Chapter 4 - THE CHASE AT HANGAR 4
While doctors fought to restart my heart in Trauma Room 1, three state police cruisers tore through the perimeter gates of the Oakridge Municipal Airport, their red and blue strobe lights cutting through the heavy afternoon fog.
Detective Sarah Vance rode in the lead cruiser, her hand resting on her service weapon. Beside her, Major Evelyn Reed sat in the passenger seat, having refused to stay at the hospital once my heart rhythm was stabilized with drugs and defibrillation.
"You should be at the hospital, Major," Vance said over the roar of the engine.
"My team from Walter Reed is already remote-accessing St. Jude's lab systems," Evelyn replied without breaking her stare from the tarmac ahead. "I can help Rachel more right now by ensuring that bastard doesn't destroy whatever poison he has left in his possession."
The cruisers rounded a row of steel storage buildings and skidded to a halt in front of Hangar 4.
A sleek silver Piper Seneca twin-engine plane was idling on the taxiway outside the open hangar doors, its twin propellers spinning into a gray blur, kicking up loose gravel and dust.
Standing near the open passenger door of the aircraft was Daniel Carter.
He had stripped off his suit jacket, wearing only his white dress shirt and slacks. He was frantically throwing heavy canvas bags into the rear cabin of the plane. In his right hand, he clutched his black leather briefcase.
"Daniel Carter!" Vance shouted over the loud speaker, stepping out from behind her cruiser door with her gun drawn. "Shut down the aircraft engine and put your hands on your head! Right now!"
Daniel spun around, his face flushed red, his hair wild. When he saw the three police cars blocking his exit, a look of pure, unadulterated venom filled his features.
"Get back!" Daniel screamed over the deafening roar of the propellers. "I have a private flight plan filed! You have no legal right to detain me!"
"You're under arrest for attempted first-degree murder, domestic violence, and obstruction of justice!" Vance yelled back. "Turn off the engine!"
Instead of complying, Daniel reached into his waistband and pulled a small black remote control unit. He jammed his thumb onto the red button.
A loud mechanical groan sounded above as the massive steel overhead hangar doors began to slide shut, threatening to crush the lead police cruiser if it tried to move closer. At the same time, Daniel turned toward the cockpit ladder, intent on boarding the plane.
"He's going to take off!" Vance cried out, raising her firearm to aim at the plane's tires.
Before she could squeeze the trigger, Evelyn moved.
Evelyn grabbed a heavy iron fire extinguisher mounted to the corner of the adjacent hanger building, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and sprinted directly toward the plane's idling left wing.
"Major, stop!" Vance shouted.
Evelyn ignored the command. With tactical precision learned from two tours in combat zones, she ran beneath the wing span, dodging the lethal arc of the propeller blade, and hurled the thirty-pound fire extinguisher directly into the spinning left propeller.
A terrifying CRASH of tearing metal exploded through the air.
The propeller blades shattered into jagged shrapnel, sparks flying in all directions as the left engine seized violently, spewing black smoke and thick oil across the white fusilage. The aircraft lurched heavily to the left, its wing scraping against the concrete tarmac with a deafening screech before coming to a dead stop.
The sudden impact threw Daniel off the cabin ladder. He crashed heavily onto the hard concrete floor, dropping his black leather briefcase.
The briefcase popped open upon impact.
Dozens of glass vials, medical records, bank statements, and printed insurance policies spilled out across the wet tarmac, rolling toward Evelyn's boots.
Daniel groaned, clutching his broken wrist, scrambling frantically on his knees to gather the scattered glass bottles. "No! No, leave them alone!"
Evelyn stepped forward, her military boot slamming down squarely on Daniel's left hand, pinning his fingers to the pavement.
He screamed in pain, looking up at her with eyes filled with tears and rage. "You ruined everything! She was supposed to die quietly in two weeks! The doctors were going to sign off on natural liver failure!"
Evelyn bent down, keeping her weight pressed firmly onto his hand, and picked up one of the unbroken glass vials. It was filled with a clear, odorless liquid. The label had been scraped off, but a handwritten serial code remained on the rubber stopper: Thallium-204 Sulfate.
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed into slits of pure ice.
"Thallium," Evelyn said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "The classic poisoner's choice. Odorless, tasteless, slow-acting, mimics chronic fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, and organ failure. And almost impossible to detect unless you specifically look for heavy metal toxicity."
Detective Vance and three uniformed officers rushed forward, tackling Daniel to the ground, pulling his arms behind his back, and snapping steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"Daniel Carter, you are under arrest," Vance said, shoving his face against the cold concrete.
"She was crazy!" Daniel shrieked, struggling against the restraints as he was hauled to his feet. "Ask anyone! Her own mother thought she was unstable! I was the victim here! I cared for her!"
Evelyn walked up to him, holding the vial of Thallium an inch from his nose.
"You didn't care for her, Daniel," Evelyn said coldly. "You systematically poisoned her while convincing the world she was losing her mind. But you made one massive mistake."
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Daniel glared at her, spitting blood onto the ground. "What mistake?"
"You assumed no one would ever listen to her," Evelyn said. "You were wrong."
