and the advent of code-sharing, the FBI’s job had been made a little
easier. The Bureau had requested that the name Faith Lockhart be
marked with a tag in the major airlines’ reservation systems. That
request had just paid an enormous dividend.
She just made a reservation for a flight to San Francisco that leaves
in about half an hour,” he said into his headset microphone. “United
Airlines.” He passed along the flight number and gate information.
“Hit it.” he ordered the men inside the terminal. He picked up the
phone to notify Brooke Reynolds.
Lee was leafing through a magazine someone had left on the seat next to
his when two men dressed in suits flew past. A few moments later, a
pair of gents in jeans and windbreakers hurried past, heading in the
same direction.
Lee immediately jumped up, looked around for anyone else hustling by,
saw no one moving fast and then followed after the group.
The FBI agents, followed by the men in jeans, hurried past the women’s
room a minute before Faith came out. The men had disappeared into the
crowds by the time she emerged.
Lee slowed as he saw Faith come out from the women’s room. Another
false alarm? When she turned away from him and went in the opposite
direction, he knew his fears were justified. As he kept his gaze on
her, she looked at her watch and picked up her pace. Shit, he knew
exactly what she was doing: going for another flight. And from the way
she had checked her watch and started walking faster, it must be close
to leaving. As he pushed through the crowds, he scanned the aisle
ahead. There were ten gates remaining down here. He stopped for a
second at the monitors, his gaze flying down the listings, checking the
gates off one by one until he stopped at the flashing “boarding”
message for a United flight to San Francisco. As his eye drifted
farther, he saw that a flight to Toledo was also boarding. Which one
was it? Well, there was one definite way to find out.
He sprinted ahead, cut through a waiting area and managed to get past
Faith without her seeing him. He abruptly stopped within sight of the
gate for the San Francisco flight. The men in suits who had sprinted
past him were standing at the departure door talking to a
nervous-looking United employee. Then the stone-faced men moved off
and stood behind a partition, their gaze fixed on the crowd and
departure area. FBI for sure. The San Francisco flight had to be the
one Faith was going for.
But something didn’t make sense. If Faith had used her phony name, how
.. . ? Then it hit Lee. She couldn’t use her phony name for both
tickets for flights leaving a few minutes apart. That would have been
a big red flag for the ticket agent. She had used her real name
because she needed ID to get on the flight. Shit! She was heading
right for them. She’d show her ticket, the agent would signal the FBI
and then it would be over.
Just as he was about to turn, he spotted the two men in windbreakers
and jeans who had rushed past him earlier. To Lee’s experienced eyes,
they were watching the Feds intently, without seeming to do so. He
edged closer, and with the gloomy weather outside he managed to catch
their reflection in the window. One man held something in his hand. A
chill went down Lee’s back as he maneuvered some more and managed to
spot what it was. Or what he thought it was. This case suddenly took
on a whole other dimension.
Lee fought his way back down the aisle; seemingly everyone who lived in
the Washington metropolitan area had decided to fly today. He saw
Faith across the aisle. In another moment she’d be past him. He made
a lunge across the wall of people and tripped over a garment bag
someone had set down. He fell to the floor hard, his knees taking the
brunt of it. When he sprang up, Faith was past him. He had a few