Get them, he shouted. The men in the hangar pulled guns out of the engine cavity and ran at Joe. Julia scrambled into the front of the car.
“You drive,” he snapped at her.
She didn’t hesitate in climbing over to the driver’s seat. Elle slammed the door as she got in the back. Joe was in the passenger seat a second later. That was when the men started firing at them.
“Go!” Joe rolled down his window and shot back at the men.
Ryan was already speeding forward, towards the tiny planes on the edge of the runway.
Joe’s phone rang. He tossed it at Elle, who put it on speaker.
“Where are you going?” Joe barked.
“We’re surrounded.” Callum’s voice was even. Calm. “Two more came out the office, one from the front of the hangar. There’s another in that shed to your left.”
“Still better to make a run for it.” Joe shot at the men chasing them as Julia sped after Ryan’s car.
“Can’t,” Ryan said. “They blocked the road behind us.”
He didn’t need to say that they weren’t in all-terrain vehicles. Their cars would never make it over the pothole and shrub-laden landscape surrounding the airport, and then they really would be sitting ducks.
“We’ll pull up at those two planes and use them and the shed for cover,” Ryan said. “Callum has the sniper rifle the Lima crew gave us for him. He’ll pick them off while we go hunting.”
“What about us?” Julia asked. She sounded afraid, but was keeping it together.
“You’ll stay with Callum and follow orders.” Joe didn’t have time to soften it.
And Julia didn’t argue. Bullets hit the back of their vehicle, making a hollow pinging sound. The car swerved.
“Sorry,” Julia said. “First time driving while people shoot at me.”
“And the last.” Joe took aim and managed to hit one of the guys in the leg. It was a lucky shot; no one could hit anything deliberately when they were in a moving vehicle.
“Park beside Ryan,” he ordered as Julia pulled a sharp left behind the shed.
Ryan was already out of his car and running towards the man who’d been stationed behind the shed. One bullet and Esteban’s man crumpled.
“Oh my goodness, he’s dead.” Julia came to a screeching halt beside the body of the man.
“It was him or us,” Joe said.
“I know. I’m okay.” She wasn’t freaking out, and that was good.
“Callum, I’m sending the women your way. They can hunker behind the cars and shed. You got a line of sight.”
“Enough,” his boss said. “You take Ryan. Finish this.”
“You heard the man,” Joe said. “Get to your gran and keep her and Alice as sheltered as possible.”
“Be careful.” Julia’s wide eyes pleaded with him. “Come back to me.”
Joe ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I’ll always come back to you, beautiful girl.”
With one last look, Julia was out of the car and running around the other vehicle.
Joe didn’t have time to think about Julia. The only way he could keep her safe was to eliminate the threat. He climbed into the driver’s seat as Ryan got into the passenger seat.
“Plan?” Ryan asked as he reloaded his gun.