Chapter 4 - RUNWAY IN THE MOUNTAINS
The Bombardier’s tires screeched brutally against the cracked, weed-strewn asphalt of the abandoned military runway, sending up clouds of white smoke and sparks into the freezing rain.
The pilot slammed on the emergency brakes, the aircraft skidding sideways before grinding to a halt near the shadow of a rusted, collapsed hangar.
"Power is completely gone!" the pilot shouted from the cockpit door. "Controls are dead!"
"Everyone out! Now!" Victor bellowed, kicking the main cabin door emergency release.
The heavy door hissed open, dropping the stairs into the cold, pitch-black night. Freezing mountain rain poured into the cabin instantly.
Silas scooped Mateo into his left arm, racking the slide of his pistol with his right hand. He turned to Khloe, grabbing her shoulder with a firm, protective grip. "Stay behind me. If anything happens, Victor will take you and Mateo into the tree line."
"I'm not leaving him," Khloe said fiercely, wiping rain from her face as she stepped onto the wet metal stairs behind him. "He can't hear footsteps or gunfire! He needs someone to signal him!"
Silas looked at her for a fraction of a second, a profound respect flashing through his storm-grey eyes. "Then stay on my hip."
They descended the stairs into the blinding rain.
Fifty yards away, across the pitch-black tarmac, three pairs of high-beam headlights snapped on, cutting through the darkness like blinding white spears. Engine revs echoed against the mountain trees.
"They were waiting!" Victor yelled, stepping in front of Silas with a tactical submachine gun raised.
Four SUV doors slammed in the distance. Armed men in heavy coats stepped into the glare of the headlights, advancing across the tarmac with shotguns and automatic rifles.
"Costello!" a harsh voice shouted over a megaphone from behind the headlights. "Drop your weapons! Leave the boy and the girl, and we might let you walk into the woods!"
Mateo pressed his face into Silas’s neck, terrified by the blinding headlights he couldn't understand.
Khloe reached out, gently tapping Mateo’s arm. In the harsh glare of the headlights, she signed quickly: Close eyes. Hide face in Papa's coat. Game of hide-and-seek.
The little boy nodded frantically and buried his face deep into Silas’s heavy wool coat, shutting his eyes tight.
Silas looked down at the child, then over at Khloe. His jaw set into a terrifying line of absolute, uncompromising war.
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"They brought weapons to a field where my son is standing," Silas whispered, his voice dangerously quiet despite the roaring rain. "Victor... clear the left flank."
"With pleasure, boss," Victor growled.
