Chapter 3 - The Search
The silence in the first-class cabin was suddenly deafening.
Leah could hear the low hum of the jet engines vibrating beneath her feet.
"What do you mean it is arming?" Leah asked, stepping back toward the locked door.
Silas tossed the scanner onto the leather seat and began frantically tearing through his luggage.
"These devices are designed for proximity assassination," Silas explained, tossing a laptop aside.
"Someone planted the first one on my son before we boarded."
"They brought the second one onto the flight to trigger the explosion mid-air."
Marcus, the security guard, finally spoke up from the corner of the cabin.
"Sir, we need to ground the plane immediately and alert the pilot," Marcus said.
"If we alert the pilot, whoever is holding the trigger will know we found out," Silas argued aggressively.
"They will detonate it the second they realize their plan is compromised."
Leah thought about Maya, sleeping soundly back in row forty-two.
Her three-year-old sister was entirely unprotected in the dark cabin.
"I have to go back to my seat," Leah said, panic rising sharply in her throat.
"You cannot leave," Silas ordered, stepping directly in front of the door.
"If you walk out of here looking terrified, the assassin will know we are onto them."
"My three-year-old sister is out there!" Leah yelled, her voice breaking.
Silas stopped, looking down at the desperate ten-year-old girl standing in front of him.
He reached into his pocket and handed her a small, modified earpiece.
"Put this in your ear and keep your hair covering it," Silas commanded softly.
"Walk back to your seat like absolutely nothing happened."
"Look at the faces of every single passenger you pass."
"Tell me who is sweating, who is awake, and who is watching you."
Leah nodded, placing the tiny black earpiece in her right ear.
Marcus unlocked the cabin door just enough for her to slip through.
Leah stepped back into the dimly lit economy cabin and began to walk.
She scanned the rows of sleeping passengers, but everything seemed perfectly normal.
She reached row forty-two and let out a massive sigh of relief when she saw Maya still sleeping safely.
Maya was still tightly clutching her old, gray-brown stuffed rabbit.
Leah sat down and gently pulled the blanket up over her sister's shoulders.
As she smoothed the blanket, her hand brushed against the soft stuffed rabbit.
May you like
There was a hard, distinct lump hidden deep inside the cotton stuffing.
It was a lump that was blinking with a faint, almost invisible red light through the fabric.
