Yuri. That is the only explanation.”

“He didn’t know about Anna or Faith.” Jason poked a hole in the theory.

Gabriel scrubbed his face and groaned. “Someone did. Somewhere, somehow we’ve let someone see us.”

Jason put his hands on his hips. He’d be damned if he’d let anyone take shots at his family.

“We need to circle the wagons. Go to Anna. Make sure your family is safe. I’m going to get Faith. I’ll have Jared get word to the family at the ranch. Jacob has a full-time team on Tori and the boys, but he might want to send them to the ranch. Chief and the twins will take care of them.”

Jared turned and strode over to them. “I have a team from the local office of the FBI heading over to put Faith and Reece into protective custody until Lima Team gets there. Jacob pulled them out from night maneuvers. They were working as aggressors against the SEALs and the Recon teams in Beaufort, S.C., who are doing some annual training. They’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“Don’t let the FBI move them from the trailer. I don’t want to take the chance someone is lying in wait. I need a clean bird. I’m heading to Georgia.”

“It’s smarter to get you back to headquarters. We can protect her.” Jason snapped his eyes down and glared at the restraining hand Jared placed on his arm.

“When you fall in love, you’ll realize just how stupid that statement was, Jared.” Jason pulled away and headed toward the lead vehicle.

“You realize your brother is trying, right?” Gabriel fell into step with him. “When he goes over the edge, it will be spectacular.”

He couldn’t even bring himself to care. He needed to get to Faith. “I want a fucking first-row seat when it happens. I’m going to heckle him like a son of a bitch.” And he would—after the bastards who attacked his family were six feet under.