Chapter 3

Professor Dickerson handed me the backup comm unit. The screen lit with an encrypted message:

"Target confirmed aboard. Could move at any time. No ground support available. Handle it yourself."

I gripped the device, knuckles going white.

Duane was aviation security. If he'd cooperate, at the very least he could help me keep eyes on the two men in the rear cabin.

I took a slow breath, stood, and crossed the aisle toward the flight attendants' galley.

The door was ajar. Leah's voice leaked through the gap, thick with tears.

"Duane, she's been out to get me since the second we boarded."

"I pour water for the old man and she acts like I'm poisoning him. I fold a blanket and she glares at me. I so much as talk to you and she gets even angrier..."

"Duane, do you regret the engagement? Look at the way she is. She's going to poison your whole life someday."

A few seconds of silence inside. Then Duane's voice, at last.

"That's just her rotten temper. I'll deal with her when we get home tonight."

Leah sniffled. "That old man must be some company higher-up. The way she's so anxious over him, she's scared I'll ruin whatever she's got going."

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her and her old sugar daddy for you."

Duane didn't push back. It seemed he was letting Leah's suspicion and slander stand as fact.

I let go of the door handle and turned back.

If talking wouldn't work, then I'd do it alone.

With Duane's blessing secured, Leah lifted her chin and planted herself in front of me.

"Madge, is there something in that case you can't let anyone see? It feels off to me. I want it checked."

I clenched my fists, knuckles pale. "There's nothing."

But she seized on it like she'd caught me red-handed.

"What are you so nervous about? Everyone can judge for themselves. She's my childhood friend's fiancée."

"Says she's on a business trip, and here she is off traveling with this old man, the two of them acting all sneaky!"

As she spoke, she reached for the metal case at Professor Dickerson's feet.

I shoved her back without mercy, and she clutched her shoulder, sobbing.

"Duane, Madge pinched me. It hurts so much..."

The passengers around us turned scornful eyes on me.

Professor Dickerson cleared his throat, wanting to speak up for me, but I pressed him back into his seat.

Duane stormed forward, furious. "Madge, you actually put your hands on her!"

"Tell me the truth. Are you smuggling something?"

He raised his ID badge in front of my face. "If you've done something today that won't stand the light of day, then as security on this flight, I have every right to look into it."

He was questioning me like a stranger. Not a shred of trust left.

At that moment, Professor Dickerson broke into a violent fit of coughing, his lips going purple.

The veins stood out at his temple, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

That glass of orange juice from Leah. Something was wrong with it.