Chapter 5 - The Teterboro Ambush
The rain was coming down in sheets over the Teterboro Airstrip. A Gulfstream G650 stood on the tarmac, its jet engines whining softly in the dark as maintenance crews completed pre-flight checks.
Inside a black SUV parked half a mile away, Daniel, Helen, and Clara monitored the runway through night-vision binoculars. Annie was sleeping in the back seat, exhausted and shivering under a heated blanket.
"There he is," Helen whispered, pointing toward a motorcade of three black Cadillacs pulling up beside the jet.
Julian stepped out under a large black umbrella held by a bodyguard. Behind him, an operative carried a temperature-controlled pediatric incubator toward the air stairs.
"If that jet takes off, we'll never catch him in international waters," Clara said, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. "What's the plan, Daniel?"
Daniel dialed a number on the satellite phone. "I just executed a forced insolvency protocol against Julian’s offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands. Every bank account, asset, and line of credit attached to his name has just been frozen by the International Monetary Fund."
On the tarmac, Julian suddenly stopped at the foot of the airstairs. His assistant handed him a ringing smartphone.
Even from half a mile away, Daniel could see Julian’s posture go rigid. Julian snatched the phone, slamming it against the metal railing in a fit of sudden rage.
"He knows," Daniel said. "Now we move."
Clara slammed her foot on the accelerator. The heavy SUV roared forward, smashing through the chain-link security fence surrounding the airfield and tearing across the tarmac directly toward the Gulfstream.
"Security! Intercept!" Julian screamed into his radio as the headlights of the SUV blinded him.
Four armed guards pulled their weapons, opening fire on the approaching vehicle. Bullets shattered the windshield of the SUV. Helen leaned out the passenger window, returning fire with double bursts, taking out two guards before the SUV skidded to a halt, blocking the air stairs.
Daniel leaped out of the driver's seat, holding a detonation control device.
"JULIAN!" Daniel roared over the noise of the jet engines. "Step away from the child!"
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Julian turned slowly, his face twisted in a terrifying grin. He reached inside the incubator, pulled out the fragile baby, and held Noah over the edge of the high jet bridge stairs—thirty feet above the tarmac.
"One step closer, Daniel," Julian yelled over the wind, "and I let him go."
