“Voss is likely heading toward Cargo Bay 6.”
“Why there?”
“A private vehicle can reach the perimeter road from that bay.”
Rachel looked at the clock.
“If he transfers the designs, recovering the briefcase may not matter.”
“How would he transfer them?” Olivia asked.
“The files are stored on an encrypted drive. He needs a secure network and power source.”
Olivia stared at the map.
She knew Cargo Bay 6.
Maintenance staff cleaned the area after overnight shipments.
The bay’s office had an old wired network connection.
But the power outlet near the desk had been broken for weeks.
She had reported it twice.
Dalton had refused the repair request because the bay was scheduled for renovation.
“He can’t use the office outlet,” Olivia said.
Officer Reyes looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“It’s broken.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Is there another power source?”
Olivia thought.
“The aircraft equipment room next door.”
“Can he get inside?”
“Only with a maintenance master badge.”
Everyone looked toward the door where Dalton had been taken.
Officer Reyes checked the badge inventory.
Dalton’s master badge was missing.
Voss had it.
Security teams were already moving toward Cargo Bay 6.
But the fastest route from terminal operations required passing through two checkpoints and a service elevator.
Olivia knew another way.
A narrow maintenance passage behind the public restrooms led directly toward the cargo corridor.
“I can show you a shorter route.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You are not security.”
Olivia looked at the map.
“He has a head start.”
Officer Reyes considered the options.
“You stay behind me. You do exactly what I say.”
Evelyn objected.
Reyes answered firmly.
“She knows the maintenance layout better than any officer currently in this room.”
Olivia put down her backpack.
They entered the service corridor.
No passengers saw them leave.
Outside, rain continued falling over the airport.
Inside, somewhere beyond the terminal walls, a stolen briefcase containing technology that could save hundreds of lives was moving closer to disappearing.
And the only person who knew the fastest way to reach it was the janitor who had been suspended for stopping to help its owner.
PART 3 — CARGO BAY SIX
The maintenance passage was narrow and dim.
Exposed pipes ran along the ceiling. The walls were painted institutional gray, and the concrete floor still carried marks from old equipment carts.
Officer Reyes moved first.
Olivia followed.
Two airport police officers came behind them.
Rachel remained in the operations room to coordinate with Harrison Aerospace security.
No one spoke unless necessary.
They did not run.
The corridor was too narrow, and any loud movement could warn Voss.
Olivia’s gray sneakers made almost no sound against the floor.
At the first intersection, Reyes looked at the map on her phone.
“Left?”
Olivia nodded.
“Then through the fire door.”
They passed a storage room filled with cleaning supplies.
Olivia thought of how ordinary the airport usually felt from these corridors.
Most passengers never saw the machinery, cables, kitchens, storage rooms, and workers behind the bright terminal.
They saw clean floors and moving walkways.
They did not see the people who repaired leaks at dawn or cleaned coffee from carpets after midnight.
Olivia had always felt almost invisible inside the airport.
Tonight, that invisibility had become useful.
They reached the fire door.
Olivia opened it slowly.
Beyond it stretched a service hallway with several closed cargo offices.
A green sign indicated Cargo Bays 4 through 8.
Reyes raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
A faint metallic sound came from ahead.
Then a door closed.
Cargo Bay 6.
Reyes whispered into her radio.
“Target located.”
A second team approached from the opposite direction.
Olivia pointed toward a smaller side passage.
“That goes behind the equipment room.”
Reyes nodded to one officer.
He moved toward it.
They continued carefully.
The door to Cargo Bay 6 stood slightly open.
Inside, fluorescent lights flickered over stacks of shipping containers and luggage equipment.
A white service van was parked near the loading platform.
Its rear doors were open.
Voss stood beside a metal desk.
George’s leather briefcase rested in front of him.
A laptop was connected to a black encrypted drive.
Power cables ran from the desk toward the aircraft equipment room.
He had found another outlet.
The transfer screen showed forty-two percent complete.
Voss looked toward the doorway.
Officer Reyes stepped inside.
“Move away from the computer.”
Voss froze.
He was in his late forties, with a narrow face and dark hair visible beneath the cap.
His expression showed calculation rather than panic.
“I’m authorized to be here.”
“Step away from the desk.”
“I work for Harrison Aerospace.”
“You were terminated eighteen months ago.”
Voss’s eyes moved toward Olivia.
“You.”
Olivia remained behind Reyes.
He smiled bitterly.
“The cleaning girl.”
Reyes kept her hand near her holster.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Voss raised them slowly.
Then he looked at the laptop screen.
Forty-eight percent.
“You do not understand what is in that briefcase.”
Rachel’s voice came through Reyes’s earpiece.
“Do not let him touch the device.”
Voss continued.
“George Harrison buried this technology for years.”
Olivia frowned.
“Why would he do that?”
“Because it was not profitable enough.”
“That isn’t true,” Rachel said through the radio, loud enough for Reyes to repeat.
Voss laughed.
“You believe company lawyers?”
He looked at Olivia.
“You helped an old man because he looked helpless. Do you know how many engineers he destroyed?”
Reyes spoke firmly.
“This is your final warning. Step away.”
Voss moved one foot backward.
The laptop reached fifty-three percent.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness filled the cargo bay.
Someone had cut power.
The laptop remained on battery.
Olivia heard footsteps.