Chapter 2 - GATE 14 GOES DARK“Lock the doors!”
Daniel sprinted after the fleeing man.
Behind him, alarms erupted across the terminal.
Security officers moved passengers toward emergency exits while another officer rushed for Eli and his mother.
“Don't touch the backpack!” Daniel shouted.
The maintenance worker disappeared through a service corridor.
Daniel followed.
Rex ran ahead.
The dog's nails clicked against the concrete.
“Rex! Track!”
Rex lowered his head.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Then he pulled forward.
Daniel's pulse jumped.
The corridor split in two.
Rex chose the left.
They burst through a steel door and entered a maze of luggage equipment.
The man was gone.
Daniel scanned the room.
Conveyor belts.
Utility cabinets.
Metal carts.
A blinking red light.
Then Rex stopped.
Daniel crouched beside him.
The dog was staring at a maintenance locker.
Daniel drew his weapon.
“Back.”
Rex didn't move.
Daniel opened the locker.
Empty.
Except for a black access badge lying on the floor.
He picked it up.
No name.
Only a number.
His radio crackled.
“Brooks, return to Gate 14 immediately.”
“I'm tracking a suspect.”
“Negative. We've got a secondary situation.”
“What situation?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your K9 is required back there.”
Daniel looked at Rex.
Something cold moved through his chest.
They sprinted back.
When they reached Gate 14, the area looked like a war zone.
Passengers had been evacuated.
Security tape surrounded the boarding area.
The red backpack sat alone in the center.
Eli and his mother were gone.
Daniel spun.
“Where's the boy?”
Officer Megan Clarke approached.
“We moved them to the secure room.”
“Any movement from the bag?”
“No.”
“Anyone touch it?”
“Negative.”
Daniel glanced at Rex.
His dog was staring toward the ceiling.
Not at the bag.
The ceiling.
Daniel noticed a small maintenance panel above the gate.
“Get bomb response up here.”
Minutes later, the airport bomb team arrived.
A specialist approached the backpack using a remote inspection device.
The terminal stayed silent.
Then his voice came through the radio.
“There's something inside.”
“What?”
“Electronics.”
Daniel frowned.
“Explosive?”
“Not sure.”
The specialist opened the backpack remotely.
Inside were toys.
A coloring book.
A juice box.
A blue hoodie.
A stuffed dinosaur.
Nothing dangerous.
Then the scanner beeped.
The specialist froze.
“There's a second compartment.”
He cut open the lining.
A black rectangular device was hidden inside.
Daniel felt the atmosphere change.
The specialist stared at his monitor.
“That's not a commercial device.”
“What is it?”
“We don't know.”
Rex growled.
Then the device emitted a soft tone.
Beep.
Everyone froze.
Beep.
The specialist's face changed.
“Shut down every wireless transmitter in this zone.”
Daniel looked toward the secure room.
“Why?”
The specialist stared at the device.
“Because something is trying to connect to it.”
Daniel grabbed his radio.
“Find the boy's mother.”
A security officer answered.
“We have her.”
“Is Eli with her?”
Another silence.
Then:
“No.”
Daniel's stomach dropped.
“Where is the kid?”
“We thought he was with his mother.”
Daniel ran.
The secure room door was open.
The woman was inside alone.
Her wrists were handcuffed.
She was crying.
“Where's my son?”
Daniel stared at her.
“You tell me.”
“I don't know.”
“You were supposed to be with him.”
“I was!”
Daniel looked around.
Then noticed something on the floor.
A small blue thread.
From Eli's hoodie.
The window was locked.
The door had one guard outside.
No one could have entered.
No one could have left.
Yet the boy was gone.
Then Rex began scratching at the wall.
Daniel crouched.
Behind the wall came a faint sound.
A child's voice.
“Mom?”
Daniel's blood went cold.
May you like
The voice came from somewhere inside the airport.
And whoever had taken Eli wanted them to hear him.
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