Chapter 4 - The Decoy
The phone slipped from my trembling fingers and clattered onto the floorboard of the SUV.
That little girl in the yellow coat is a decoy.
Daniel and Patricia hired a lookalike to distract anyone who might be tracking them.
Aaron swore loudly and swerved into the fast lane on the highway.
If they sent the decoy to the private airfield, where is the real Lily?
My mind raced back to the voicemail Lily had left me at the hospital.
She mentioned that Grandma said they were going on a long airplane ride.
I tried to think about everything I knew about Patricia's dark past.
Patricia had family in a remote region of South America.
She owned a massive estate there that was completely off the grid.
If they get Lily out of the country on a commercial flight, I will never have the legal power to bring her back.
Aaron slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
Commercial flights require passports, and you have Lily's passport in your possession.
I shook my head, tears of frustration blurring my vision.
Daniel stole it from my safe three weeks ago and claimed he lost it.
He had plenty of time to get an expedited replacement or a forged document.
Aaron grabbed his phone and called his contact back.
He demanded a real-time scan of all facial recognition cameras at the main international airport.
We exited the highway and sped toward the massive commercial transit hub.
Every second felt like an agonizing eternity.
My body was beginning to shut down again as the thallium poison surged through my system.
My vision blurred, and a wave of intense nausea hit my stomach.
Stay with me, Sarah.
Aaron's voice grounded me, keeping me from slipping into unconsciousness.
His phone rang with an urgent tone.
The contact confirmed a match for Daniel and Lily at Terminal 4.
They had already passed through the security checkpoint.
Their flight to Buenos Aires was scheduled to depart in exactly twenty minutes.
We skidded to a halt in the passenger drop-off zone.
I threw the car door open and sprinted into the crowded terminal despite the burning pain in my muscles.
Aaron flashed his military badge to bypass the long security line.
We ran down the concourse toward Gate 42.
I could see the boarding tunnel at the very end of the hallway.
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Through the massive glass windows, I watched the boarding doors slowly slide shut.
The airplane was already beginning to pull away from the gate.
