The Teterboro tarmac was windy.
The Wilder corporate jet, a sleek Gulfstream G650, gleamed in the sun.
Emelie held Lily's hand tightly. Her grip was iron.
"Mommy, you're hurting me," Lily complained.
"Sorry, baby," Emelie loosened her grip, but didn't let go.
Eleanora was already at the stairs. She was wearing a white Chanel suit and oversized sunglasses. She looked like she was going on a honeymoon.
She saw Emelie and frowned.
"Oh," Eleanora said. "Clifton said you weren't coming."
"Clifton was wrong," Emelie said, brushing past her.
They boarded.
The cabin was luxurious, with cream leather seats.
Eleanora sat in the main facing seat. Clifton sat next to her.
Emelie took the seat across the aisle, pulling Lily into her lap.
"Can I sit with Daddy?" Lily asked.
"No," Emelie said firmly. "You stay with me."
The plane took off.
As they reached cruising altitude, the pressure changed.
Lily started to cry. "My ears! Mommy, my ears hurt!"
Clifton looked up from his iPad, annoyed. "Can you keep her quiet? Eleanora has a headache."
Eleanora rubbed her temples dramatically. "It's fine, Clifton. Poor thing."
She reached into her purse and pulled out a lollipop. "Here, sweetie. The sugar helps."
Emelie slapped the lollipop out of her hand. It landed on the carpet.
"She doesn't need sugar," Emelie snapped.
She turned Lily's head to the side. She remembered the integrative medicine techniques her father had researched for pediatric pain relief. She found the pressure point behind the earlobe-the Yifeng point. She pressed firmly and massaged in a circular motion. Then she massaged the Eustachian tube down the neck.
"Swallow, baby," Emelie whispered.
Lily swallowed. Her eyes widened. "It popped!"
"Better?"
"Yeah!" Lily smiled. She snuggled into Emelie's chest and closed her eyes.
Clifton watched the whole thing. He looked stunned.
"Where did you learn that?" he asked.
"I read my father's journals," Emelie said coldly. "He knew more than just immunology."
She put on her noise-canceling headphones.
She opened her Kindle. But she wasn't reading a book. She had hacked the Kindle to display PDFs.
She was reading the latest paper on Graft-versus-Host Disease in Pediatric Donors.
Clifton glanced over. He saw dense text, charts, graphs.
He squinted. "What are you reading?"
"A thriller," Emelie said, turning the page. "About a husband who tries to kill his wife."
Clifton looked away, uncomfortable.
Turbulence hit. The plane dropped ten feet.
Eleanora gasped and grabbed Clifton's hand. "Clifton!"
Clifton covered her hand with his, murmuring reassurances.
Emelie watched them.
She felt nothing. No jealousy. No pain.
Only target acquisition.
She looked at Lily, sleeping peacefully.
I will destroy you both, she thought. And I will use your own science to do it.
The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Preparing for landing in Baden-Baden."
