Chapter 4 - The Man in Row 14The man moved quickly, but another passenger stood up and blocked the aisle.
He was in his forties, wearing a plain gray sweater. Until that moment, I had barely noticed him.
“Where do you think you're going?” he asked.
“I'm going to the restroom.”
“Then wait until the aisle is clear.”
The stranger's jaw tightened.
“I don't need your permission.”
Rachel appeared beside him.
“Sir, please return to your seat. The captain has been notified of a security concern.”
That made him pause.
Only for a moment.
Then he looked directly at me.
“You're making a terrible mistake,” he said. “Whatever that girl recorded, it isn't what you think.”
I tightened my arms around Leo.
“Stay away from my family.”
His expression hardened.
“You have no idea how much trouble you're causing.”
The gray-sweater passenger stepped between us.
“And you have no idea how many people are listening to you.”
A murmur traveled through the cabin.
For the first time, the stranger realized he had an audience.
He backed away and returned to his seat, but he kept his eyes on us.
Rachel crouched beside Maya.
“Sweetheart, can you tell me exactly what happened at the airport?”
Maya nodded.
While boarding, she'd noticed Victoria near a charging station. The woman had been photographing Leo from a distance.
Maya thought it was strange, so she'd opened the camera on her tablet.
Then she heard Victoria make a phone call.
The words had frightened her.
Maya had recorded what she could, then followed our family toward the boarding gate.
“And when I saw her sitting in our seat,” Maya continued, “I remembered her voice.”
“Why didn't you tell me sooner?” I asked.
My daughter looked down.
“Because the man in Row 14 saw me recording. He walked toward me and whispered that if I told you anything, Leo would disappear before we reached Florida.”
My mouth went dry.
“You were threatened?”
Maya nodded.
Then she reached into the pocket of her backpack.
“I kept something else, Mom.”
She handed Rachel a folded piece of paper.
It contained our flight number, our seat numbers, Leo's full name, and a note written in block letters.
MOTHER DISTRACTED. BABY UNGUARDED.
Beneath it was a time.
11:40 a.m.
May you like
Rachel checked her watch.
It was 11:37.
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