Chapter 3 - The Ambush at Terminal 4
The tires of the Boeing 777 hit the asphalt of Runway 22-Right with a heavy thud and a cloud of blue smoke.
While the other passengers in First Class began unbuckling their belts and gathering their coats, my mind was operating with the lethal efficiency of a tactical deployment. I pulled my encrypted satellite phone from my breast pocket, swiping the screen open before the plane had even finished taxiing toward Terminal 4.
I dialed my chief of security, Marcus.
“Boss,” Marcus answered on the second ring. “Your motorcade is waiting at the private arrivals gate.”
“Double it,” I commanded, my voice cold and unyielding. “I want three armored SUVs at the tarmac exit. Call our private medical team at Mount Sinai—I need an expedited DNA processing crew on standby at the estate within the hour.”
There was a brief, stunned pause on the line. Marcus had worked for the Moretti family for fifteen years; he knew when I was executing a corporate takeover versus when a war was starting.
“Is there a threat, sir?” Marcus asked sharply.
I looked across the aisle at Lily, who was currently trying to zip her pink backpack over her stuffed rabbit’s long ears.
“No threat,” I said softly. “A package. The most important delivery of my life. Ensure the perimeter of Terminal 4 is locked down. Nobody gets near my party.”
“Understood, Boss.”
I hung up and stood up, pulling my wool coat from the overhead bin.
Julie was watching me like a hawk, her face pale, holding Lily’s small hand so tightly her knuckles were white.
“Julian, please,” Julie begged in a low whisper as we shuffled down the jet bridge. “Think about what you’re doing. Naomi isn't just going to hand her over to you. She’s worked two jobs, built a brand design firm from scratch, and raised Lily completely alone! If you bring your armed guards into this, you will ruin everything!”
“I am not asking for permission, Julie,” I said, taking Lily’s heavy pink backpack from her tiny shoulders and slinging it effortlessly over my own arm.
“Hey!” Lily protested, looking up at me with her hands on her hips. “That’s my bag! It has my snacks!”
I lowered myself to one knee on the jet bridge carpet, adjusting the pink strap over my suit jacket. “I’m holding it for you, little one. So your hands are free.”
Lily considered this, her little eyebrows knitting together in deep thought. “Okay. But don't eat my goldfish crackers.”
“Pinky promise,” I said, holding out my pinky finger.
She hooked her tiny finger around mine without hesitation. The warmth of her tiny hand sent a wave of emotion crashing through my chest so intense I almost forgot how to speak.
We stepped out of the jet bridge into the bustling concourse of Terminal 4.
Standard passengers were moving toward the main baggage claim, but I guided Julie and Lily through a private door marked Authorized Personnel Only, where a Port Authority police escort was already waiting.
As we stepped onto the rainy tarmac outside the private terminal, three blacked-out Cadillac Escalades sat idling in a neat row, their exhaust curling into the damp autumn air. Six men in tailored black coats stepped out instantly, forming a tight security perimeter around us.
Julie gasped, pulling Lily closer to her side. “Oh my God... you really haven't changed at all, have you? Everything is force with you!”
“It isn't force, Julie. It’s protection,” I said coldly.
Suddenly, a sleek, white Mercedes sedan came screeching around the corner of the private service road, ignoring the security barriers. The tires squealed against the wet asphalt as it slammed to a halt ten yards from my lead Escalade.
The driver’s side door flew open.
A woman stepped out into the pouring rain, completely ignoring the armed guards stepping forward with their hands on their holsters. She wore a tailored camel coat, dark curls dripping with rain, her golden hoop earrings catching the strobe lights of the airport police vehicles.
Naomi.
My heart stopped beating in my chest.
Five years had passed, but she was even more striking than the day I left her. Her face was sharper, her posture held the quiet, fierce authority of a woman who had fought through hell to protect her world, and her dark, amber-colored eyes were burning with a terrifying, wild desperation.
“Mommy!” Lily squealed, breaking away from Julie’s grip and sprinting across the wet tarmac toward her.
“Lily!” Naomi cried out, dropping to her knees on the wet asphalt, gathering the little girl into her arms, burying her face into her daughter’s dark curls. “Oh thank God... thank God you’re okay!”
Naomi stood up, keeping Lily pressed firmly against her hip. She turned her glare toward me.
The five years between us evaporated in a single second.
May you like
She took three slow, heavy steps through the rain toward me, stopping right in front of my security line. Her breath came in hot, ragged gasps against the cold air.
“Get your hands off my sister’s luggage, Julian,” Naomi said, her voice dropping into a lethal, razor-sharp whisper that made my blood run hot. “And get the hell away from my daughter.”
