Maya looked at the black carry-on.
“Holt.”
The older woman said nothing.
Maya grabbed it.
“Where’s the transmitter?”
Holt smiled.
“You’re holding the decoy.”
Aaron froze.
Maya looked toward Leo.
Then at the seats.
Beside her son.
The transmitter had originally been beneath seat 8C.
But if that device was a decoy—
Maya suddenly remembered the cup of juice.
The gray-haired attendant.
Holt.
“You put something in Leo’s seat.”
Holt’s eyes flickered.
Maya ran.
She tore away the seat cushion.
Nothing.
She checked beneath the armrest.
Nothing.
Leo watched.
“Mom?”
“What, sweetheart?”
“The lady fixed my headphones.”
Maya stared at him.
“What?”
“She said the wire was loose.”
Leo lifted his child-size headphones.
Maya took them.
They were heavier than before.
Her fingers found a seam.
She ripped open the padded headband.
Inside was a tiny transmitter.
Aaron whispered, “That’s it.”
Maya raised it.
Holt shouted, “Don’t!”
