Chapter 3 - The Skyward Escape
I didn't wait for the detective to finish reading the lawyer his rights.
I turned around and ran back toward the hospital elevator bank.
I hit the call button for the roof access floor repeatedly, my knuckles turning white.
The elevator music played a cheerful tune that felt like a cruel joke.
Every passing second felt like an eternity as the digital numbers slowly climbed.
When the doors finally opened on the top floor, I was hit by a massive wall of wind.
The deafening roar of helicopter blades filled the night air.
I pushed through the access doors and ran out onto the helipad.
Mark was standing near the open door of a private helicopter, holding Lily tightly against his chest.
Lily was limp, her little arm dangling lifelessly over his shoulder.
"Mark, stop!" I screamed, running toward him.
He turned to face me, his hair whipping wildly in the wind.
He didn't look angry anymore; he looked perfectly calm.
"I told you I would handle this, Sarah," he shouted over the engine noise.
He stepped back onto the landing skids of the chopper.
Detective Miller burst onto the roof, her weapon drawn and trained squarely on his chest.
"Drop the child and step away from the aircraft!" Miller ordered.
Mark laughed, a cold, empty sound that chilled me to the bone.
"If you shoot me, I drop her over the edge of the roof," he warned.
He took a precarious step toward the edge of the building to prove his point.
I held my hands up, begging Miller not to shoot.
"Please, just give her to me," I pleaded, tears streaming down my face.
"She's my daughter too."
"She's an asset," Mark corrected me coldly.
He threw Lily into the back of the helicopter and climbed in after her.
The chopper instantly lifted off the concrete pad, blowing me backward onto the ground.
I watched in sheer horror as the aircraft disappeared into the dark clouds.
Then, Detective Miller's radio beeped with an urgent update.
"Detective, we have a problem," the dispatcher said.
"Air traffic control says that helicopter isn't registered to your suspect."
Miller swore under her breath.
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"Who is it registered to?" she demanded.
"It belongs to Eleanor, the mother-in-law, and her flight plan leads straight into international airspace."
