Chapter 40: Counting the minutes

Jonah stood in the kitchen, staring at his phone, trying to control the panic rising in his chest.

"What happened?" Wren appeared in the doorway. "I heard you say something about the pilot."

He told her. Watched her face go pale.

"They got to the pilot," she said flatly. "They got to him, and now they're going to—"

"They didn't get to him. There's just a connection. A distant connection. And we're not using him anyway. Miller's finding someone else."

"How do we know they won't get to that person too? How do we know the Vales don't have people everywhere, just waiting for—"

"We don't." Jonah crossed to her. Took her shoulders. "We don't know. We can't know. All we can do is take precautions and trust the people who are trying to help us. That's it. That's all anyone can do."

"It's not enough."

"It has to be enough."

They stood like that until Jonah's phone rang again. Thirty-five minutes this time.

"Miller."

"Got him. My air force buddy. Captain James Reeves, retired. Flew C-130s for twenty years. Now he flies medical transports and occasionally charter flights. He can be at the private airfield in two hours."

"You trust him?"

"With my life. And more importantly—with yours."

Jonah exhaled. "Okay. Okay. When do they take off?"

"As soon as Reeves arrives and does his preflight check. Call it three hours from now. They'll fly direct to Glacier Park International. Flight time's about two and a half hours. So figure—" Miller paused, calculating. "Figure five and a half hours total until they land in Montana."

Jonah checked his watch. 6:47 AM. "So they'll be here around noon."

"If everything goes smoothly."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we deal with it. But Jonah—I need you to understand something. Once that plane takes off, once they're in the air, there's no protection except the pilot and the two agents with them. If something goes wrong, if there's a mechanical failure or if someone managed to sabotage the plane or if—"

"Stop." Jonah's voice was hard. "Don't say it. Don't even think it. Nothing's going to go wrong. Captain Reeves is going to fly them here safely. They're going to land. We're going to see them. And this nightmare is going to be one step closer to over."

"I hope you're right."

"So do I."

Miller gave him the details—flight plan, estimated arrival time, which terminal they'd be using. All of it burned into Jonah's brain, information he'd repeat to Wren as soon as they hung up.

"One more thing," Miller said. "The FBI wants to debrief both of you. This afternoon after Rachel and Lily arrive. They need statements about the threats, the surveillance, everything that's happened. Can you do that?"

"Yeah. We'll do whatever they need."

"Good. I'll call you when the plane takes off. And Jonah? Try to breathe. Try to stay calm. For Wren's sake if not your own."

The call ended.

Jonah stood in the kitchen, watching dawn turn into morning through the window. The street outside was fully awake now. People getting into cars, heading to work, living normal lives.

He envied them. Envied their ignorance. Envied the fact that their biggest worry was probably traffic or a difficult boss, not whether their daughter would survive the day.

"Jonah?" Wren's voice from behind him. "What did Miller say?"

He turned. Told her everything. Watched relief and terror war on her face.

"Five and a half hours," she repeated. "Five and a half hours until we see her."

"Yeah."

"That's—that's not so bad. We can wait five and a half hours."

"We can."

"And then she'll be here. Safe. With us. And we'll—" Wren stopped. "What will we do then? Where will we go? We can't stay in this safe house forever. We can't keep running and hiding and—"

"We'll figure it out." Jonah pulled her close. "One step at a time. First, we get Lily here. Then we talk to the FBI. Then we make a plan. But right now, in this moment, all we have to do is wait."

"I hate waiting."

"I know."

"I've done nothing but wait for the past twenty-four hours. Wait and worry and imagine worst-case scenarios."

"Then let's imagine best-case scenarios instead." He led her to the couch, sat down, pulled her beside him. "In five and a half hours, Lily's going to land. Rachel's going to hand her off to us. Lily's going to hug us so hard we can't breathe. And we're going to tell her that she's safe. That we're together. That nothing bad is going to happen to her ever again."

"That's a lie. We can't promise that."

"Then we'll promise what we can." He laced his fingers through hers. "That we'll always fight for her. That we'll always protect her. That she'll never be alone as long as we're alive."

Wren rested her head on his shoulder. "That's still terrifying."

"Yeah. But it's also true. And sometimes true is all we've got."

They sat like that, waiting for Miller's next call, for the plane to take off, for the hours to pass.

Jonah counted the minutes. Tried not to think about all the things that could go wrong. Tried to focus on the things that were going right.

Miller found a trustworthy pilot. Check.

Rachel and Lily were still safe. Check.

The FBI was involved. Check.

They were one step closer to ending this. Check.

His phone rang at 9:23 AM.

"They're boarding now," Miller said. "Captain Reeves did his preflight check. Everything looks good. No signs of tampering. No mechanical issues. They'll be in the air in about fifteen minutes."

Jonah's throat tightened. "Okay. Good. That's—thank you, Miller."

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when they land safe."

The call ended.

"They're boarding," Jonah told Wren. "Fifteen minutes until takeoff."

She nodded. Didn't speak. Her hand was gripping his so tight it hurt.

They waited.

Fifteen minutes felt like fifteen hours.

Finally, at 9:41 AM, Miller called again.

"They're airborne. Flight plan filed. Everything nominal. ETA to Glacier Park International is 12:13 PM."

"Thank God." Jonah's voice cracked. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Like I said—thank me when they land. Until then, I'm not celebrating anything."

But Jonah heard the relief in Miller's voice. Heard the same desperate hope he was feeling.

"Call us when they're close," Jonah said. "We'll meet them at the airport."

"Will do."