Page 14 of Breeding Justice

When we reached the counter, Zane handed over a stack of bills—more than I thought the tickets should cost. “Two one-way tickets to New York City,” he said, keeping his voice even.

The agent didn’t blink. She took the cash, counted it quickly, and slid two boarding passes under the glass. “You’re all set,” she said, her tone bored. “Gate 12. Boarding in twenty minutes.”

Zane nodded, picking up the passes and slipping them into his jacket. “Thanks.”

I adjusted my grip on Sebastian as we walked away, heading toward security. “You sure this is going to work?”

“It’ll work,” Zane said, his voice low. “No ID required for the kid, and we paid cash. We’re just two guys traveling with a toddler. Nobody’s going to look twice.”

“That’s optimistic,” I muttered, but I followed him toward the checkpoint anyway.

As we moved through the terminal, my eyes darted around constantly, looking for anyone who might be watching us. The two men by the vending machines had vanished, but now there was a man in a navy suit sitting near the coffee shop, his phone angled in our direction. I couldn’t tell if he was actually taking pictures, but my skin prickled anyway.

“If anyone starts looking at us closely, we’ll just make out,” he said. “We’ll make them uncomfortable enough to turn away.”

“Are you hitting on me, Zane?”

He laughed. “You wish,” he said.

The line for security snaked through the terminal, a sea of exhausted travelers fumbling with shoes and laptops. My heart hammered as we approached the metal detectors. What ifsomeone recognized us? What if Vito’s men were already here, waiting?

Zane leaned toward me, his voice barely above a whisper. “Relax. Act like you belong. Panic gets you caught.”

I was normally good at this, but something about having Sebastian on me made it a million times harder. Easy for him to say. He wasn’t holding the most precious thing in the world in his arms. But I bit back my retort and kept moving, adjusting Sebastian’s blanket to shield his face from view.

The security process was excruciatingly slow. We emptied our pockets, removed our shoes, and placed our bags on the conveyor belt. I held my breath as Sebastian’s diaper bag went through the scanner, my mind racing through every possible scenario. What if they searched it? What if they found something suspicious? What if—

“Sir, step forward,” the TSA agent said, motioning me through the metal detector.

As I waited, I glanced back toward the main terminal. The man in the navy suit was gone, but now two uniformed officers were walking along the rows of seats, scanning the crowd. My pulse spiked. Were they looking for us, or was I just paranoid?

I walked through, holding Sebastian tightly. The machine didn’t beep. Relief flooded my chest, but I didn’t let it show. Zanefollowed a moment later, cool as ever, and grabbed our bags from the other side.

We moved quickly, slipping our shoes back on and grabbing our things. No one stopped us. No one stared. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were on us, just out of sight.

“You’re clear,” Zane said, his tone low but firm. “Let’s go.”

Gate 12 was packed with early-morning travelers, most of them too tired to do more than scroll their phones or stare into space. Zane chose seats near the back, away from the main crowd. I sank into one of the hard plastic chairs, shifting Sebastian in my arms.

“He’s a trooper,” Zane said, nodding toward Sebastian. “Slept through the whole thing.”

“He’s exhausted,” I said, brushing a hand over Sebastian’s soft curls. “I just hope he stays asleep on the plane.”

Zane handed me a bottle of water, his gaze scanning the terminal again. “We’ll be fine. No sign of anything unusual.”

“Yet,” I said, taking a sip of water. The tension in my chest hadn’t eased, and I doubted it would until we were in the air. Even then, I wasn’t sure I’d believe we were safe.

Behind Zane, a man in a leather jacket walked past, his eyes flicking toward us for just a second too long. My grip on the water bottle tightened, but the man kept walking, disappearing into the crowd. Was he just a random traveler, or something worse? I didn’t know. I hated not knowing.

The announcement for boarding crackled over the speakers, and the line began to form. Zane glanced at me. “You ready?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He gave a faint smile, his hazel eyes steady. “You always have a choice, Hassan. But this is the right one.”

I nodded, standing and adjusting Sebastian’s blanket. We joined the line, inching forward as the gate agents scanned boarding passes. Each step felt like a mile, my heart pounding harder with every second.

When it was our turn, Zane handed over the passes, his expression calm. The agent scanned them and nodded. “You’re good to go. Enjoy your flight.”

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