Chapter 13 - I CAN FIX THIS
Pierce read Brianna's note once.
Then again.
Then she looked at Rebecca Lane.
"Did your client mention contacting Voss?"
Rebecca's face had gone hard.
"No."
"Did she have another phone?"
"Not that I know of."
"Laptop?"
"Seized voluntarily with the phone."
"Tablet?"
Mom answered.
"She has an old tablet in her suitcase."
Pierce turned toward her.
"Where?"
"Her room."
Two agents moved immediately.
I was already pulling on my boots.
Pierce pointed at me.
"You are not leaving."
"My sister may be meeting a man tied to surveillance and evidence tampering."
"Which is why you are not leaving."
"Dana."
"Lauren."
She rarely used my first name.
"This is not a rescue operation you lead."
"It is my sister."
"Exactly."
Her voice softened by one degree.
"That makes you compromised."
I hated the word.
I hated more that she was right.
"Then find her."
"We will."
An agent returned with the tablet.
"Unlocked."
Mom looked confused.
"How?"
"No passcode."
Of course.
Brianna had spent years believing danger happened to other people.
The agent opened messaging applications.
No recent texts.
Email showed nothing obvious.
Then he checked browser history.
A private car service website had been opened at 1:07 p.m.
"Reservation?"
Pierce asked.
"Checking."
Two minutes later we had it.
Pickup from a side entrance at the hotel.
Destination entered as a coffee shop near Centennial Airport.
The vehicle had dropped Brianna there twenty-six minutes earlier.
"Why the airport?"
Dad asked.
I remembered Voss appearing on cameras at the private terminal.
"Because Voss was there this morning."
Pierce was already calling agents.
"Lock down the coffee shop."
"Pull street cameras."
"Check private terminals and Northstar facilities within ten miles."
Rebecca stood beside me.
"Why would Brianna think Voss would talk to her?"
I looked at the note.
"Because he made her feel important."
Rebecca frowned.
I explained.
"He told her she had instincts."
"He encouraged her career."
"He asked about her connections."
"She thought he respected her."
Rebecca's expression darkened.
"Classic cultivation."
"Maybe."
"You don't think so?"
"I think he recognized what she wanted and used it."
"That is cultivation."
"Then yes."
Mom sat down.
"Are you saying he used Brianna to get information about Lauren?"
Pierce answered carefully.
"We are saying that possibility is under investigation."
Dad looked furious.
"She told him things because he flattered her?"
I did not answer.
I had spent years resenting Brianna for being easily impressed by status.
Now I was watching how dangerous that weakness could become when somebody intelligent exploited it.
An agent entered.
"Coffee shop camera has her."
Pierce turned.
"Alone?"
"She arrived alone."
"Then?"
"Black sedan picked her up four minutes later."
"Plate?"
"Temporary tag."
"Driver?"
"Male."
"Voss?"
"Can't tell."
"Direction?"
"East."
Pierce pulled up a map.
Centennial Airport sat amid business parks, hangars, warehouses, and service roads.
Dozens of places to disappear for an hour.
"Northstar properties?"
"Two leased spaces nearby."
"Check both."
"Teams moving."
I stared at the map.
One leased space was a small avionics integration hangar near the southeast perimeter.
The other was an office suite.
If Voss needed privacy, a hangar made more sense.
If he needed an aircraft, it made even more.
"Private flight plans?"
I asked.
Pierce looked at me.
"Already checking."
"Any Northstar aircraft at Centennial?"
"One corporate jet."
"Status?"
"Grounded by federal hold."
"Other aircraft?"
"Leased turboprop registered to a subsidiary."
"Hold?"
Pierce's expression changed.
"No."
She made another call.
"Get that aircraft held now."
A minute later her phone rang back.
She listened.
"When?"
Her jaw tightened.
"Who authorized tow?"
She ended the call.
"What?"
I asked.
"The turboprop was moved from its normal parking position forty minutes ago."
"Where?"
"Northstar hangar."
Everyone in the room knew what that meant.
Maybe nothing.
Maybe everything.
Pierce pointed at me.
"You stay."
"Dana."
"No."
"What if she calls me?"
"Then you answer here."
I hated standing still while other people moved toward danger.
But being useful is not the same as being physically present.
That is one of the hardest lessons rescue work teaches.
Sometimes the person who wants to help most is the person who needs to stay out of the way.
So I stayed.
Seven minutes passed.
Then nine.
Then eleven.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person in the room froze.
Pierce pointed to the table speaker recorder.
I answered.
"Hello?"
For two seconds there was only breathing.
Then Brianna whispered.
"Lauren."
My heart slammed once against my ribs.
"Where are you?"
"I can't say."
Pierce silently signaled me to keep her talking.
"Are you safe?"
A pause.
"I don't know."
That answer changed everything.
"Is Daniel with you?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
I forced my voice to remain normal.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
"Can you leave?"
I heard movement in the background.
A door closing.
Then Brianna's voice dropped lower.
"He says agents are twisting everything."
"Okay."
"He says Hale stole documents and caused the crash."
"Okay."
"He says you have hated Northstar for years."
"Okay."
"Stop saying okay."
Her voice cracked.
"I'm listening."
"He wants me to make a statement."
Pierce wrote a question on paper and slid it toward me.
WHAT STATEMENT?
"What kind of statement?"
"That you talked about targeting Northstar before the crash."
My stomach turned.
"Did I?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
For the first time, Brianna did not protect herself before the truth.
"Then don't say it."
"He says if I don't, Brightline will say I leaked client information and I'll never work in marketing again."
"Brianna."
"What?"
"Listen to me carefully."
"Okay."
"Your career can recover from being fired."
"Your life cannot recover from being dead."
She inhaled sharply.
"Do you think he's going to kill me?"
"I don't know."
"That's not comforting."
"I'm not trying to comfort you."
"I'm trying to keep you honest and alive."
Pierce wrote again.
CAN SHE SEE ADDRESS / SIGN / LANDMARK?
"Look around without making it obvious."
"Do you see anything that tells you where you are?"
"I'm in an office."
"Window?"
"Yes."
"What do you see?"
Brianna breathed slowly.
"Hangars."
Pierce nodded sharply.
"Anything written on them?"
"No."
"Aircraft?"
"One."
"Type?"
"I don't know planes."
"Propellers or jets?"
"Propellers."
The Northstar turboprop.
Pierce was already texting the tactical team.
"Anything else?"
"Red fuel truck."
An agent checked a map.
One Northstar hangar had a private fueling area.
"Good."
"Lauren."
"I'm here."
"I messed up."
I closed my eyes.
Not now.
This was not the time for absolution.
"We'll talk about that later."
"What if there isn't later?"
"There will be if you do exactly what I tell you."
Her breathing shook.
"Okay."
"Do not confront him."
"Okay."
"Do not tell him you've called me."
"Okay."
"If he asks you to go near the aircraft, delay."
"How?"
"Bathroom."
"Feel sick."
"Cry."
"You are excellent at all three when motivated."
A tiny sound came through the phone.
Half laugh.
Half sob.
Good.
If she could still react, she could still think.
Then a man's voice sounded in the background.
"Brianna?"
Daniel Voss.
I had never heard him before.
I knew anyway.
Brianna whispered.
"I have to go."
"Don't hang up if you can avoid it."
Footsteps approached.
"Brianna?"
Her voice changed instantly.
Brighter.
Normal.
"Sorry."
"My mom called."
Voss answered.
"You told me you turned your phone off."
"I did."
"Then how are you speaking to your mother?"
Silence.
My chest tightened.
Then Voss's voice came closer to the receiver.
"Who is this?"
Brianna did not answer.
"Give me the phone."
"Daniel, don't."
"Give it to me."
There was a struggle.
The phone hit something hard.
Brianna shouted.
"STOP!"
Then the line stayed open.
I heard Voss breathing.
Then his voice.
Calm now.
Too calm.
"Lauren Hayes."
I said nothing.
He continued.
"I assume you're there."
I looked at Pierce.
She nodded.
"I'm here."
"Your sister has created an unfortunate amount of confusion."
I almost laughed.
"That's one description."
"You should know she came voluntarily."
"Then let her leave voluntarily."
"She can leave whenever she wants."
In the background, Brianna said.
"Open the door, then."
Voss went silent.
That was useful.
"Daniel."
I kept my voice even.
"Open the door."
"This is a private business facility."
"My sister wants to leave."
"She's emotional."
"So open the door."
His tone hardened.
"You have caused enough damage."
"Interesting."
"You think this is amusing?"
"No."
"I think a man hiding in a hangar after a plane crash should be careful about accusing other people of causing damage."
His breathing changed.
I had hit something.
"You have no idea how defense procurement works."
"I know aircraft aren't supposed to fall out of the sky during sales demonstrations."
Pierce raised a hand.
Careful.
I understood.
Do not provoke him too far.
Voss spoke slowly.
"Hale stole incomplete test data."
"Then tell investigators."
"Bell falsified documents for personal gain."
"Then tell investigators."
"Your team contaminated a crash scene."
"Then tell investigators."
"This can still be corrected."
"By forcing my sister to lie?"
He did not answer.
That silence was recorded.
Then a distant sound came through the phone.
A heavy engine starting.
Aircraft.
Pierce's eyes sharpened.
"Daniel."
I said.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving."
"With Brianna?"
"She has choices."
Brianna shouted.
"No, I don't!"
The line went dead.
Pierce was already moving.
"Team is ninety seconds out."
I stood.
She looked at me.
For once, she did not tell me to sit down.
"Come on."
May you like
We ran.
