Chapter 7 - The Hangar
The private hangar looked empty.
Inside were medical cots, burned papers, and an open laptop.
“No hostages,” Hannah said.
Nathan shook his head.
“Trap.”
The laptop lit up.
Marisol appeared on a live feed inside a moving van.
Then Malcolm Rusk’s voice came through the speakers.
“Hannah Mercer Cole.”
She stepped closer.
“Where are the witnesses?”
“Safe if you stop.”
“You murdered my father.”
“I never touched him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Silence.
Rusk finally said, “Michael threatened a system he did not understand.”
“A system that put people behind false walls.”
“A system that prevented larger crises.”
Hannah felt disgust rise.
“There it is. Cruelty dressed as administration.”
The video changed.
A blinking location appeared on a map.
Point Loma.
Rusk was showing control.
And exposing himself.
Hannah silently forwarded the coordinates.
He continued.
“At six, I release documents proving your father approved every transfer.”
“Forged documents.”
“The public won’t know.”
“They will when Victor Kane testifies.”
Another silence.
Then Rusk said:
“Victor Kane won’t testify.”
An explosion rolled across the tarmac.
Hannah ran outside.
The command vehicle was burning.
Agents dragged Kane from the rear door.
Alive.
Blood on his shirt.
He grabbed Hannah’s sleeve.
“Thomas did it.”
“Your brother?”
“He built the false compartments. He taught them how to hide them.”
Hannah’s phone rang.
Thomas Kane.
“If you want Marisol alive,” he said, “bring Victor.”
Hannah looked at Kane.
He was pale but conscious.
“He wants to kill you.”
Kane nodded.
“Probably.”
“You’re not going.”
“Yes, I am.”
“That isn’t courage. It’s guilt.”
“Maybe.”
He met her eyes.
“But if guilt gets one witness home, use it.”
Hannah hated the answer.
Because part of her agreed.
Then Thomas sent an address.
An abandoned coastal warehouse.
May you like
And one final message:
COME ALONE OR THE WOMAN DIES.
