Livewire

Chapter 35

The sun baked the runway tarmac, sending eddies of violent heat haze rippling up into the air. It was a sweltering day under hot sun while Kyle stood at the window watching planes take off and land. He arrived early, before Connor Jacks brought Trudie for her flights back to New Orleans. At least that's what Connor would believe.

For the plan to go smoothly he needed to believe that his daughter was out of the country. In actual fact she would be taking the flight her father had booked her on, but only as far as Mexico city.

By the time he realised she never made the connecting flights to LAX and New Orleans, it would be too late. A series of events would be put into motion and with no hiccups, they would have disappeared to Fiji within the week, never to be seen again.

There was a lot that could go wrong though and Kyle was nervous while he stood, sweating in his brand new suit.

After fooling Connor into believing Trudie had left, the next step of the plan was to secure a buyer for the gold. No buyer, no heist. Without someone to provide the money, they'd be in a predicament. Stuck with tons of gold and a pissed off cartel hunting them down.

César had made the introductions as promised, but it was up to Kyle to secure the deal. So he'd pulled out all the stops. They'd meet in the St Regis hotel in Mexico City and Kyle had booked out the presidential suit. He needed to make the best impression possible. After the last heist he had cash to burn to make sure the next one went as perfectly as possible, and he was prepared to spend it.

The biggest thing that would derail the whole plan was if Baldo or Connor caught wind of it. So Kyle arrived at the airport early and checked his bags in, so it would only look as though he was there to see Trudie off.

"Babe you didn't have to dress up so fancy to see me off." Trudie walked across the departure hall with Connor and two of his men. She threw her arms around him once she reached where he was standing.

Connor greeted him with a brief nod. "I can get you a ticket too and you could go with her."

"I'd love to, but I've got things I need to do here before I can leave."

Connor shrugged, then pointed Trudie towards the bag check desks. At the desk they were greeted warmly by the attendant with a wide smile of pearly white teeth, wearing the trim, dark blue uniform of the airline. Trudie handed over her suitcase, boarding pass and passport, which the attendant used to check her luggage.

Kyle hung back just in case the attendant recognised him from earlier and gave the game away. The conveyor kicked into action and Trudie's case was taken away through the partition flap into the bowels of baggage handling.

She walked away from the desk and joined the back of the queue for security.

"I guess this is goodbye for now then. Don't leave me too long."

He kissed her cheek. "You know I couldn't."

Connor stuck around and waited until she had got through the body scanner and collected her hand luggage from the x-ray machine. Kyle walked with him back across the departure hall, stopping just short of the exit.

"You're a good kid Kyle and I can see how much Trudie cares for you. So long as you're loyal to her you're welcome in my town. But I'll expect your loyalty too. Don't ever cross me - because maybe she doesn't see it yet but you're replaceable."

Connor's eyes went narrow while they looked hard into Kyle's for a moment before he turned to leave. Kyle stood still and met his stare head on, not betraying any emotion. Connor may have been her father but in that moment he knew Trudie would defend him in a heartbeat over her dad.

Resentment welled up inside him while he watched Connor's back walk away and climb into a car. It wasn't until the car had driven off that he turned to head back into the airport.

"Well I never expected this."

His stomach dropped from the familiar voice of Uncle Joe.

"Come to see me off, did ya?"

He took a deep breath, then turned to face him. "Oh, you're leaving then?"

"There's only so much sun I can take in one go." Joe laughed. "I Start missing the rain back home."

"Well the sun never stops here, so you'd best get going."

"I took you under my wing once Kyle and I was always fond of your mum. So I see you as my own son. You should come back to London with me. Things are different now, you could be my right hand man. What do you say?"

A wave of relief washed over him. He sighed and felt the weight lifting off his shoulders. "Thanks for the offer Joe, but I'm happy here. I'll always be grateful for the upbringing you gave me, but it's time for me to take care of myself."

It took all of his effort to restrain his facial muscles from smiling. He looked at Angie standing behind Joe and knew he felt different about her. The feeling of desire was gone.

"It saddens me to hear those words, but I'm also proud. If you ever change your mind kid, you come find me."

Joe then put his hand round the back of Kyle's neck and pressed his forehead into Kyle's. This awkward pose was held for a few seconds before Joe's firm grip was released and he walked on by.

Angie stepped up to him, bringing her body close to his. "I guess this is goodbye then little Kyle." She winked,  "I'll miss you."

"Goodbye Angie."

She ran a finger down his cheek then went to take a step.

"Wait. Just one question."

"Anything for you Kyle."

"How did you manage to track me down?"

She giggled. "It wasn't hard. Greasy Gary had you watched when you left. So he knew what boat you took. A few questions with the local cartel and it was soon apparent you were in town and I knew where you were hanging out."

His stomach dropped again. He wasn't laying as low as he thought. It could be his connection to Hector that put him on the radar of the cartel. Or the people at his gym he knew were cartel too.

"Thanks. You best catch up with Joe."

She winked again and sauntered off, swaying her hips while she strutted.

Once they were both gone from sight, he got himself through security and met up with Trudie again.

He put his arm around her waist and they walked to the gate. "Leon got into the system and upgraded us both to business class."

"Not first class?"

"Come on." He chuckled, "it's only a regional flight they don't have first class. But he assured me that if they did, then he could get us seats in first class too."

"His tech skills are very impressive."

"Oh for sure. He set us up a shell company in no time."

"What name did you go for in the end?"

He smirked "Mayfly Metal Exports."

"Well it's better than Daddy's Auron International Metal Export Co." She rolled her eyes. "Go on then, tell me why you chose that name?"

"Mayflies only live for one day. It felt like an apt name considering we're basically doing the same. Once the money is in our accounts, the company will cease to exist."

The airport intercom cut in over him announcing the boarding of their flight. A crowd began to file toward the doors and Kyle and Trudie joined the back. In relative silence they stepped out onto the sweltering tarmac. The air instantly went dry and hot when they breathed it in. They all got onto a shuttle bus to be driven out to the plane standing out in the middle of the bubbling heat haze.