Chapter 5 - THE PRIVATE JETAt JFK International Airport’s private hangar, a sleek, twin-engine Gulfstream jet idled on the tarmac, its turbines humming with restless energy.
Adrian walked up the aluminum steps carrying Clara, followed closely by Grace and a still-sleepy Lucy. Inside the cabin, luxury met maximum security—bulletproof paneling, encrypted communications arrays, and a dedicated medical suite.
As Adrian strapped himself into a leather seat and secured Clara in an approved infant carrier beside him, his phone buzzed.
It was a encrypted message from his lead enforcer: Elena and Colin are secured in separate transit nodes. The federal indictments have been unsealed. The media is running the story. You are a ghost, Boss.
Adrian locked the screen and tossed the phone onto the opposite seat.
He looked out the reinforced window as the jet began to taxi down the runway. The glittering lights of New York City stretched out into the distance, a sprawling empire of glass, concrete, and blood that he had ruled with an iron fist. But tonight, that empire mattered less than the small, rhythmic breathing of the baby sleeping beside him.
Grace sat across the aisle, smiling softly as she helped Lucy look out the window at the flashing runway lights.
"Where are we going, Mr. Adrian?" Lucy asked softly, pressing her hands against the cool glass.
Adrian looked down at Clara, who had fallen fast asleep with her thumb tucked into her cheek, the tiny crescent birthmark glowing faintly under the cabin lights.
May you like
"Somewhere far away," Adrian answered, his gaze steady and filled with a peace he hadn't felt in a lifetime. "Somewhere the shadows can't reach us."
The jet accelerated down the tarmac, its nose lifting smoothly into the midnight sky, leaving the ghosts of the past far behind them in the dark.
