Yet every airport system treated it as valid. Captain Cole joined the radio call. No one boards my aircraft until local police visually verify every credential. Ground operations objected. The plane was low on schedule time.
The gate was occupied and frightened passengers needed to disembark. Then keep the gate occupied, Cole replied. These doors remain closed. The wheels struck the runway. At that instant, every seat screen flashed green.
Transfer resumed. The timers beside the twins jumped from 2 minutes to 37. Someone had added 35 minutes that had never passed. Peter stared at the earlier children's records. That is how they did it.
They didn't only change handoff times after a child disappeared. They accelerated the clock while it was happening. Dr. Lane looked at his nephew's entry. The airline told me I waited 2 hours before reporting him missing. I called within 20 minutes.
The false time made every family appear careless. It protected the employees who lost the children and weakened any later complaint. Nia watched her timer climb. What happens when it reaches the number they want? Peter did not soften the answer.
The system will mark you as recovered. It will generate a completed handoff record even if the wrong person takes you. Zuri looked toward the sealed aircraft door. The imposttors did not need to hide the twins forever. They only needed to move them beyond the plane, separate them long enough to close the digital record, and destroy Simone's evidence.
After that, they could abandon the girls somewhere inside the airport, and call the incident a misunderstanding. The official record would claim nothing had gone wrong, just like the previous nine children. Officer Hayes instructed the twins to remain in their seats. Mercer positioned himself at the forward door, while the other passengers were told to stay buckled. Celeste laughed quietly.
You cannot hold 160 people because two children have incorrect paperwork. Zuri faced her. You held this whole plane because of a bracelet you never lost. Several passengers looked away from Celeste. Clare stood beside the galley, separated from the twins.
Her authority inside the cabin had disappeared, but the consequences of her choices remained visible in every suspicious face turned toward the girls. "Who told you to plant the replica?" Hayes asked her. Celeste, how did she contact you? Through an internal crew message. Show me.
Clare opened her work tablet. The instruction had vanished. Only her reply remained. Understood. I will make the accusation convincing.
Clare read her own words twice. The original message was there. Celeste leaned back. It appears you invented an exercise to justify targeting two children. Clare looked at her with open shock.
The woman she obeyed had prepared to place the entire blame on her. Officer Hayes asked Clare what the deleted instruction said. It claimed Simone Brooks had hidden stolen passenger data in the twins file. Celeste said the replica would open it so the airline could remove the material safely. And the theft accusation, she said no one could know an internal investigation was taking place.
Nia's eyes hardened. So you decided everyone could believe we were thieves instead. Clare lowered the tablet. Yes. It was the first answer she gave without protecting herself.
The jet bridge moved toward the aircraft. Through the small door window, Officer Mercer saw the woman with the crescent-shaped mark standing behind two airport police officers. The masked man wearing Peter's identity stood beside her. Neither appeared afraid. They expected the court order to protect them.