Chapter 3 - The Cousin in Rome
My breath caught agonizingly in my throat as I stared at the vicious man holding my sister hostage.
I fully expected to see the scarred mask of a ruthless cartel assassin.
Instead, I saw the familiar, deeply tired face of a man I had explicitly trusted with our lives.
"Cousin Julian?" I whispered, my voice breaking in pure, devastating disbelief.
He was the distant relative waiting patiently for us in Rome, the absolute only reason I had bought these expensive plane tickets.
Julian looked down at me with dark eyes completely devoid of any familial love or warmth.
"I am truly sorry, Riley, but the syndicate offered me two million dollars to heavily ensure you both boarded this specific flight," he confessed nervously.
He pressed the sharp knife slightly closer to Maya’s fragile skin, causing her to whimper in absolute terror.
"Put the gun down right now, or I will end her life," Julian warned Vance aggressively.
Vance did not even flinch, his heavy weapon remaining perfectly level with Julian's sweating forehead.
Silas slowly entered the cramped galley, gently bouncing his heavily sleeping son in his strong left arm.
"You are making a very foolish, terminal mistake, Julian," Silas said smoothly, his voice remaining dangerously calm.
"You honestly think the ruthless syndicate will actually pay you for delivering loose ends?"
Julian swallowed incredibly hard, a large bead of sweat dripping heavily down his pale face.
"They promised to transfer the money as soon as the plane completely crosses into international airspace," he argued desperately.
Silas let out a dark, entirely humorless chuckle that sent a violent shiver down my spine.
"They aggressively planted a high-frequency tracking device on my infant son, Julian."
Silas took a slow, highly calculated step forward into the cramped space.
"Do you honestly believe they plan on letting anyone on this aircraft land alive?"
The terrifying truth of those words hit Julian like a physical blow, making his hands tremble violently against the knife.
I saw my absolutely only desperate opening and took it entirely without thinking.
I threw Maya's heavy stuffed rabbit directly at Julian's face with absolutely all my strength.
The pink toy struck him directly in the eyes, causing him to flinch heavily and momentarily pull the deadly knife away from my sister.
Vance moved significantly faster than humanly possible.
He lunged aggressively forward, grabbing Julian's knife wrist and snapping it completely backward with a sickening crack.
Julian screamed in pure agony as the heavy blade clattered uselessly onto the metal floor.
I dove frantically forward and snatched Maya completely into my arms, holding her tightly against my beating heart.
Vance slammed Julian violently against the fuselage wall, aggressively pressing a massive forearm completely against his throat.
"Who is exactly flying this plane?" Silas demanded aggressively, grabbing Julian by his cheap lapels.
Julian coughed violently, a terrifying, bloody smile slowly spreading across his pale lips.
"Nobody is flying it anymore," Julian gasped out weakly with his dying breath.
Before anyone could react, Julian bit down incredibly hard on a hidden cyanide capsule completely concealed inside his back tooth.
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His eyes rolled completely back into his head as thick white foam began to aggressively pour from his mouth.
At that exact, terrifying moment, the massive commercial airplane suddenly pitched forward into a violent, deadly nosedive.
