Chapter 14 - The Runway at Midnight
The night wind whipped around my ears as Brandon’s SUV tore down the access road leading to the municipal airfield. Detective Miller’s cruiser followed twenty yards behind, sirens silent to avoid spooking the pilot before we could reach the perimeter gate.
My mother was at the house, watching over my babies. Leaving them for even an hour felt like tearing a piece of my own flesh away, but I knew that if I didn't finish this tonight, Scott would spend the next eighteen years starving them from across an ocean.
"He thinks he’s bulletproof," Brandon said, his hands tight on the steering wheel as we rounded the final curve toward the private hangars. "Scott always operated on the assumption that nobody would ever look closely enough at the fine print. He thought you were too exhausted, too beaten down by the pregnancy to ever read the corporate filings."
"He thought I was stupid," I replied, staring through the windshield at the floodlit runway ahead. "He mistook my patience for weakness."
Ahead of us, a sleek twin-engine turboprop sat on the tarmac, its engines idling with a high-pitched whine. Ground crew members were just pulling the wheel chocks away. At the base of the passenger stairs stood Scott, dressed in an immaculate cashmere jacket, a leather weekender bag slung over his shoulder, holding a phone to his ear.
He looked impatient, glancing at his watch every three seconds. He was waiting for Arthur to call and tell him the drive had been secured.
Brandon hit the high beams and gunned the engine.
The headlights washed over Scott, pinning him against the white fuselage like an insect under glass. Scott shielded his eyes, barking something into his phone before lowering it, clearly assuming it was Arthur Vance arriving with the drive.
Then Brandon slammed on the brakes, stopping five feet from the stairs.
Detective Miller’s cruiser swung in sideways behind us, flashing red and blue lights cutting across the tarmac.
Scott’s expression shifted in real time. First came annoyance, then confusion, and finally—when the passenger door opened and I stepped out onto the asphalt—pure, paralyzed horror.
"Lauren?" he choked out, dropping his weekender bag to the ground. "What the hell is this?"
I walked forward, every step measured and deliberate. My body still ached from the surgery, and my back burned with phantom pain, but I stood completely straight.
"The flight is canceled, Scott," I said clearly.
Scott took an involuntary step backward, up onto the first rung of the plane’s stairs. His eyes darted past me to Detective Miller, then to Brandon.
"Brandon?" Scott’s voice cracked, turning high and desperate. "What did you do? You brought cops to my flight? Lauren, are you insane? Do you have any idea how much money is riding on this meeting tonight? Go back home to the kids!"
"The kids you used to buy this plane?" I asked, stopping at the foot of the stairs.
Scott flinched. The lie died on his tongue before he could even form it.
"Arthur gave you up, Scott," I continued, watching the blood drain from his face. "Unit 412 is cleared out. The hard drive is in Miller's custody. The state attorney is processing the freeze on Apex Ventures right now."
"Arthur would never..." Scott stammered, looking frantically between the police officers and me. "Arthur is my partner! We had an agreement!"
"Arthur was Elena's father," I said bluntly. "He played you for two years. He let you steal her trust so he could write off his own corporate tax liabilities, and he was ready to hand you over to the feds the second you stepped onto this runway."
Scott gripped the handrail of the plane’s stairs so tightly his knuckles turned white. He looked completely unhinged, the arrogant, charming corporate executive reduced to a cornered animal.
"You don't understand, Lauren," Scott pleaded, taking a step down toward me, his hands outstretched in fake remorse. "I did it for us! For our family! The triplets—three babies at once, Lauren! Do you know what kind of money that takes? I panicked! I made bad investments with Elena's money, and Arthur threatened to destroy me if I didn't keep laundering through Apex! I was going to the Bahamas to wire the funds back to you!"
"You stood over me while I bled on the floor, Scott," I said, my voice so quiet and venomous that it stopped him in his tracks. "You threw a pack of adult diapers at my head and told me I was useless because my body couldn't bounce back after three days. You told me I wasn't a real woman anymore."
Scott opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
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"You didn't run to save our family," I whispered. "You ran because you're a coward who couldn't bear to face what you are."
Detective Miller stepped forward, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. "Scott Mercer, step away from the aircraft and place your hands behind your back."
