Chapter 5 - Descent into Turbulence
Before I could press her for answers, the captain’s voice crackled over the cabin intercom, calm but carrying an underlying note of urgency.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re beginning our initial descent into Denver. However, we’ve just received an advisory from air traffic control regarding unexpected ground-handling delays and an unscheduled tarmac inspection at our arrival gate. Please remain seated with your seatbelts securely fastened.”
I looked out the window. The bright blue sky was rapidly giving way to heavy, bruised gray storm clouds swirling over the Rocky Mountains.
“Mom, what was in that envelope?” I asked, my voice rising over the sudden vibration of the landing gear deploying beneath us. “Who knew we were on this flight?”
Mom looked out the window at the approaching storm, her jaw set with a fierce, unyielding resolve that reminded me she wasn't just a recovering patient—she was a veteran who had navigated crises far worse than bad weather.
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“People who thought I stayed retired,” she said tightly. She reached into her handbag, pulled out an old, encrypted satellite phone that I had never seen before, and tapped a sequence of numbers into the keypad. “And honey? They’re about to find out they were very, very wrong.”
The plane dipped hard into a pocket of turbulence, dropping several feet before leveling out, while down on the tarmac below, three unmarked black government sedans were already positioning themselves directly in front of our designated arrival gate.
