Page 79 of Redemption
“You do have a plan, do you not?” Marco asks with a casual tone, as if he were discussing our tee time for a round of golf.
“I do have a plan,” I reply with a dip of my chin.
“And you’re going to share this plan with me?”
I steeple my fingers against my lips. “Yes.”
“Soon?”
“As soon as I figure out how not to make it sound absolutely insane.”
To his credit, Marco doesn’t look concerned. “Excellent. So, by the end of the flight, we’ll both know what we’re doing next?”
I can’t help but smile. “Yes. And despite how crazy it sounds, it’s going to work. I know it.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Marco
The last thing I expect upon returning to America is to find myself outfitted as a fire and rescue worker, sitting in the back seat of a fire truck, beside my brother, who is sporting the same attire.
He was right. The plan he laid out on the jet did sound insane. But there’s one thing I’ve learned over my many years of strange and unexpected situations: we never know how things are going to turn out. All we can do is hope for the best, pray to God to protect us, and walk forward through the smoke until all becomes clear.
“Don’t worry; she never fails.” This comes from the driver of the fire truck, a man who was introduced to me as Joy.
“I can’t believe you still let your mother take part in jobs,” my brother replies with a shake of his head.
“Like I could stop Ma from having fun. Are you kidding? She loves this stuff. She calls it her dress-up playtime. I’m pretty sure it’s what keeps her young and feisty.”
This is what we are waiting on—a septuagenarian, dressed as a courier, whose sole job is to pull the fire alarm somewhere inside the old estate just up the road.
If I had thought we were coming back just so my brother could kill a man, I would have been mistaken. First, we’re springing a mental patient from an expensive private mental hospital a few hours from New Orleans. It’s undoubtedly a first for me.
“God bless your mother,” my brother whispers, but I can feel the tension in the air.
I hope he knows what he’s doing, because I definitely don’t.
Joy’s phone chimes. “And we are in business. Starting the countdown.”
My brother taps a timer on the screen of his phone as well. “And we’re positive the local fire department takes?—”
Joy interrupts him. “Nine minutes on average to respond to a call way out here. When we pull up in two and get out in under six, we’ll be driving away before they roll in.”
The bulky man swings his neck around to look at us in the back seat. “You good on where to go out the back for your pickup?”
My brother nods. “Yes.”
“Good deal. I’ll be waiting on the other side of those live oaks, and we’ll coast off into the sunset with no one the wiser. They won’t notice she’s gone until the evenin’ meds.” Joy grins widely, showing off his missing canine. “All right, you ready? Because it’s time to rock.”
Luca looks to me. “You sure you want to do this? Last chance to back out.”
I think of what our father said the night before we left. Even without his words, there’s no way I would let my brother do this alone. Other than God, I don’t trust anyone else with his life at this point.
“Let’s not be late for our date. Time to go.”
“Thank you,” he says, tone hushed, before giving a nod to Joy. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Forty-Three
