Chapter 9 - The Tarmac Stand-off
The SUV screeched to a halt ten feet in front of me, its front bumper inches from my knees.
The driver's door flew open, and a private security contractor in tactical gear stepped out, resting his hand on a heavy-duty riot baton.
"Stop right there! Federal aviation jurisdiction! Drop the bag and get on the ground!" the guard roared over the scream of the jet turbines.
I didn't stop. I veered hard to the left, darting around the rear fender of the SUV just as the guard lunged forward to grab my jacket. The heavy leather strap of the duffel bag slipped over my shoulder, but I held on with both hands, my lungs burning from the cold air.
Up on the mobile stairs, my mother grabbed the railing, screaming at the pilot inside the cabin.
"Close the door! Get this thing moving right now!" she shrieked, her voice carrying sharply over the engine noise.
The aircraft door began to swing inward, hydraulic arms hissing as the seal engaged.
"Harper!" I yelled, my voice cutting through the wind as I reached the base of the metal stairs. "The whole house is gone! Dad is in custody, Vance is bleeding out in Terminal B, and you think you can just fly away with stolen paper?"
Harper froze with her hand on the inner cabin handle. She looked down at me, her eyes wide with a manic, desperate defiance.
"You didn't win anything, Lucas!" she screamed back, tears streaming down her face in the jet wash. "Dad set the fire to burn the ledgers before the feds could find them! You're the one holding the bag for a ruined estate!"
"The ledgers were in the lower vault," I said, my voice cold and hard as I hoisted the heavy leather duffel onto the bottom step. "And I pulled them out before the flames reached the foundation."
My mother’s face lost every trace of color. She shoved Harper aside, grabbing the cabin radio mic herself.
"Pilot, take off! Take off right now or I'll fire you myself!"
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The jet’s turbines whined into a deafening scream, the fuselage shuddering as the pilot released the wheel brakes. The aircraft began to roll forward down the tarmac, dragging the mobile stairs away from the concrete with a terrifying metallic screech.
I leaped backward just in time as the stairs rattled and tipped over, crashing hard onto the pavement.
