Chapter 18 - The Flight
Harlan Voss owned a private hangar outside the county line.
By the time state police obtained an emergency warrant, his jet was already fueling.
Claire was told to stay at the ranch.
She refused.
"This started because everybody kept deciding what I could handle," she told Noah. "You. Caleb. Mason. All of you. I'm done being protected with lies."
Noah looked at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded. "You're right."
It was the first thing he had said all day that did not make her angrier.
They reached the airport behind a line of unmarked state vehicles.
Voss stood beside the jet in a cashmere coat, speaking to his attorney as though the police lights were an inconvenience.
When he saw Claire, he smiled.
"Mrs. Bennett."
"You tried to buy my ranch before my husband's funeral flowers died."
"I made an offer."
"You poisoned the land."
"That is a complicated allegation."
Noah stepped into view.
Voss's smile vanished.
"You," he said.
"Disappointed?" Noah asked.
Voss recovered quickly. "I have no idea what performance this is."
Mason handed the lead investigator the original signature page.
Voss's attorney went pale.
Then Voss laughed.
"That proves a disposal authorization from nearly a decade ago. It does not prove murder, bribery, or conspiracy."
Claire held up the voice recorder.
"No. But Daniel Rusk's statement might."
Voss looked toward the police cars.
For the first time, real fear crossed his face.
A state trooper began reading him his rights.
Then a shot rang out from the hangar roof.
Voss dropped.
Everyone ducked.
Mason looked up.
A figure ran along the roofline.
Deputy Pike.
Pike did not shoot Voss to save Claire.
He shot him because dead men could not negotiate.
The bullet struck Voss high in the shoulder. He survived, but the panic shattered whatever control he had left.
"He knows everything!" Voss shouted as paramedics pulled him behind a vehicle. "Pike did the crash. Pike handled Santos. Pike—"
Another shot cracked overhead.
Mason and two troopers climbed the service stairs.
Noah stayed with Claire.
"You okay?"
"Stop asking me that every thirty seconds."
"I missed eleven months. I'm catching up."
She looked at him.
For the first time all day, the anger softened.
Then Scout barked toward the rear fence.
Claire turned.
Pike had climbed down the opposite side of the hangar.
He was running toward a fuel truck.
A worker froze beside it.
"Move!" Claire shouted.
The worker ran.
Pike climbed into the cab and started the engine.
The truck surged toward the runway gate.
Noah grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her behind a concrete barrier.
Police vehicles moved to block the exit.
Pike swerved.
The fuel truck struck a baggage cart and stopped hard against a steel post. No explosion. No cinematic fireball. Just twisted metal, steam, and a stunned silence.
Pike stumbled out.
Scout barked once.
Pike raised both hands.
"Don't send the dog."
Mason approached with his weapon trained.
"On your knees."
Pike obeyed.
As cuffs closed around his wrists, he looked past Mason at Claire.
"You think this ends with Voss?"
Claire's stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Pike smiled through a split lip.
May you like
"Ask your husband where he was for the last six months."
Noah went completely still.
