Chapter 12 - Race to the Tarmac
The private hangar at JFK International Airport was bathed in harsh, sodium-vapor lights that cut through the pouring rain, casting long, watery reflections across the wet asphalt. A twin-engine Gulfstream jet sat idling on the tarmac, its turbine engines screaming with a low, oppressive roar that vibrated in the damp night air.
Arthur’s black armored sedan tore through the perimeter gate, the tires throwing up sheets of water before screeching to a halt thirty yards from the aircraft’s rolling stairs. The doors flew open instantly. Arthur stepped out first, followed closely by Maya, her white cane tapping rapidly against the wet concrete as she navigated the unfamiliar terrain with astonishing speed.
"Stay behind me," Arthur ordered over the roar of the engines, his dark suit jacket soaked within seconds by the relentless rain.
"I told you, I'm not hiding," Maya shouted back, her breath pluming in the cold night air as she tracked the sound of the jet turbine.
Ahead of them, a man in an expensive gray overcoat was rushing up the retractable stairs of the aircraft. It was David Vance—Arthur’s former Chief Financial Officer and cousin, the man who had orchestrated the betrayal from within the inner sanctum of the family empire. He clutched a black Pelican briefcase tightly to his chest like a shield.
"David!" Arthur’s voice boomed across the tarmac, cutting effortlessly through the roar of the engines.
David paused on the second step of the aircraft, turning around slowly. The rain plastered his gray hair across his forehead, and his face was twisted in a mixture of panic and bitter resignation. He looked down at Arthur, and then at Maya standing defiantly beside him with her white cane.
"You're too late, Arthur!" David screamed over the turbine noise. "The flight plan is filed! International airspace! You can't touch me outside federal jurisdiction!"
"You didn't just steal from the company, David," Arthur yelled, taking aggressive steps toward the stairs. "You engineered the crash! You killed Sarah!"
David let out a manic laugh, clutching the briefcase tighter. "She was going to expose the illegal dumping contracts in the upstate facilities! She was going to ruin us all! I just accelerated the inevitable!"
Before David could turn to enter the cabin, a sleek black SUV belonging to the federal tactical team screeched to a halt right behind Arthur’s car. Three agents poured out, weapons drawn, shouting orders for the aircraft to shut down its engines immediately.
Panic flashed across David’s face. He turned abruptly, lunging for the cabin door, but his foot slipped on the rain-slicked metal stair. The heavy Pelican briefcase slipped from his grip, tumbling down the steps and crashing onto the tarmac right at Maya’s feet.
Maya instinctively dropped her white cane, reaching down blindly through the puddles until her fingers wrapped around the handle of the metal case.
May you like
David scrambled back down the steps, his eyes wide with wild desperation, lunging directly toward Maya to snatch the briefcase back before the federal agents could reach him.
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