Chapter 12 - The Real TargetThe price beside Maya's name was $250,000.
I couldn't understand it.
Why would anyone pay that much to silence a ten-year-old child?
Denise photographed the message and relayed the information to the captain. The crew moved Maya and me to a monitored area while passengers nearby were asked to remain seated.
Maya clung to my waist.
“Mom, I'm sorry.”
I knelt in front of her.
“What could you possibly be sorry for?”
“I should have told you at the gate.”
I held her face between my hands.
“You protected your brother when you were scared. You did nothing wrong.”
She began crying.
“I thought if I told you, that man would hurt you.”
I pulled her into my arms.
“You don't have to protect us alone, Maya. You're my daughter. You're allowed to be a child.”
For the first time since boarding, she sobbed against my shoulder.
Then she remembered something.
“Mom, the man at the airport wasn't just talking to Victoria.”
She wiped her cheeks and opened the tablet again.
“I saw him hand her something.”
“What?”
“A key card.”
She enlarged a still image from the recording.
The card had a symbol printed on it: a silver tree surrounded by a circle.
I recognized it immediately.
It was the logo of the private medical company that had managed some of my mother's healthcare records before her death.
The same company had processed Leo's newborn paperwork.
I showed the image to Denise.
She looked at it, then called the cockpit.
Minutes later, the captain announced that the aircraft would divert to Indianapolis so authorities could address a security issue.
A wave of unease passed through the cabin.
Then the man in Row 14 stood again.
This time, he didn't pretend to be calm.
“You can't divert this plane,” he shouted. “You have no idea what's waiting on the ground!”
Denise ordered him to sit.
He looked at me.
“You think the police will protect you? Ask your husband what happened to the last family that discovered the truth.”
Then he pointed at Maya.
“She has something that belongs to us.”
Maya clutched the tablet.
And the man smiled.
“Not just a recording.”
May you like
He reached into his pocket and held up a tiny silver key.
“The original medical files.”
