Triple Threat - James Patterson Page 0,63

island and back to the capital. No detour, no delay. There just isn’t time.”

It’s very clear to me that the captain isn’t going to budge on this. I know he’s just following orders. And I know the country—the world—still does need my expertise.

But I also know that Chloe and Eli need me more. And the last time I put my work ahead of my family, I nearly lost them forever. I am never going to do it again.

So I put on my best poker face and say: “All right, sir. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

As soon as Fileri leaves, the clock starts ticking.

For me to make my escape.

Chapter 33

I throw on the fresh clothes, grab my still-damp wallet from the meager personal effects on the table, pocket the iPhone (sorry, nurse!), and quietly lock the door to my room. Then I hobble over to the window.

I pry off one of the wooden boards meant to keep out animals and see I’m on the third floor—way too high to risk jumping down safely.

So I decide to do what I’ve seen in old movies so many times. I’ll use my bed linens to make a rope.

Nuts, I know, but what other choice do I have?

I strip the bed and hastily knot two sheets together as tight as I can. I tie one end to the railing, toss the other end outside, and carefully start to climb down.

I’m about halfway down when, damnit, one of the sheets rips.

I fall into some bushes, intentionally rolling and tumbling to soften the impact of the fall. I may be a little scuffed up, as if I wasn’t already, but I’ve made it.

Now I just have to slip aboard the next commercial flight to the mainland…just as soon as I figure out where the hell the airport is.

I search in Google Maps, but the screen doesn’t move. I try again. Still nothing. Seriously?

But then I hear a loud rumbling overhead—and see a jetliner flying dangerously close to the ground. Is it going to crash? No. It’s coming in for a landing. Which means the military facility and the airport are just blocks apart.

Keeping an eye out for both wild animals and military police, I race across the base. A lot of the chain-link fence along its perimeter looks damaged by—what else?—attacks from feral creatures, so I find an opening, slip through, and keep running as fast as I can until I reach the airport. It’s not hard to find it, since hundreds, maybe thousands, of people are cramming into the terminal, desperate to get off the islands. Which won’t be easy. Since the animal crisis has dragged on, the number of flights all around the world has gone down dramatically, while the cost of flying has skyrocketed.

I get in a long ticket line and wait. I’m terrified that any second, Captain Fileri will burst through the doors and drag me back to the base.

Finally it’s my turn to speak to an agent. I breathlessly explain my situation and how badly I need to get to Salt Lake City—the closest major city to the lab—to make sure my wife and son are okay.

But the agent barely lets me finish. The next available direct flight to anywhere in the Rockies, she tells me, isn’t for four days.

My heart sinks. My eyes tear up. I beg and plead. Isn’t there any other option?

The agent purses her lips and types rapidly. Maybe I’ve gotten through to her.

“There’s a plane leaving for Vancouver in twenty minutes, if you can make it. From there you can connect to San Francisco. Then to Chicago. Then double back through Phoenix to Salt Lake. You’ll be traveling for over thirty-six hours straight but—”

“I’ll take it!” I exclaim, slapping a credit card down on the counter. By some miracle, my cards were undamaged in my wallet.

And I need all three of my credit cards to split up and cover the whopping price: $29,487. Insane, but worth every penny.

The agent hands me my ticket and I take off like a rocket through the packed terminal. I somehow manage to make it through security and reach the gate seconds before the boarding doors close.

Chapter 34

I scream in terror as I’m jolted awake in my seat—and grab the unfamiliar hand just inches from my throat.

But then I relax and let it go. And turn beet-red from embarrassment.

It was just the flight attendant tapping me on the shoulder, asking me to bring my seat to the upright position. We’ll be