Leo was sitting at the table, staring at his phone. On the screen was a live feed from the decommissioned cargo bay. The black Samsonite was now on a loading lift, rising toward the open rear door of a private jet with no tail number.
She blinked. She had never seen that tab before. She was about to call Leo when a suitcase she had just scannedāa hard-shell black Samsoniteādidnāt stop on the belt. The diverter arm didnāt flip. The suitcase kept going, past the domestic baggage hold, past the international transfer zone, down a dark, unlit spur line that led to a decommissioned cargo bay.
Outside, the private jetās engines spooled up. Marta looked back at the Rapiscanās glowing screen. It still showed the orange outline of the bombāno, the deviceāthat was now taxiing toward runway two-seven.
Her hand shook as she reached for the red emergency stop. But the Rapiscanās interface had changed again. The emergency stop button on the screen was gone. Replaced by a single line of text: DEFAULT CREDENTIALS ACTIVE. SYSTEM OVERRIDE: ENABLED.
The jet sat on the tarmac, silent and trapped, as the sun rose over Montana. Marta Vasquez turned off the monitor and went to call the FBI. She didnāt look at Leo.
She grabbed the landline and dialed Leoās extension. No answer. She ran to the break room.
