Falling(52)

You’ve got this, Aunt Jo. We’ve got it down here. Now you handle it up there. I love you too.



A thought floated up: I hope the captain chooses to sacrifice his family. Theo’s head drooped with shame and guilt.

Across the lot, Liu and the agents burst into movement. Something was happening. Theo broke into a run. By the time he reached them, the team was almost done packing up.

“…look up any public area in a two-mile radius that allows campfires. Think parks and…”

“What’s up?” Theo asked Rousseau.

There had been another Morse message. The pilot said the family could smell smoke. Campfire-type smoke.

Theo tried to picture the airport’s surrounding areas from above. To the east, the line of hotels on Century Boulevard. Maybe one had a courtyard fire pit? South was pretty much all residential. And too far from the runways. North, also residential and—

“Dockweiler!” Theo yelled as it came to him. He took off running toward the nearest vehicle but seeing no one follow, he stopped.

“What’s Dockweiler?” Liu said, without turning away from the screens in the comms van.

“It’s a beach,” Theo said, speaking quickly. “It’s at the end of the runways—look, I’ll explain on the way. But we gotta go.”

The agents went to finish packing up but Liu stopped them with her hand. After directing the agent working the screens to pull up all of the information they could find about the beach, she turned back to Theo.

“We’ll see. Look,” she said, indicating the information beginning to pop up on the displays, “we are seeing. But we don’t have the resources to send agents to every location you have a hunch about.”

“But, we don’t have time—”

“What we don’t have time for are mistakes. Got it?” Liu’s tone was final. She turned back to the van.

Theo gaped in disbelief. He was absolutely certain he knew where the family was. Dockweiler was a public beach located at the west end of LAX’s runways. The planes took off directly overhead and there were fire pits on the beach. He knew Liu would discover all that through her research and he knew she’d come to the same conclusion he already had. Eventually they would head in that direction—but once they got there, Liu would still want to do reconnaissance before they could surround the area and establish a perimeter.

There was not a doubt in Theo’s mind that by then it would be too late.

He tried to sound calm. “Ma’am, I really think—”

One of the other agents stepped in front of him. “Dude,” he said to Theo, his voice low, “I know. But you gotta chill. Just let her do her thing.”

Theo stared, momentarily confused, before he glanced around him. The other agents stared back at him. He knew they didn’t have the responsibility Liu did or the personal connection to the case that he did. They had no reason to stick out their necks, which made it easy to go along with the boss. Taking orders was safe.

“Theo.”

He turned to the sound of his name. It was Rousseau. The agent glanced down at Theo’s shaking hand, which was still clutching the cell phone.

“Sorry,” Theo said. “It’s just, my aunt, you know?”

The agents murmured their understanding and Theo stepped away from the group. After a few moments, he glanced back over his shoulder. No one watched him. They’d all returned to their own business.

Theo set his jaw and walked to the nearby SUV. No one tried to stop him because they’d never imagined an agent would do what he was about to do. As he sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine, he felt no hesitation. His desire to be elsewhere and not in control was gone entirely. He knew this meant the end of his career. But inaction and cowardice weren’t what he signed up for anyway.

As Theo sped out of the parking lot, he didn’t look back.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


JO SMILED AT THEO’S TEXT.

Pocketing her phone, she stood alone, her back to everyone else who sat. She braced herself, directly in front of the cockpit. She whispered a prayer for her nephew, the family, and the ground rescue.

This close to the flight deck, she could hear the pneumatic hiss of a pilot’s oxygen mask being released from its case.

She knew Bill was protecting himself from the poison, just as they were in the cabin. His mask would be military grade, though. It could create suction with an airtight seal, cover his whole face, and effortlessly pump an endless stream of oxygen into his lungs. A far cry from the cheap, mass-produced plastic cups the passengers had secured to their heads with an elastic strap. The disadvantage felt unjust.

She heard the hiss again, and assumed his mask was now secure.

It was time. The attack would begin at any moment.



* * *



Bill adjusted the mask on his face, turning to watch Ben slide the straps of his own oxygen mask over his head, releasing his pinch on the sides of the mouthpiece. The mask sealed itself to his face with precision, protecting his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Bill shook the canister in his hand, an agitator ball clanking up and down inside. As the pressure mounted, he could feel the beast within begging to be released.

Waiting until Ben had finished adjusting his mask, Bill paused the shaking as a cue.