Chapter 11 - The Empty SeatFor one terrible second, I thought Victoria had taken Leo.
I checked his carrier.
He was there, sleeping against me, his tiny chest rising and falling.
I pulled Maya close and looked around.
Denise moved immediately, calling for another crew member to secure the rear galley. Passengers began murmuring as they noticed the commotion.
Victoria had not escaped the aircraft.
She had slipped into the lavatory.
Two attendants stood outside, waiting for her to emerge.
“Open the door, ma'am,” Denise called.
No answer.
Then came a sharp crash.
The attendants unlocked the door.
Victoria was crouched beside the sink, trying to force a small phone into a paper towel dispenser.
Denise took the phone before she could destroy it.
Victoria burst into tears.
“He said he'd kill my son!”
The cabin went quiet.
I stared at her.
“You have a son?”
She nodded frantically.
“He's nine. Cole told me he had photographs of him coming home from school. He said if I didn't do what he asked, I'd never see my boy again.”
“You tried to take mine.”
“I know.” She covered her face. “I know what I did.”
For a moment, the anger inside me collided with something more complicated.
She had endangered my child because someone had threatened hers.
That didn't excuse anything.
But it meant the nightmare was bigger than one cruel woman stealing a seat.
Denise recovered the phone.
There were dozens of messages, several photographs of Leo, and a list of names.
One message read:
SUBJECT: BENNETT INFANT. DELIVERY APPROVED. FATHER COOPERATING.
Another included an address in Orlando.
My sister's address.
And the last message had been sent only minutes earlier.
IF THE GIRL HAS THE RECORDING, SILENCE HER BEFORE LANDING.
I felt my heart stop.
Maya was the girl.
The next message named a price.
May you like
Not for Leo.
For Maya.
