Chapter 9 - Grant Tries To Flee The Country From Charlotte Airport
Inside the terminal of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Grant Whitmore walked briskly through the crowded concourse wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses.
He carried a single leather duffel bag containing seventy thousand dollars in cash, a fake Canadian passport, and two encrypted hard drives.
His eyes darted nervously toward every uniformed police officer and TSA agent he passed as he made his way toward Gate E-12.
He had booked a last-minute charter flight to Nassau, Bahamas, using a shell company credit card that had somehow escaped the initial bank freeze.
If he could reach Bahamian airspace before the federal indictment was officially unsealed, he could access his offshore accounts in Nassau.
He reached the jetway boarding entrance, presenting his mobile boarding pass to the airline gate agent with a forced, calm smile.
The agent scanned the barcode on his phone screen, but the terminal computer emitted a harsh, double-beep error chime.
“Sir, please wait one moment while the system refreshes,” the gate agent said, frowning at her glowing monitor screen.
Grant felt his pulse race violently against his neck, his hand tightening around the leather strap of his duffel bag.
“Is there a problem with the flight?” Grant asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking as passengers queued behind him.
“No, sir, but your passport verification requires additional security clearance,” a voice answered from directly behind him.
Grant turned around slowly, facing two tall federal marshals in dark suits holding gold law enforcement badges in their leather wallets.
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“Grant Whitmore, you are under arrest by order of the United States District Court,” Special Agent Thomas announced flatly.
Grant dropped his duffel bag onto the carpeted floor, his legs giving out beneath him as passengers gasped and pulled out their phones to film his public arrest.
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