Chapter 4

Three minutes later, the red emergency lights and piercing alarm suddenly stopped.

Soft jazz returned over the speakers, followed by an apologetic announcement from the ground staff.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there was a minor false alarm involving the fire system. Please remain calm. All flights will continue boarding as scheduled..."

I collapsed onto the toilet lid.

That was it?

Because of a damn "false alarm," I'd lost a multimillion-dollar project, maxed out my credit card, and nearly been treated like a mental patient.

For one horrible moment, I actually wished the hurricane would hit.

At least then I could prove I wasn't crazy.

No. I had to go out and check one last time.

I glanced at my Apple Watch. Less than ten minutes remained before the time listed on the warning note.

I eased the door open and stuck half my body outside.

Passengers were still chatting in small groups in the hallway. Not a breath of wind stirred beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I refused to give up. Dragging my heavy suitcase, I hurried to the edge of the corridor and looked down toward the main terminal.

The place was packed. Flight information boards kept flipping through updates. Everything was normal. Painfully normal.

Maybe I could still make it back to the gate.

If the plane had been delayed by the alarm, I might still be able to slip aboard.

But what if I got on and the hurricane really came?

Lily's smiling face flashed through my mind. I froze. I couldn't take another step.

Just as I turned to drag my suitcase back toward the restroom—

Bang!

The suitcase, overloaded with hard objects, finally gave out.

The zipper burst apart under the strain. Bottled water, energy bars, and emergency blankets spilled across the hallway.

A patrolling airport security officer happened to round the corner at that exact moment.

He stopped dead. His wary gaze swept over my face, drenched in cold sweat, before locking onto the scattered power banks and black electronic cables covering the floor.

The next second, his hand went straight to his holster. He grabbed his radio.

"Command center! Possible suspicious female in the lower level of D Concourse. She's carrying multiple concealed cables and unidentified equipment. Requesting SWAT tactical support!"

My scalp went numb. I didn't even bother trying to explain.

I frantically shoved the supplies back into my suitcase and dragged it toward the restroom, stumbling backward.

Click. I slammed the security door shut and locked it.

I had barely slumped against the wall when my phone vibrated.

Incoming call: Mr. Sterling.

My fingers trembled as I answered.

"Mr. Sterl—"

"Coraline, Mireille told me you bailed on the flight?!" His voice was barely containing its fury. "Do you have any idea how important this project is to the company's year-end financials?!"

"Mr. Sterling, please, just listen. I suddenly felt extremely sick, and there was a warning that—"

"I don't have time for your excuses!" He cut me off coldly. "The company pays you a good salary, not to indulge your ridiculous anxiety! Go straight to HR and complete the paperwork. You're fired!"

The call ended abruptly.

I stood there holding my phone, my entire body shaking uncontrollably.

Six years. Six years of working myself to the bone for this company. And all I got in return was one sentence: You're fired.

All because I hadn't boarded that damn plane.

I slid down against the door and collapsed onto the floor, completely drained.

But I couldn't fall apart.

Lily was still at daycare. She was still waiting for our weekend trip to the aquarium. If the hurricane really was coming, I had to survive and make it home to her.

Before I could recover from the crushing sense of helplessness, an iMessage notification suddenly appeared on my screen.

It was a short video Miss Clara from the Coastline Daycare had posted in the parents' group.

In the video, more than a dozen children were picking up seashells on a Miami beach.

The sunlight was blinding. The blue ocean gently lapped around their little feet. Lily was wearing a yellow duck swimsuit, holding up a hermit crab and laughing at the camera.

I stared at the screen, my fingers trembling violently.

If the hurricane really came, that completely exposed beach would be swallowed in an instant.

What would happen to the children? What would happen to Lily?

I called the teacher almost out of my mind.

"Miss Clara! A Category 5 hurricane is about to hit Miami! Get every child back inside and into your windowless shelter! Right now!"

Miss Clara was clearly taken aback. Her voice carried a soothing little laugh. "Ms. Winters, it's perfectly sunny outside. Lily says you've been staying up late every night trying to get that promotion. Are you under too much stress?"

She paused before continuing in a more authoritative tone.

"Today is our open house. The director and other parents are here. We can't cancel the activity and send more than a hundred children into shelter just because of one completely unverified phone call."

Again. That condescending doubt. Mireille mocked me. Mr. Sterling fired me. Now even Lily's teacher thought I'd lost it.

Was I really crazy?

I slammed my fist against the restroom wall. Pain shot through my knuckles.

No. I wasn't crazy.

That old man was Ezekiel Creed, a former legend in meteorology. His predictions of catastrophic weather had been nearly flawless. He had been sitting outside under the brutal sun, desperately trying to warn people.

I was the only one who had stopped to give him a lifesaving drink. He would never play a cruel joke on me at a moment like this. And that countdown note on my suitcase was not a hallucination.

I looked at the time at the top of my screen. Less than two minutes until the disaster hit.

The beach was some distance from the daycare's storm-resistant building.

If they waited any longer, it would be too late.

I gritted my teeth and practically screamed into the phone.

"This is not a discussion! I'm Lily's legal guardian, and I am formally warning the school right now. If you don't bring the children inside immediately, and anything happens, I will sue this school into the ground! Sound the evacuation alarm! Now!"

My shout finally stunned Miss Clara into silence.

After several seconds, she reluctantly gave in. "Fine! But if this turns out to be a false alarm, we will force Lily to withdraw for seriously disrupting school operations!"

"I'll take full responsibility for anything that happens!" I screamed, my eyes burning. "Get the children into shelter! Lock the doors!"

I hung up and curled into the corner, gasping for breath.

I knew that if the hurricane didn't come in two minutes, I wouldn't just lose my career.

I might lose everything. I'd become a laughingstock.

But so what? As long as Lily was safe, I'd pay any price.

Then the heavy metal security door suddenly shook under a violent pounding.

"Everyone inside, listen up! Miami SWAT! Come out with your hands on your head! Final warning! Open the door and submit to a hazardous-materials inspection, or we will force entry!"

My heart shot into my throat.

They were here. The police.

If the hurricane didn't come, in ten seconds I would be on the floor in handcuffs, treated like someone guilty of a serious weapons offense.

I hesitated for half a second before shouting through the door.

"I don't have any contraband! I'm trying to stay alive! There's a Category 5 hurricane coming! Find somewhere without windows and take cover!"

"What the hell hurricane? Stop playing games! SWAT, prepare to breach!"

The people outside had completely lost patience.

A heavy breaching ram slammed into the metal lock, producing a horrible screech of twisting metal.

The lock was seconds away from giving way under the force—

when suddenly—

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion erupted from the far end of the hallway.