Chương 2
Olivia looked up.
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“That was a joke.”
“I gathered.”
“Good.”
He shifted in the chair, and for the first time she saw nerves beneath the plainspoken manner.
“Her mother died two years ago,” he added.
The words came without invitation and seemed to surprise him after they were spoken.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
He looked toward the hangar window.
A baggage cart rattled past outside.
Olivia let the silence remain.
She had learned after the accident that condolences often created work for the person receiving them.
People wanted reassurance that they had said the right thing.
Daniel apparently did not.
She returned to the file.
“Twelve years Air Force, six in heavy transport, instructor qualification, then civilian freight.”
“Yes.”
“Your last military performance reports were exceptional.”
“They were good.”
“And now you fly boxes between Indianapolis and Memphis at night.”
“Boxes complain less.”
“That’s your reason?”
“No.”
He rested both hands on his knees.
“My wife got sick near the end of my service commitment.”
Olivia noticed he still called her his wife.
“After she died, freight gave me a schedule where I could be home when Emma woke up.”
“This job won’t.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
His eyebrows moved slightly.
Olivia closed the file.
“Nine pilots before yesterday told me they understood the schedule and later declined for scheduling reasons.”
“And yesterday?”
“He declined in the room.”
“Why?”
“He said my physical condition created additional responsibility he wasn’t prepared to assume.”
Daniel stared at her for a second.
“Did he know what the job was when he applied?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he come?”
“Possibly to discover whether paralysis was contagious.”
Daniel gave a short involuntary laugh, then seemed unsure whether he was allowed to.
Olivia almost smiled.
“He didn’t say that.”
“I figured.”
“He was the only one honest enough to say anything close to the real concern.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Not dramatically, but the nervousness left it.
“What concern?”
“That transporting me is different from transporting an able-bodied passenger.”
“It is.”
The answer came so quickly that Olivia’s fingers tightened around the folder.
Daniel continued before she could speak.
“Evacuation procedures are different.”
He pointed toward the aircraft outside.
“Ground handling needs planning, accessible transport at destinations needs planning, and I’d want to know what assistance you require in an emergency because guessing at thirty thousand feet is stupid.”
Olivia watched him.
“But none of that makes you less transportable.”
“You’re very confident.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I prepare because I’m not confident.”
That answer interested her.
“Tell me about the Afghanistan incident.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You read the whole record.”
“I generally read résumés before hiring people entrusted with my life.”
“Fair.”
He leaned back.
“February 2019, supply flight, weather deteriorated earlier than forecast, primary landing site became unusable, and our alternate was temporarily closed.”
“You had a fuel problem.”
“We had a decision problem that was going to become a fuel problem.”
“What did you do?”
“Found a paved road long enough to put the aircraft down.”
“You destroyed government property.”
“I damaged government property.”
“The aircraft was written off.”
Daniel considered that.
“Then I suppose you win the wording.”
“Everyone survived.”
“That was the idea.”
“You were formally reprimanded.”
“For deviating from procedure.”
“Would you do it again?”
His mouth tightened.
“I’d prefer not to wreck your airplane.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
He looked directly at her.
“I’d make the safest decision available with the information I had, and afterward I’d accept whatever came with it.”
Olivia had interviewed hundreds of executives.
Most people facing a difficult question tried to make themselves larger.
Daniel seemed willing to leave himself the same size.
She rolled toward the window and pointed at the Gulfstream.
“I have to be in Seattle Monday morning.”
He glanced at the aircraft.
“Then you should leave Sunday.”
“I prefer Saturday evening.”
“Why?”
“I have a board meeting Saturday afternoon.”
“Forecast?”
“Clear when I checked.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Olivia turned back.
He had already taken out his phone.
“You’re interviewing for a job you don’t have.”
“And you’re scheduling a flight with a pilot you don’t have.”
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen, frowned, and declined the call.
“Problem?”
“My neighbor.”
“You should answer.”
“It can wait.”
It rang again.
This time Daniel muttered something under his breath and stood.
“Excuse me.”
He stepped into the hall.
Olivia could hear only fragments through the glass.
“What happened?”
A pause followed.
“No, don’t put her on yet.”
Another pause.
“Because if she hears my voice, she’ll cry harder.”
Daniel pressed his fingers against his forehead.
“I’ll come get her.”
He returned less than a minute later.
“My daughter threw up at school.”
“It’s nine fifteen.”
“She likes efficiency.”
He began gathering his papers.
The bent folder slipped from his hand and scattered pages across the floor.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Olivia looked at the documents around his boots.
“You’re having an impressive interview.”
“I was doing better before the vomit.”
He crouched to collect the papers.
Olivia rolled around the table and picked up a page that had landed beside her front wheel.
It was not part of his résumé.
It was a crayon drawing of a blue airplane with three windows, an enormous yellow sun, and two stick figures holding hands beneath words written in uneven purple letters.
COME HOME DAD.
Daniel saw it in her hand.
His face changed.
“Emma puts those in my bag.”
Olivia handed it back.
“You should go.”
“I can come back this afternoon.”
“No.”
His shoulders sank slightly.
“I understand.”
“I didn’t say the interview was over.”
Daniel stopped.
Olivia picked up his file again.
“Margaret will send you the aircraft records, operating requirements, and proposed schedule.”
He stared at her.
“You’re hiring me?”
“I’m deciding whether to.”
“That sounds suspiciously like another interview.”
“It is.”
May you like
He tucked Emma’s drawing carefully inside the folder.
“What do I need to do?”
