Chapter 10 - The Midnight Flight
The rain hammered relentlessly against the windshield of Julian’s sedan as he sped down the dark, slick tarmac toward the private municipal airfield on the outskirts of the city. Detective Miller had provided him with the flight clearance code flagged by the aviation authority, tracking Beatrice’s private jet in real-time across the regional radar network. Beside him in the passenger seat, Clara sat wrapped in a gray wool blanket provided by the precinct, her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. They had managed to secure emergency custody of Toby just an hour earlier, and the boy was currently sleeping soundly in his car seat in the back, exhausted by the trauma of the day.
"She’s heading for the international terminal in the neighboring state," Clara said, reading the coordinates off the precinct-issued tablet. "From there, she has private connections to Zurich. Once she crosses international waters with the bearer bonds her father liquidated this morning, we'll never see a dime of the pension fund again."
"She won't make it," Julian said through clenched teeth, his foot pressing harder against the gas pedal as the sedan fishtailed slightly on the wet asphalt. "The private airfield requires federal clearance for international departures. If we can reach the tarmac before her pilot completes the pre-flight checklist, the federal marshals will intercept her."
"Julian, look out!" Clara screamed, pointing frantically ahead.
A massive semi-truck, its trailer swaying violently in the heavy wind, suddenly jackknifed across both lanes of the highway just fifty yards ahead of them. Julian’s instincts took over. He slammed down on the anti-lock brakes, wrenching the steering wheel hard to the right. The sedan spun in a sickening three-hundred-degree arc, tires screeching against the wet pavement before slamming backward into a metal guardrail with a deafening crunch of twisted steel.
Silence descended inside the cabin, save for the rhythmic clicking of the hazard lights and the steady hum of the engine idling in the dark. Julian took a sharp, ragged breath, instantly checking his limbs before turning frantically toward the back seat.
"Toby! Buddy, are you okay?" Julian called out, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
From the back seat, a small, sleepy voice piped up, completely unharmed thanks to the reinforced harness. "Daddy? Are we going on an airplane?"
Clara exhaled a shaky breath, pressing a trembling hand against her chest as she looked at Julian with wide, terrified eyes. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Julian muttered, shaking off the shock and kicking his door open against the dented frame. He stepped out into the pouring rain, assessing the damage. The rear quarter-panel of the sedan was caved in, but the engine was still running. They couldn't drive much further, but they were less than a mile from the airfield perimeter fence.
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"We run," Julian said, leaning back into the car to unbuckle Toby and scoop the boy into his arms, wrapping him tightly inside his damp black coat. He grabbed Clara’s hand, and together they sprinted through the blinding rain toward the chain-link fence of the private airfield, where the red-and-white strobe lights of Beatrice’s Gulfstream jet flickered against the stormy night sky, its turbines already whining with the deafening roar of impending takeoff.
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