Chapter 7 - The Noose Tightens
The silence in the cabin after I hung up was deafening.
I set the burner phone down on the table, my hand surprisingly steady. I looked at Marcus, then at Sarah.
"Did we get it?" I asked.
Sarah let out a triumphant shout, slamming her fist onto the table. "We got him! Hagerstown Regional Airport, Hangar 4. It’s a private charter facility. The tail number of his registered plane is N442DL."
She immediately picked up her own secure satellite phone and dialed a pre-programmed number.
"Vance," she said when the call connected. "It’s Sarah. We have the target’s exact coordinates. Hagerstown Airport, Hangar 4. He's boarding a private charter, tail number November-Four-Four-Two-Delta-Lima. The transfer to your secure FBI escrow account has been initiated and logged. The bait has been taken."
She listened for a moment, her eyes darting over her computer screens, nodding. "Understood. The wife and daughter are safe with me. Yes, I’ll keep the line open."
She hung up and looked at me. "Vance’s team was already in the area. They had a tactical unit stationed in Frederick, which is only twenty minutes away from Hagerstown. They’re moving in now. State police are locking down the perimeter of the airport."
A huge weight seemed to lift from my chest, but the relief was short-lived.
"What about Leonard?" Marcus asked, his expression dark. "He’s still out there. If he realizes Derek’s plan has failed, he’s going to come looking for us to clean up the loose ends."
"The FBI is issuing an emergency broadcast warrant for Leonard's arrest and his vehicle," Sarah said. "Every state trooper from here to Ohio is looking for that black sedan. He won't get far."
"He's smart, Sarah," Marcus insisted, pacing the length of the small living room. "He’s not a common street thug. He’s a professional fixer. If he thinks he’s going down, he’ll try to take Claire and Lily with him out of spite, or to use them as leverage to get a deal with the feds."
Suddenly, the lights in the cabin flickered.
Once. Twice. And then, they went out completely.
The hum of the refrigerator died. The soft glow of the laptop screens vanished, plunging the room into the gray, dim light of the stormy afternoon.
"Is there a power outage?" I asked, my voice rising in panic.
"No," Sarah whispered, her face going pale in the gloom. "The generator is on a separate circuit. The only way the power goes out like this..."
She reached under the table and pulled out a heavy, black semi-automatic pistol.
"...is if someone cut the main line from the outside."
"Mommy?" Lily’s voice called out from the kitchen, small and frightened in the sudden darkness.
"Lily, stay there!" I yelled, rushing into the kitchen. I grabbed her from the chair and pulled her into my arms, carrying her back into the living room.
"Get in the pantry," Marcus hissed, pointing to a heavy oak door in the corner of the room. "Now. Lock it from the inside."
I didn't argue. I carried Lily into the small, dark pantry, smelling of canned soup and dried herbs, and shut the thick wooden door. I slid the brass deadbolt into place, holding Lily tightly against my chest. She was trembling violently, her little hands gripping the collar of my sweater.
"Shh, baby," I whispered in her ear, my heart hammering against my ribs. "It’s going to be okay. Uncle Marcus and Sarah are going to protect us. Just close your eyes."
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Outside the pantry, the cabin was dead silent, save for the furious drumming of the rain against the roof and the howling of the wind through the trees.
Then, we heard the sound of shattering glass.
