CHAPTER 5 — “The Boy They Wanted Alive”
The gun never wavered.
Victor Hale smiled as if he had already won.
Rain hammered against the rusted roof of Hangar 19 while nearly twenty armed men surrounded Nathan, Emily, and little Oliver.
Nathan instinctively stepped in front of his family.
"If you want something," he said coldly, "take me."
Victor chuckled.
"Oh, Nathan... if I wanted you dead, you'd already be lying on this floor."
He slowly pointed the gun at Oliver.
"I came for the boy."
Emily screamed.
"No!"
Two gunmen rushed forward, grabbing her before she could reach her son.
Oliver's frightened eyes searched for Nathan.
"Daddy..."
Nathan clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"Don't touch him!"
Victor crouched in front of Oliver, his voice suddenly soft.
"You're a brave little boy."
Oliver stared back without blinking.
"My mommy says bad people smile the most."
Several of Victor's own men exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Victor's smile disappeared.
"You've got your father's mouth."
He snatched the black flash drive from Nathan's hand.
"For eight years I searched for this."
He plugged it into a portable computer.
A loading screen appeared.
ACCESS DENIED
Victor frowned.
Again.
ACCESS DENIED
He slammed his fist onto the table.
"What is this?"
Nathan suddenly laughed.
Victor turned sharply.
"What are you laughing at?"
Nathan looked him straight in the eye.
"My father was smarter than you."
Victor's face darkened.
Nathan continued.
"The drive is useless without the second key."
Victor grabbed him by the collar.
"Where is it?"
Nathan smiled.
"I don't know."
Victor looked toward Emily.
She shook her head.
"I've never seen another key."
Victor's eyes slowly moved...
to Oliver.
The little boy quietly reached into his pocket.
Everyone froze.
He pulled out a tiny silver airplane charm attached to his backpack zipper.
Victor's breathing stopped.
The charm looked ordinary...
except for one engraved number.
C-17.
Victor whispered,
"The second key..."
Emily gasped.
Nathan suddenly remembered.
His father had personally given Oliver that charm on the day he was born.
Not as a toy...
As a key.
Victor burst into laughter.
"It was hanging on his backpack the whole time."
He reached toward Oliver.
But before his hand touched the child...
Oliver stepped backward.
"My grandpa told me..."
"...never give this airplane to the man with snake eyes."
The entire hangar fell silent.
Victor's smile vanished.
Because Nathan's father used to call him exactly that.
"The man with snake eyes."
Only three people had ever known that nickname.
Nathan.
His father.
And...
Emily.
Victor slowly raised his pistol.
"I've let this family live long enough."
May you like
Just as his finger tightened on the trigger—
The hangar lights went completely dark.
