CHAPTER 4 — THE MAN WHO DOESN’T EXIST PUBLICLY
We didn’t go through the main terminal.
Marcus redirected us before we reached it.
A side corridor.
Then a restricted access door.
Then down a private hallway I didn’t even know existed in an airport.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked.
Marcus didn’t slow down.
“Somewhere they don’t have cameras already mapped,” he said.
“They?” I repeated.
He finally stopped walking.
Turned to me.
And for the first time, his expression softened again.
But only for me.
Not for the situation.
“They’re not random,” he said.
“They’re part of a network that tracks high-value individuals.”
My stomach dropped.
“I’m not high-value,” I said quickly.
He shook his head.
“You are now,” he said.
Then he added:
“Because you’re with me.”
That made everything worse.
Not better.
We reached a secure door.
Marcus placed his palm on a scanner.
It opened immediately.
Inside was a room I didn’t expect.
Clean.
Minimal.
Private terminal access.
No signage.
No public recognition.
I turned to him sharply.
“What are you really involved in?”
Marcus hesitated.
For the first time.
Then said:
“Whitmore Technologies is what people see.”
A pause.
“What I do… is what they don’t.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Then added quietly:
“But it keeps you safer for now.”
Annie stirred in my arms.
Marcus looked at her gently.
His entire expression changed when he saw her.
Less CEO.
More human.
“I didn’t plan for this,” he said softly.
“For what?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“For you being here when they came back for me.”
That sentence landed strangely.
Like I wasn’t just a passenger.
May you like
Like I was now part of something ongoing.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
