Chapter 16

He was scared as Hell, an emotion that was new to him until he met and fell in love with Sam McCall. Of all the years he worked for Sonny, the only time he has felt true fear was when the danger had involved Sam. He knew that she was tough, knew that she could handle herself but some things were out of her control, some things always have a way of going wrong. That's where he usually came in, to try to prevent that from happening. He made sure to step in when Sam needed his help and sometimes when she didn't need it, those times were when he made decisions for her, but he always had one sole purpose in mind, no matter his mistakes, he just wanted to keep her safe. He would feel guilty when the situation usually revolved around his lifestyle and the choices he made, when his enemies wanted to hurt him by using her.

Now was one of those times. Sam was in trouble because of him, well mostly because of his ex-wife. It may not have started that way because Aidan had kidnapped her first because of his sick obsession with her, but she landed in the Balkan's hands because of his and Brenda's choices. He had to fix that now no matter what it took.

Jason stood outside in front of his SUV alongside Dante, Lucky, Milo and Cody, Sonny was in the truck with Brenda, Max and all his other men were covertly scattered everywhere standing by with snipers. They had the plane and the entire place surrounded, all guns were locked and loaded, he only had to give them the single to take out the Balkan and all his men, if necessary, blow the plane. They had been standing there for five minutes before a limo and three dark tinted black SUVs pulled up, a minute after that another black SUV came into view but it was parked further back from the rest. Jason watched with clenched fists as armed guards filed out of the trucks carrying bags and loading them into the plane. Then one guard opened the back door to the limo, Theo Hoffman was the…. Balkan? Jason looked back to see Sonny emerge from the SUV, keeping Brenda in the limo and under tight watch until the last minute, the shock on his friend's face was mirrored in his own. While Sonny kept his glare on the man that wanted to get revenge on the woman he loved, Jason looked over at Dante, he could tell he was in the same state of shock as the rest of them. Theo Hoffman was supposed to be representing them in the latest self-defense shooting, no one knew that they were all dealing with the Balkan this entire time.

Not being able to wait anymore, desperately wanting to get Sam back, Jason broke the silence. "Where's Sam?!" He questioned the man standing directly in front of the plane steps along with his men flanking him. No doubt he was prepared to grab Brenda and make a run for it, but Jason had the element of surprise for them, Jason's men were ready to take him down, but first he needed to get Sam.

"She's here." Theo gestured to the SUV that was parked off to the side. With a wave of the older man's hand, the door of the driver's side opened.

Jason seethed and growled low in his throat at seeing Aidan Devane step out and walk to the back, open the door, and pull out a small petite brunette. Jason's entire body stiffened when he saw Sam. Her hands were bound with rope and a sack covered her head, no doubt diminishing her chances for escape, other than that she seemed to look inharmed. His fists tightened as he watched Aidan pull Sam by the arm closer to the Balkan. For a second Jason let himself picture his hands clenched around the bastard's throat as he killed him, slowly. "LET HER GO!" His emotions took over as he roared out the demand.

"I held up my end of the bargain Mr. Morgan, it's time for you to hold yours!"

Jason turned his gaze to Sonny, watched and waited for what seemed like forever as Sonny thought about what was going to happen. Giving a quick nod in comply, Sonny opened the back door to let Brenda out and held on to her tight. Jason could tell how this was affecting her, she was visibly shaken.

"Send Ms. Barrett over, and I shall send Ms. McCall." Theo requested, his dark eyes full of promises of retribution, were narrowing on Brenda.

"At the same time!" Jason came back with his own request, this was going to be done his way. They had everything set up, everyone was in place and ready when he gave the signal, he would unleash his men all over the Balkan and his men. He would deal with Aidan one on one. Brenda knew the plan as well, all she had to do was duck and run for cover, he knew that Sam would trust him enough to do the same so that she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, he would shield her with his own body if he had to.

Slowly, Sonny let Brenda go after kissing her head to soothe her, Jason could hear the other man's words of love being whispered into her ear, same words of love that he had spoken to Sam nights ago. After a few more moments, Sonny released Brenda and she took slow and measured steps towards the Balkan.
Aidan had stood back and waited for Brenda to make the first step before releasing the woman in his arms. Lifting the sack just below the duct tape line that covered her mouth, Aidan placed a lingering kiss to her neck, while keeping his eyes on Jason's murderous ones, he whispered in her ear. "Just walk straight ahead, slowly, and you'll be free my love." He then stepped back and let her go. It seemed like it took a minute for the words to register as she finally took a careful step forward. He knew she wasn't able to see clearly, but it didn't matter, he had a plan and he hoped that it would work. Him and Samantha would soon be free to be together.

Jason had to keep himself still, had to hold back with every ounce of control that he had. His entire body was stiff, his fists clenched, his jaw tight with tension, his primal instincts were screaming to protect what was his. His eyes glued to the woman that he loved more than anything walking slow steps towards him. His body was trembling with anticipation to hold her, his hands aching to touch her, he needed her like he needed his next breath. She was his life and he was finally going to get her back.

Sonny was on edge, nervous, anxious, scared, and twitchy like a drug addict desperately wanting his next fix of crack. Brenda meant everything to him and he was losing his cool by watching her walk towards their enemy, towards danger. He couldn't let anything happen to her, he had waited too long for her to finally admit that she loved him and wanted to be with him, they were going to get married, finally after all these years they were going to be husband and wife. Jason's plan was that both women reach half way and then he would through up the signal so that his men would take down the Balkan, but he couldn't wait any longer, he knew it was too soon, they were only ten feet away with over 40 more feet to go. He had to get her back, had to protect her, he couldn't give the Balkan a chance to get to her. Bailing on their plan, Sonny lunged for Brenda.

Jason yelled out to his friend when he saw him lunge to grab a hold of Brenda and bring her down. "Sonny! NO!" It was too soon, Sam was too far away from him. Without a second thought, Jason lunged and ran the distance to grab her but it was too late. All Hell broke loose around them. Both sides ran for cover, both sides firing. "SAM! GET DOWN!" Bullets were flying by within inches of his head, he had to get to cover but he needed to reach Sam first. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement, turning his head, Jason saw Aidan jumping into the SUV and pull out. He made a vow that he would find him later and kill him.

"GRAB SAMANTHA!" The Balkan yelled out as he ran up the steps to the plane, the rest of his men filing behind him as the others covered for them. One by one they were going down from the snipers that were hidden on the rough tops from the surrounding buildings.

Before Jason could get to Sam, he fired out a few shots at a couple of guys that were trying to grab her. He couldn't let them get….. his heart stopped as one of the men succeeded in grabbing her, picking her up and ran for the plane. "NOOO!" He roared out, pulled out both guns and ran as he fired at the other guards surrounding the plane, taking extra care not to fire at the one holding Sam. "STOP FIRING!" He yelled out to his men behind him, he couldn't risk them hitting Sam. He ran with all his might, but it was too late, the man carrying Sam had already stepped on the plane and it was making its way down the run way. "DAMMITTT!" He couldn't believe it, he was so close, and now he lost her. Jason turned behind him to hear his name being called. "Look man, I'm sorry, I just couldn't hold back anymore…."

Without hesitating, Jason grabbed the front of Sonny's shirt. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SONNY! WE ALMOST HAD HER! YOU FUCKED IT UP!"

"I KNOW!" Sonny tried to release Jason's grip but the younger man was too strong. "I'M SORRY! Look, I swear to you we'll get her back ok, I'll put all my men on them, I just couldn't do it Jason, you've got to understand, I couldn't risk Brenda getting hurt!"

Jason immediately dropped him, this sucked, but he had to admit he did understand. Jason was never too thrilled about getting Sam involved in the first place, that's why he had kept things away from her, he didn't want to risk her getting hurt. He looked around him, his men along with Lucky and Dante were by his side. Fortunately they didn't have any casualties, only a few grazes, but the Balkan's men weren't that lucky. Looking up at the plane now a couple of hundred feet in the air and still climbing, Jason felt a sort of unease, something wasn't right, the hairs on his neck suddenly stood up on end, something was happening.

They saw the bright light before they heard it,BOOOMMM! They saw the plane explode into a ball of fire before they were all knocked off their feet from the momentum of the blast. The thunderous sound was so loud that it shattered the windows of the airport, the cars and all the surrounding buildings. Dragging himself up, Jason watched in horror and dread as the plane that Sam was in was engulfed by blazing yellow and orange flames as it plummeted to the ground.