Chương 6
“Then don’t use fear to make your argument.”
Marcus felt something inside him sharpen.
It was an old reaction, ugly and immediate.
Six years of avoiding rooms like this had not removed it.
It had only kept it hungry.
“You threw money at me twenty minutes ago because you were afraid of missing a meeting.”
Natalie’s face hardened.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do with this.”
Garrison looked between them.
“Maybe we should—”
Marcus kept going.
“You’re still trying to force the machine to fit your schedule instead of changing the schedule to fit the machine.”
Natalie’s eyes narrowed.
“And you are still a contractor with no authority here.”
“Correct.”
“Then stop speaking to me like you have it.”
The silence that followed felt worse than shouting.
Marcus looked at the floor.
He had gone too far.
Not because the technical point was wrong.
Because he had wanted to hurt her with it.
That realization made him tired.
“Fine.”
He picked up his toolbox.
“Marcus.”
Garrison said his name before Natalie did.
He stopped.
Garrison rubbed the back of his neck.
“If you walk out now, I still have a damaged harness and a contaminated bond.”
“Yes.”
“And you think there could be more.”
“Yes.”
“So stay.”
Marcus looked at him.
Garrison’s expression was stiff, almost resentful.
It was not an apology.
It was better than one.
It was a professional admission made by a man who disliked making it.
Natalie turned away toward the window.
Beyond the glass, dawn had begun to gray the edge of the runway.
A fuel truck crossed the service road with its amber beacon turning slowly.
For several seconds, the most important person in the room was nobody.
Then Natalie said, “Cancel the flight.”
Renner, standing in the cabin doorway, nearly dropped the tablet in his hand.
“What?”
“Cancel it.”
“The Osaka team is already en route from the hotel.”
“Put them in ground transport.”
“The plant visit was built around—”
“I know what it was built around.”
She looked at Marcus once, then away.
“Cancel it.”
Renner did not move.
“Natalie, that creates a contractual issue.”
“A dead executive creates a worse one.”
Marcus said nothing.
Renner did not appreciate the sentence.
Natalie apparently did.
Not because she smiled.
Because she stopped arguing with herself.
“Do it, Paul.”
Renner left, already dialing.
Tessa finished bagging the blade fragment.
“Before we open anything else, I want a list of everyone who had physical access to the aircraft after five yesterday.”
Derek, still hovering near the cabin entrance, raised one hand awkwardly.
“I can pull badge access.”
“Badge access isn’t the same as aircraft access.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Get both if possible.”
Derek nodded and vanished again.
Priya watched him leave.
“Evan’s going to wake up to security at his door, isn’t he?”
Tessa did not answer immediately.
“That depends on what we find.”
“He’s going to think we believe he did it.”
“We need to locate him.”
“You have his number.”
“He isn’t answering.”
Priya’s anger faltered.
“When did you call?”
“Three times.”
“He has a toddler.”
“Priya.”
“He sleeps with his phone on silent because the kid wakes up at everything.”
Tessa regarded her for a moment.
“Do you know his wife’s name?”
“Rachel.”
“Address?”
“No.”
“Anyone here?”
Alvarez, still holding no coffee because Garrison had finished it, raised his hand.
“I gave him a ride home in December when his alternator died.”
Tessa turned.
“You remember where?”
“Blue duplex off Hawthorne.”
“Number?”
“Maybe 214.”
He scratched his cheek.
“Could be 216.”
Tessa gestured toward the stairs.
“Come with me.”
Alvarez looked at Garrison’s empty cup.
“You owe me coffee.”
Garrison glanced down as though noticing the cup for the first time.
“Put it on my tab.”
“You don’t have a tab.”
“I do now.”
The small exchange broke the tension just enough for everyone to breathe.
Marcus leaned against the cabin wall.
His phone buzzed in his jacket.
He checked it.
A message from Patricia.
Lily wants to know if airplanes have horns.
Marcus stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
Also she says you forgot her field trip form.
He closed his eyes.
Of course he had.
He typed back.
Tell her some do have warning horns but not like cars.
I’ll sign the form tonight.
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
Patricia replied.
She says that is disappointing.
Marcus smiled despite himself.
Natalie noticed.
He put the phone away.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
But her voice had changed.
Not softer exactly.
Less armored.
Garrison opened the wiring diagram again.
“We need a search pattern.”
Marcus stepped beside him.
“Not every panel.”
“Agreed.”
“Whoever did this probably wanted delay, not catastrophic damage.”
Natalie turned sharply.
“How can you possibly know that?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because if they wanted to destroy the airplane, there are easier ways than creating intermittent startup faults.”
Garrison nodded.
“Fuel contamination.”
“Control surface interference.”
“Fire suppression disable.”
Priya made a face.
“Can we not brainstorm murder methods inside the airplane?”
Garrison looked embarrassed.
“Fair.”
Marcus pointed at the schematic.
“The modifications we found have one thing in common.”
Priya moved closer.
“They’re subtle.”
“And reversible.”
Garrison’s eyes narrowed.
Marcus nodded.
“Someone wanted the jet grounded long enough to matter, but maybe not permanently damaged.”
Natalie folded her arms.
“Why?”
“That’s the question.”
Priya studied the schematic.
“What happens today besides the Osaka delegation?”
Natalie answered reluctantly.
“Plant visit.”
“What kind?”
“Final inspection.”
Garrison looked at her.
“For what?”
Natalie hesitated.
Marcus noticed.
So did everyone else.
Renner had returned and stopped at the doorway.
“Natalie.”
She gave him a warning look.
He ignored it.
“This is no longer information we can compartmentalize.”
Nobody moved.
Renner stepped inside.
“The Osaka delegation represents Shinsei Aeronautics.”
Priya’s eyebrows rose.
Even Marcus recognized the name.
Shinsei supplied precision flight-control actuators to half a dozen major manufacturers.
Natalie continued after a moment.
May you like
“They’re considering Whitmore for a five-year subcontract.”
Garrison whistled under his breath.
