Chapter 7 - The Grounding
I leaped out of the metal interrogation chair, my heart pounding with pure adrenaline.
"Eric is running with the five million dollars he stole from my company!" I shouted at the detective.
"You have to stop that plane before it leaves American airspace."
Detective Miller frantically grabbed his radio and demanded the flight manifest from the local municipal airport.
"The charter flight is currently taxiing to the main runway for immediate takeoff," the dispatcher confirmed urgently.
"The federal agents are twenty minutes away, and they will never make it in time."
Sarah slammed her fist against the table in absolute frustration.
"Once they land in the Cayman Islands, the money is gone forever, and extradition will take years," Sarah cursed.
I stared at the laptop screen, desperately searching my brain for a way to stop a private jet.
Then I remembered Eric's absolute obsession with accumulating luxury travel rewards.
He refused to book any major travel without using the premium corporate travel portal I had set up for him years ago.
"I can stop the plane," I declared, my fingers flying rapidly across the laptop keyboard.
I bypassed the security protocols and logged directly into the executive travel portal attached to my name.
The active itinerary for the private charter flight instantly populated on the screen.
Eric had foolishly booked the international escape flight using the supplemental travel card I had frozen at three in the morning.
The system had automatically flagged the massive transaction, but the charter company had overridden the alert to secure the booking.
I clicked on the emergency fraud prevention tab and initiated a total, catastrophic security recall.
"I am officially reporting the aircraft charter as a fraudulent purchase actively connected to federal wire fraud," I explained to Sarah.
I hit the confirmation button, sending an automated, high-priority federal hold directly to the airport's control tower.
We waited in agonizing silence as the detective's radio remained completely quiet.
Three minutes later, the radio finally crackled to life with a triumphant update.
"The control tower received the fraud alert and ordered the charter flight to completely kill its engines on the runway," the dispatcher announced.
"Airport security has successfully boarded the aircraft and detained both passengers."
I let out a massive sigh of relief, knowing my mother and my treacherous husband were finally caught.
Detective Miller quickly unlocked my handcuffs and offered a gruff, embarrassed apology.
Sarah drove us straight to the municipal airport, bypassing the media perimeter with her legal credentials.
We walked onto the tarmac just as the heavily armed federal agents were escorting my mother down the airplane stairs in handcuffs.
She looked at me with pure hatred, completely unrepentant for trying to destroy my life.
I ignored her completely and marched up the stairs to face my husband.
Eric was sitting comfortably in his luxurious leather seat, surrounded by angry federal agents.
He looked up at me and offered a chilling, victorious smile.
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"You grounded the plane, Claire, but you are entirely too late," Eric laughed darkly.
"The offshore bank account just sent me the confirmation text, which means your five million dollars is already gone."
