Chapter 4 - No One Leaves This Plane

"Tell the pilot we're going to Denver," Damon said.

The pilot had flown Damon through thunderstorms and once landed them safely with a failed cabin pressure sensor. Damon knew the man was skilled. What he did not know was whether that skill mattered if another passenger could redirect the entire trip with a private phone call.

The flight attendant, Lin, shook her head. "He says air traffic control rerouted us. I checked. They haven't."

Grant moved toward the cockpit. Damon blocked him. "Your employer doesn't own the sky."

"My employer is you."

"Then prove it."

Maya secured Noah in an approved infant restraint provided by the crew. His breathing remained uneven, but he was alert. She spoke to Lin quietly, asking her to update the medical team awaiting arrival and to preserve the bottle separately.

Damon pulled Lin aside. "Can the pilots contact emergency services directly?"

"Yes. But the captain says the radio's been unreliable since we left Phoenix."

"Was it unreliable before Grant spoke to him?"

Lin's silence answered enough.

Celeste rose from her seat. "This is insane. You're treating your own people like criminals."

"Somebody was asking if Noah drank that bottle," Damon said. "I'm treating them like suspects."

"You don't know what happened."

"Neither do you, apparently."

Celeste's eyes filled. For a second she looked genuinely hurt. Then Damon remembered how she'd snatched for her phone while Noah gasped.

The jet descended into clouds. A soft warning tone sounded.

Maya leaned toward Damon. "I need you to hear something. I'm not on this flight by accident."

He stared. "What?"

"I worked at Aster. Hannah contacted me before the crash. She said the company was using infant screenings to hide unauthorized research. We were supposed to meet. She never came."

"And you got on my jet?"

"I got a message saying your son was in danger. Someone sent me a passenger invitation under a false name."

Grant lunged across the aisle. "She's lying."

Lin shouted from the cockpit doorway. "Captain, lock the door!"

Damon caught Grant's wrist and shoved him into a seat. The bearded man's sleeve slipped back, exposing a fresh tattoo: a black star inside a circle.

May you like

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

The Bride Threw His 80-Year-Old Mother’s Jacket on the Floor at Their We...

She threw his 80-year-old mother’s jacket on the floor… and smiled like she had just won.In front of two hundred wedding guests, t...

The same symbol appeared on a folder in Hannah's final video.

And Grant smiled when he realized Damon had seen it.