Chapter 2 - The Lock Down Richard stared at the photograph of his dead wife, his entire world tilting wildly on its axis.
His wife had passed away five years ago in a tragic car accident, and she had certainly never mentioned having another child.
He shoved the mysterious photograph into his expensive gray overcoat and stood up with renewed, furious energy.
He turned to his sharp-faced assistant, Colin, and barked an order that completely shocked the surrounding crowd.
He demanded that Colin use their corporate influence to lock down the entire airport terminal immediately.
Colin hesitated, arguing that trapping thousands of angry passengers for a runaway street child was a public relations nightmare.
Richard grabbed his assistant by the lapels of his designer suit, his eyes burning with a terrifying intensity.
He told Colin that he did not care if it cost him a billion dollars, because that little girl held the absolute truth about his family.
Airport security guards finally rushed onto the scene, shouting into their radios to close the heavy glass doors of Gate B23.
Meanwhile, the private medical team arrived in a chaotic rush, loading the stabilized Ethan onto a portable stretcher.
Richard knelt beside his son one last time, brushing the damp blond fringe away from the boy's sweaty forehead.
Ethan slowly opened his pale eyes and grabbed his father's thick wrist with surprising, desperate strength.
The boy coughed weakly, struggling to push words past his dry, aching throat.
Richard leaned in close, expecting his son to ask for water or complain about the lingering pain in his chest.
Instead, Ethan stared directly toward the crowd where the little girl had disappeared just moments ago.
He whispered that the girl with the purple backpack was the exact same girl from the bad men's underground house.
Richard felt a cold, paralyzing chill run down his spine at those terrifying words.
His son had been kidnapped for three agonizing months last year, a traumatic event the boy had entirely blocked from his memory until this very second.
May you like
Before Richard could even ask another question, the terminal's public address system cracked to life with a blaring alarm.
A mechanical voice announced that a massive security breach had just been triggered in the restricted baggage handling area beneath their feet.
Related Stories
