Chapter 5 - THE SECOND TICKET
The flight was scheduled to leave in fifty-three minutes.
Destination: Nassau.
Dad was already moving.
Detective Grant called airport police.
I lay helpless in bed while everyone around me ran.
That was the cruelest part.
My daughter was somewhere with a man I no longer trusted, and I couldn’t even put my feet on the floor.
“Dad.”
He stopped.
“Bring her back.”
He bent down and kissed my forehead.
“I’m bringing her back.”
Then he left.
For forty-two minutes, I stared at the clock.
Every second felt like punishment.
At 5:03, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Then a small voice whispered,
“Mommy?”
My heart exploded.
“Chloe!”
“Mommy, Daddy says we’re going on a trip.”
I sat up too fast and cried out.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you see anything?”
“A lot of cars.”
Someone shouted in the background.
Chloe lowered her voice.
“Daddy’s mad.”
“Listen to me, sweetheart.”
My hands shook.
“Stay around other people.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t go anywhere private with Daddy.”
“Why?”
I heard Julian.
“Who are you talking to?”
The call ended.
I screamed for the nurse.
Detective Grant returned three minutes later.
She traced the number.
A pay phone near an airport parking shuttle.
“They’re still there.”
Dad called.
“We have visual.”
I nearly sobbed.
“Chloe?”
“She’s safe for the moment.”
“What does that mean?”
“Julian is holding her hand. Airport officers are approaching.”
My heart monitor raced.
“Please keep talking.”
Silence.
Then Dad said,
“He sees them.”
“What?”
“Julian’s running.”
I could hear noise through the phone.
Shouting.
Footsteps.
Then Dad’s voice became sharp.
“Chloe!”
The connection cut.
I stared at the phone.
Nothing.
Thirty seconds.
A minute.
Two minutes.
Then it rang again.
Dad.
I answered so quickly my fingers slipped.
“Dad?”
A different voice responded.
“Mommy?”
I burst into tears.
“Chloe.”
“I’m okay.”
I covered my mouth.
“Where’s Grandpa?”
“He’s talking to police.”
“Where’s Daddy?”
I closed my eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Dad came on the line.
“Chloe is safe.”
“And Julian?”
“Gone.”
Of course.
He had abandoned his own daughter in an airport and disappeared through a service corridor.
But airport cameras caught something important.
Before running, Julian handed a black backpack to another man.
Police detained him.
Inside the backpack were forty thousand dollars in cash.
Two prepaid phones.
My life insurance documents.
And a copy of my medical power of attorney.
That evening, Detective Grant returned to my room carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was one of the phones.
“Mr. Mercer had been communicating with someone for months.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
She opened a printed transcript.
One message had been sent five days before my crash.
Everything is ready. She drives alone Thursday.
My hands went ice cold.
Another message came from the unknown number.
Make sure it looks clean.
I stared at the words.
Detective Grant turned the page.
The final message had been sent the morning after my accident.
She survived. Now what?
May you like
Julian’s reply was only three words.
I’ll handle it.
