Jesse drove rapidly but purposefully within the speed limit. He'd passed a few squad cars and didn't want to attract their attention.
At a traffic light everyone began to calm down enough to discuss who it could have been that had tried to corner them in the Serotec building. No one had any idea. Nor did anyone know who would have tipped them off. Nancy questioned whether the night security man might be one of 'them.'
At the next light, Pitt happened to glance over at the car alongside them. When the driver turned to look at Pitt, his face immediately reflected recognition. Pitt saw him reach for his cellular phone.
'This sounds crazy,' Pitt said. 'But I think the guy next to us recognizes us.'
Jesse responded by ignoring the red light. He surged forward between cars, then turned off the main street. They bumped down a back alley.
'Aren't we going the opposite direction from the airport?' Sheila asked.
'Don't worry,' Jesse said. 'As the expression goes, I know this city like the back of my hand.'
They made a few more surprising turns down small, out-of-the-way streets. Then to everyone's surprise they sped up an entrance to the freeway that no one in the car besides Jesse knew existed.
They drove the rest of the way to the airport in silence. It was becoming clear to everyone the extent of the conspiracy and that they could not let down their guard.
Jesse drove up to the departure level of the airport and pulled to a halt at terminal C. Everyone piled out of the van.
'We can take care of ourselves from here,' Sheila said, grabbing the briefcase containing the hastily assembled report. ''Why don't the rest of you get back home to safety?''
'We're going to see you three off,' Jesse said. 'I want to make sure there is no more trouble.'
'What about the van?' Pitt asked. 'Do you want me to stay here with it?'
'No,' Jesse said. 'I want all of us inside.'
The interior of the terminal at that hour was all but deserted. A cleaning crew was polishing the expansive terrazzo floor. The Delta counter was the only one occupied. The monitors said that the Atlanta flight was on time.
'All you people head out to the gate,' Jesse said. 'I'll get the tickets. Just be sure to have your picture IDs handy.'
The group hurried across the terminal and approached airport security. There were a few other passengers who were waiting their turn to put their carry-on baggage into the X-ray detector.
'Where are the black discs?' Cassy whispered to Pitt.
'Eugene has them in his knapsack,' Pitt answered.
At that moment Eugene dropped the knapsack on the conveyer, and it disappeared inside the machine. He stepped through the metal detector.
'What if they set off an alarm?' Cassy said.
'I'm more worried that the security personnel might be one of 'them' and recognize the image on X-ray,' Pitt said.
Both Pitt and Cassy held their breath as the woman security guard halted the machine. Her eyes were glued to the X-ray image. It seemed like a full minute before the woman restarted the conveyer belt. Cassy sighed in relief. She and Pitt stepped through the metal detector and caught up with the others.
They all avoided locking eyes with any of the other passengers as they walked out the concourse. It was nerve-racking not knowing who was infected and who wasn't. As if reading everybody's mind, Jonathan said: 'I think you can tell who they are by either their smiles or their eyes.'
'What do you mean?' Nancy asked.
'It's either a fake smile or their eyes glow,' Jonathan said. 'Of course you can only see the eyes in the dark.'
'I think you are right, Jonathan,' Cassy said. She'd witnessed both.
They arrived at the gate. The plane was already mostly boarded. They moved to the side to wait for Jesse.
'See that woman over there?' Jonathan said while pointing. 'Look at that stupid grin. I bet five bucks she's one of them.'
'Jonathan!' Nancy whispered forcibly. 'Don't be so obvious.'
Vince Carbon pulled the unmarked police car over to the curb, directly behind the Sellerses' minivan.
'Obviously they are here,' Captain Hernandez said as he got out of the car. A second car pulled up behind the first. Candee, her parents, and the other plainclothes officers emerged.
Like iron filings being drawn to a magnet, a number of infected airport workers immediately drew around the captain and his group.
'Gate 5, terminal C,' one these people said to the captain. 'Flight 917 for Atlanta.'
'Let's go,' Captain Hernandez said. He stepped through the automatic door into the terminal and waved for the others to follow him.
'Now where's Jesse?' Sheila asked. She looked for him back along the concourse toward the main terminal. 'I don't want to miss this flight.'
'Eugene,' Nancy whispered to her husband. 'With all that's going on, I'm having second thoughts about leaving Jonathan. Maybe one of us should stay here.'
'I'll watch out for him,' Jesse said. He'd come up behind the group in time to hear Nancy's comment. 'You do your thing in Atlanta. He'll be fine.'
'How did you get here?' Sheila asked.
Jesse pointed toward an unmarked, locked door just behind them. 'I've been to the airport so many times investigating various crimes that I know the place better than my own basement.'
He handed tickets to Nancy, Eugene, and Sheila. Nancy gave her son one last hug. Jonathan remained stiff with his arms at his side.
'You be careful, hear me?' Nancy said, trying vainly to look Jonathan in the eye.
'Mom!' Jonathan complained.
'Let's go,' Sheila said. 'It's last call.'
With Sheila in the lead and Nancy bringing up the rear to give her son a final wave, the three checked in at the gate, showed their picture ID's then disappeared down the jetway. A few minutes later the jetway pulled back from the plane and the plane taxied out into the night.
Jesse turned from the window with a sigh of relief. 'They're off, thank God,' he said. 'But now we ... '
Jesse didn't get to finish his sentence because he saw Captain Hernandez and Vince Carbon leading a large pack of people. They were walking quickly down the center of the concourse, heading directly toward gate 5.
Cassy saw the cloud descend over Jesse's face and started to ask what was wrong. But Jesse didn't give her a chance. Roughly he herded the group back against the unmarked door.
'What's going on?' Pitt demanded.
Jesse ignored him and quickly punched in the combination on the keypad next to the doorknob. The door opened. 'Go!' he commanded.
Cassy was first through the door followed by Jonathan and then Pitt. Jesse pulled the door shut behind himself.
'Come on!' he whispered harshly. He rapidly descended a flight of metal stairs, and ran along a corridor until he came to a door to the outside. On a series of pegs next to the door were yellow rain ponchos with hoods. Quickly he tossed one to each of the others and told them to put them on, including the hoods.
Everyone complied. Cassy asked who he'd seen.
'The chief of police,' Jesse said. 'And I know for sure he's one of them.'
Once again typing the combination onto a keypad, Jesse opened the door to the outside. The group stepped out onto the tarmac. They were directly below the jetway for gate 5.
'See that luggage train over there?' Jesse said as he pointed. It was a tractor-like vehicle hitched to a string of five baggage carts. It was parked about fifty feet away. 'We are going to walk over there real casual like. The problem is we'll be visible from the windows above. Once there you all are going to climb into one of the baggage cars. Then, God willing, we'll ride back to terminal A, not C.'
'But our car is at terminal C,' Pitt said.
