“I . . . yeah.” Cassidy looked around and saw she definitely wasn’t in her room. “Where are we?”
“We’re on a plane!” Mario said excitedly. “We’re going to the States. We’re free, Mama!”
Upon hearing that, Cassidy forced herself to sit up. She’d been lying across a row of seats in what she confirmed was indeed a plane. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny either. There were several rows of leather seats, and Mario was kneeling on the floor next to her. He stood as she straightened and sat beside her. He latched on to her hand and squeezed it hard.
“A plane?” Cassidy murmured, feeling extremely confused. She didn’t remember getting on a plane . . . or pretty much anything else, really. The last thing she remembered was . . .
Mario!
“You’re here!” she gasped as she turned to her son. “Are you okay, baby? What happened? Where were you?”
“Lloyd gave me some stuff to deliver, and I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t have a choice. Martin dropped me off in a scary part of Kingston and told me I had ten minutes and if I wasn’t back in time, he’d leave me to get home on my own. I was really scared, but knew I had to do it. So I left the car and headed down the alley, and when I turned a corner, I was grabbed!”
Cassidy gasped again, but Mario continued before she could comment.
“Smoke got me and told me he was a good guy, and showed me a picture of him and Gramps to prove that he knew him. He said Gramps was going to get you out of Michael’s house and would meet up with us soon. He told me he and his friends were gonna get both of us out of Jamaica! He brought me back to his motel and gave me some food. Eagle even bought me a new T-shirt and a hat! We hung out for a while, and Smoke taught me how to play gin rummy, and then it was time to go, so we got into a car and went to the airport. They said we had to wait until it was dark so no one could see us leave, and we came to this plane, and there weren’t any lights on it at all! But I got to carry my passport all by myself because Eagle said I was responsible enough.
“Then Bull and Gramps came with you. But you were passed out, and Gramps was really worried. He’s drunk, too, but I didn’t say anything because he looked kinda mad about something. Then the lady pilot told us to hold on ’cause she was gonna go ‘hard and fast,’ and we zoomed down the runway and went almost straight up! It was awesome!”
Mario had spoken so fast, and said so much, Cassidy’s head was aching by the time he’d finished, her mouth as dry as cotton. Looking around, she saw that Leo’s friends were indeed on the plane with them. They each nodded at her when her gaze met theirs. She looked for Leo, spotting him in the first row of seats, but he hadn’t turned around.
She looked at Bull. “We’re really safe?”
“Yes,” Bull said. “We’ve got a little while yet until we land in Miami, but you’re safe. From there, we’ll catch another flight to Indianapolis, to throw off anyone who might be tracking this plane.”
Tears filled Cassidy’s eyes. She could hardly believe they were truly out of Jamaica. “And Michael?”
“He’s dead,” Mario said solemnly. “G . . . I mean Gramps killed him.”
Cassidy once more looked at Leo. He still didn’t turn to see how she handled hearing about what had happened, and he didn’t acknowledge Mario’s statement.
Eagle got up from his seat and came over to her row. He sat next to her and said, “Mario, why don’t you go practice gin rummy with Smoke? I know he’s anxious to get home to his pregnant wife, and he’s worrying about her. If you could distract him, that would be great.”
“All right!” Mario said happily, scooting out in front of his mom and Eagle and heading for Smoke’s row.
“What’s going on?” Cassidy asked when he was out of earshot.
“It’s normal for you to be confused,” Eagle said. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Cassidy wracked her brain. “Being in my room. I was worried about Mario because of everything that was happening. Then Martin came in and told me that Mario was missing. That he hadn’t returned from his job. And I . . . well, that’s it. Everything else is gone. What happened? How did Leo kill Michael? And how did he get me out?”
Eagle looked from her to Leo, then back at her. “And I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m the one explaining, and not Gramps.”
Cassidy shrugged and nodded at the same time.
“Right. The bottom line is, the best-case scenario in our plan was to get Mario away from his escorts when he was outside the house. We know that they never let you both outside the gates at the same time. Smoke was tailing him, which we realize now we should’ve told you. I’m sorry. Anyway, when Smoke had a chance to snatch him, he did. It was very easy, actually, because like Mario said, Martin kicked him out of the car with enough drugs to put him in prison for life and told him to deliver them. Smoke ditched the drugs and brought him back to the same motel you visited, and we waited for Gramps.”
“Wasn’t it risky to grab Mario when Leo was still at the mansion?” Cassidy asked.
“Yes. Things didn’t go quite according to plan. Bull was ready to cause a ruckus, if necessary, distracting everyone so Gramps could sneak out with you . . . but that didn’t happen.”
“What did happen? And how come I can’t remember anything?”
Eagle took a deep breath. “This is the hard part. So, you found out about Mario being missing . . . and you kind of freaked out. Again, our fault, since we didn’t tell you that Smoke had eyes on your son the entire time, and you stormed into Coke’s office, where he was meeting with Gramps. You were hysterical, and Gramps was afraid you were going to say something that would break his cover. Coke brought out a syringe and was going to inject you, to shut you up. After Gramps learned it was Rohypnol . . . he injected you.”
Cassidy stared at Eagle with wide eyes. “What? I was drugged?”
“Yeah. Roofied. It’s commonly known as the date-rape drug. Gramps would’ve broken cover if Coke planned on drugging you with anything else. But considering the precarious situation, and the fact he suspected Mario was safe with us, he allowed you to be injected.”
Cassidy looked up at Leo once more, but he still hadn’t turned around. She would’ve thought he was sleeping if she hadn’t seen him shift slightly.
“After you were knocked out, Gramps continued his negotiations with Coke. They began to drink together. Gramps drank Jamaican rum, and Coke was partaking of the finest Mexican tequila—supplied by us, of course. Long story short, Coke died from potassium cyanide poisoning, Gramps carried you out of the house . . . and here we are.”
Cassidy blinked, her head spinning. “Leo just carried me out of the house? And no one stopped him?”
Eagle cleared his throat and looked down at his lap. Cassidy braced for whatever he was going to tell her next.
“He and Coke made a deal, and Gramps made sure everyone in the house knew about it so he could leave with you after he’d poisoned Coke. He bought you.”
Cassidy frowned. “What?”
“Well, that’s not exactly true, as no money actually changed hands. He was supposed to set up a transfer today. Coke probably had plans to keep him in the mansion until the transfer was done.”