Chapter 10 - The Empty SeatFor the first time in nine years, Warren stopped thinking like a pilot and started thinking like a father who had nothing left to lose.
I ran.
The cockpit door slammed behind me.
The cabin was chaos.
Passengers were shouting.
Flight attendants were moving through the aisle.
8B was empty.
The teddy bear was gone.
I looked around.
Norah.
Norah.
Norah.
Nothing.
“Where is my daughter?”
Nobody answered.
I grabbed Jillian.
“Where?”
She was crying.
“She was here.”
“When?”
“Thirty seconds ago.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
Victor stood at the rear galley.
His face was blank.
I walked toward him.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You were with her.”
“I turned around.”
I grabbed him.
“You don't turn around.”
His eyes hardened.
“She was taken.”
“By whom?”
He looked toward the emergency door.
“Someone dressed like crew.”
I released him.
“How?”
Victor pointed.
A maintenance panel was open.
I stared.
There was a narrow service corridor behind it.
Too small for most adults.
Big enough for a child.
“No.”
I dropped to my knees.
“Nora!”
Silence.
Then a tiny sound.
Three knocks.
From inside the wall.
I froze.
Three knocks.
Again.
I placed my hand against the panel.
“Norah?”
Three knocks.
I grabbed a tool from the galley cart.
Jillian stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Opening the wall.”
I ripped the panel free.
Behind it was a maintenance cavity.
Norah was curled inside.
Alive.
Terrified.
I pulled her into my arms.
She buried her face against me.
“Dad.”
“I've got you.”
She shook.
“Don't let go.”
“I won't.”
“Promise.”
“Promise.”
I looked at Victor.
There was blood on his sleeve.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
He was lying.
But I didn't have time.
Norah pulled away.
“There was a man.”
“What man?”
“The one with the red scar.”
My heart stopped.
“Crowe?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She pointed toward the front.
“He said his name was Ethan.”
I looked at Victor.
He went pale.
“Ethan who?”
“Ethan Hayes.”
I stared.
My own surname.
Victor whispered:
“That name shouldn't exist.”
“Why?”
He couldn't answer.
Norah grabbed my wrist.
“He said Grandpa sent him.”
Grandpa.
My father.
A man who had supposedly been dead for fifteen years.
I felt something cold crawl over my skin.
Then the aircraft alarm sounded.
Altitude warning.
I ran back to the cockpit with Norah in my arms.
The aircraft had begun descending.
The captain was unconscious.
Douglas was trying to stabilize the controls.
“What's happening?”
“Autopilot failure.”
I strapped Norah into the jump seat.
“Stay here.”
“Dad…”
“Look at me.”
She did.
“No matter what happens, you keep your seat belt on.”
She nodded.
I turned toward the cockpit.
Then I saw it.
A message on the navigation screen.
One line.
Black text.
YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH HER.
I stared.
Then another line appeared.
WELCOME HOME, WARREN.
May you like
The aircraft began a violent descent.
And the landing gear indicator turned red.
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