Page 88 of Widow Mayker

Cooley started the aircraft and maneuvered us out of the hangar and onto the airstrip with ease. Quite frankly, I was impressed as hell. I was even more impressed when he got us into the air without so much as a bump. We coasted at a decent altitude, just to make our guests comfortable. Minutes later, Dube relayed the occupants’ locations to us.

Cooley pressed a few buttons and did some shit that put the plane in autopilot mode.

“Cooley, I got captain’s side. You take co-captain’s side. Kody…do what you do. On my go.” Adir sounded cool and calm, as if we weren’t about to wage a war in midair.

“Copy,” Cooley responded.

“Copy,” Alli seconded from the control station. I had to shake my head. That nigga Alli was cool with me.

“Go!”

Adir’s gunshots rang out in time with Cooley’s as he exited the cockpit. Right behind him, I avoided Heir’s screams and the bullets flying and zoned in on Lucían, whose eyes were wide with disbelief. Like a little bitch, his hands were up. Six seconds, that was all it took to subdue his entourage.

Adir tossed Dube the duffle bag, to which Dube hurriedly dressed into the same gear Adir, Cooley, and I were dressed in. Meanwhile, Adir headed back to the lavatory to retrieve Katrice. Speechless, Lucían peered at the four of us. With their guns trained on Lucían, I addressed the love of my life.

“Come here, baby.”

Heir scrambled from her seat next to Lucían and jumped into my arms. Her face was worn with tear streaks and swollen, red eyes. She wore the same dress from last night, and it was torn in some places. I kissed her lips, then handed her off to Dube.

“Brother!” Lucían drawled. “While it’s not my desire to meet this way, here we are.”

I looked a lot like my father, but this nigga was Dub reincarnated. I transported ten years back, to the moment I knew that I was going to kill the man who fathered me. I had never felt fury like I felt then. What drove me to pull the trigger was my father’s cocky-ass laugh that mocked everything about the McAroy name. That was fine, though. Killing him restored honor in my lineage. Killing Lucían would restore order because I was the muthafuckin’ king around this bitch.

“If you land this plane in Peru, you’re all dead,” he sneered.

“Who said we were landing?” My question drew an amused smile from him.

“Ah, you’re going to crash the plane and kill us all? Do you not care about your life? Or that of your”—he glanced at Heir and chuckled—“your lady friend.”

I peered at Heir. “You didn’t tell him about me, baby?” She shook her head. Turning back to Lucían, I said, “If she would’ve told you about me, you would’ve known that I never gave a fuck.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Nosotros somos iguales (We are alike).”

I shot his kneecaps off, choking him on his own laughter. “Nah, my nigga. I guarantee you, we not.” He crashed to the floor of the jet and sobbed in pain.

“You’re going to pay for this!” he shouted. To reward him, I shot him in both his hands, dismembering his fingers. “Ah!” he screamed.

Pleased that he was good and capacitated, I reached for Heir and retrieved a blindfold from my pocket.

“Look at me, My Heir.” Her terror-filled eyes peered at me. Lifting the blindfold, I asked, “I love you, baby. Do you trust me?” She nodded frantically and whimpered as I covered her eyes. “I got you, aight? I’m not gon’ let you go.” I kissed her lips and as I strapped her to me, she broke down crying. She trembled terribly. Once this was over, I would calm her down.

“Everybody strapped?” Cooley called out.

“Strapped!” Dube confirmed.

“Strapped,” Adir added.

Just a few minutes later, Heir and I were falling out of the sky.

Two hours later, I stood over Heir’s hospital bed, watching her sleep. Damn, I was so close to losing her. My heart had finally settled. Now, it beat erratically for a different reason. It was confirmed that Heir was carrying my child. If I could have resurrected Lucían to inflict more pain on him, I would have. He and Katrice deserved to die the slowest deaths many times over.

Heir’s door opened, and Kim entered. She closed the door behind her and came directly into my arms. Stress lines dressed her forehead where I placed a kiss.

“With Adir’s help, I finally got Mama to get some rest,” she said.

“Good. Now, I need you to do the same thing.”

“I will in a little while. I just wanted to check on you and Heir, first.”