Chapter 17 - Runway

Mara fumbled at Isabel's seat belt as the plane rolled. Her fingers were slick with sweat.

“Is the bad lady coming?” Isabel asked.

“Not if I can help it.”

She dragged the child toward the exit, but the pilot had locked the cabin door. Through a small window, he watched them with no expression.

The jet accelerated. Mara's stomach dropped.

She pulled the emergency release on the boarding door. Nothing. A green light flashed above the handle: ARMED. She followed the printed directions, twisted a lever, and felt the mechanism give.

A terrible wind tore into the cabin. The plane slowed abruptly. Outside, the runway lights came back on in a blazing line. An airport fire truck raced across the tarmac, siren howling.

Then the jet stopped. The pilot killed the engine. The door opened from outside, and Adrian appeared, bleeding from a cut over his eyebrow.

“Anybody need a ride?” he called.

Mara almost collapsed with relief. “Your timing sucks.”

“Been told.”

He lifted Isabel down the stairs. June and Lucian followed, with two airport officers who had responded to the emergency signal. They took the pilot into custody.

For ten seconds, Mara believed they had won.

Then Celeste stepped out of a hangar, holding a pistol against Lucian's back. One of the officers dropped his radio. The other raised his hands.

“Such a disappointing family,” she said.

Lucian's face was white, but his voice stayed steady. “Let the children go.”

“They already are going,” Celeste replied. “Adrian and Mara will bring me the drive. Everyone else walks.”

June whispered, “Don't.”

Adrian handed Isabel to a paramedic. “You want the drive? You get me.”

“Of course I do.” Celeste smiled. “You're the one who should have inherited everything.”

“Everything you stole?”

“Everything I preserved.”

Mara stepped beside Adrian. “Then you'll have to take us both.”

Celeste looked pleased, as though a particularly dull party had suddenly become interesting.

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