Chapter 1 - THE PLANE THAT NEVER LEFT
The aircraft never left Gate 17.
Less than four minutes after Major Marco Hayes made the call, two airport police officers appeared at the boarding door.
Another security officer spoke urgently into his radio.
I remained beside Lily and Owen.
I didn't want them watching what happened next.
Owen sat with his worn teddy bear pressed against his chest.
Lily still had my Army jacket wrapped around her tiny shoulders.
It nearly reached her shoes.
She looked toward the jet bridge.
“Is she coming back?”
I hesitated.
“Yes.”
Lily's fingers tightened around the sleeve of my jacket.
“Is she mad?”
That question told me more than she realized.
“Why would she be mad?”
Lily looked at Owen.
Owen stared at the floor.
Neither answered.
Then the boarding door opened.
The woman in the beige coat came storming into the terminal with an airline employee behind her.
Her face was red with anger.
“What is going on?”
She spotted the twins.
Then she saw me.
Her eyes dropped to my uniform.
For half a second, her confidence disappeared.
Then it returned.
“You.”
I stood.
“Colonel Daniel Steel.”
“I don't care who you are.”
Marco stepped beside me.
“That would be your first mistake.”
She ignored him.
“I have a connection in Denver.”
“You're not making it.”
Her mouth fell open.
“You stopped an aircraft because of two children?”
I looked at Lily and Owen.
“No.”
Then I looked directly into her eyes.
“I stopped it because you abandoned two five-year-old children inside an airport.”
“They aren't abandoned.”
“Who was picking them up?”
Silence.
Airport police moved closer.
She folded her arms.
“Their grandmother.”
“Name?”
Another silence.
“Phone number?”
She looked away.
The officer beside me opened his notebook.
“Ma'am, we're going to need identification.”
She pulled her driver's license from her purse and practically threw it at him.
The officer read the name.
“Rebecca Mercer.”
Something happened when Lily heard that name.
She moved closer to Owen.
I noticed.
So did Marco.
Rebecca pointed at them.
“Their father died six months ago.”
Her voice contained no grief.
“They've been impossible ever since.”
Owen's face dropped.
I felt my jaw tighten.
“They're five.”
“You don't know what I've dealt with.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“But I know what I just watched.”
Rebecca looked around and realized people were staring.
Her voice dropped.
“Colonel, this is a family matter.”
“You stopped making it private when you left them at Gate 17.”
The airport police officer asked Rebecca to come with him.
She resisted for a moment.
Then Lily suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Steel?”
I turned.
She was staring at Rebecca's suitcase.
“What is it?”
Lily pointed toward a small leather luggage tag.
“My daddy had one like that.”
Rebecca froze.
It lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
Marco saw it too.
I crouched beside Lily.
“What do you mean?”
“Daddy kept papers in it.”
Rebecca immediately stepped forward.
“She doesn't know what she's talking about.”
Marco blocked her.
I kept my attention on Lily.
“What papers?”
Lily swallowed.
“The papers Daddy said would keep us safe.”
The entire situation changed in that instant.
I looked at Marco.
He understood.
This wasn't only about two abandoned children anymore.
May you like
Something had frightened Rebecca.
And whatever it was, Lily had just brought it back to life.
