Chương 8
“Olivia.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Evelyn sighed.
“That your health creates key-person risk.”
Olivia’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“And?”
“That the company has not adequately prepared for an emergency transition.”
“My accident was three years ago.”
“I know.”
“So this is not new risk.”
“No.”
“Then why now?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“That is the question.”
Olivia looked toward the dark window.
Her reflection floated over the blackness outside.
“Did he propose anyone?”
“Not formally.”
“Informally?”
“A temporary executive committee.”
Olivia gave a small laugh.
There was no humor in it.
“Let me guess.”
“You, me, Richard, and Simon Graves.”
“Simon has wanted my job since Series C.”
“He wants every job.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
Olivia lowered her voice.
“What does Richard have?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t call me midflight because someone made phone calls.”
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
Evelyn was silent for two seconds too long.
“He says there is documentation showing you overrode flight-safety recommendations on multiple occasions.”
Olivia stopped moving.
Daniel looked up from his tablet.
“What documentation?”
“He would not send it to me.”
“Because it doesn’t exist.”
“Maybe.”
“Evelyn.”
“I’m not accusing you.”
“That was not an answer.”
“I am telling you what he is saying.”
Olivia turned her chair slightly toward the aisle, though there was nowhere to go.
“What kind of recommendations?”
“Fatigue limits.”
Daniel’s attention sharpened.
“Crew-duty extensions.”
Olivia looked at him now.
He did not look away.
Evelyn continued.
“And one incident involving the former chief pilot.”
The cabin seemed suddenly smaller.
“What incident?”
“He says you pressured him to depart despite a safety objection.”
Olivia’s mouth went dry.
“That is not what happened.”
“I figured you would say that.”
“He resigned after I refused to approve a compensation demand.”
“Then we have a problem.”
“What problem?”
“That is not what he has apparently told people.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
For one second she saw the old chief pilot, Martin Keene, standing in the hangar office with both hands braced against a desk.
Not fear.
Anger.
He had been furious that night.
So had she.
“I want everything Richard sent anyone.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
“Olivia.”
“What?”
“Do not call him tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were absolutely going to.”
Olivia glanced at Daniel.
He looked down at the tablet again.
“That is insulting.”
“It is accurate.”
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“Get to Seattle.”
“Fine.”
“Sleep.”
“That request is less realistic than the governance issue.”
“Good night.”
The call ended.
Olivia lowered the phone.
Daniel waited ten seconds before speaking.
“Fatigue limits?”
“None of your business.”
“Normally, yes.”
He set the tablet on his knee.
“If it involved flight operations, then it becomes at least adjacent to my business.”
“You are not my employee.”
“I am literally being paid to sit on your airplane.”
“This is not my airplane.”
“You know what I mean.”
Olivia turned toward him.
“No, Mr. Carter, I do not.”
His jaw tightened.
“You asked me to evaluate whether I could work for you.”
“I asked you to take one trip.”
“And I am.”
“So take it.”
Daniel looked at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“All right.”
He picked up the tablet again.
The restraint irritated her more than an argument would have.
“You think Richard is right.”
Daniel kept his eyes on the screen.
“I don’t know who Richard is.”
“You heard enough.”
“I heard half a phone call.”
“And you formed an opinion.”
“Everybody forms opinions.”
“Then say yours.”
He looked up.
“No.”
Olivia stared at him.
“You refuse to answer questions rather often for someone seeking employment.”
“I’m learning from you.”
Margaret lowered one headphone.
“Should I move farther back?”
Neither answered.
She replaced the headphone.
Daniel leaned forward.
“You want my opinion?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
He kept his voice low.
“If a pilot told you a flight was unsafe because of fatigue and you pressured him to go anyway, that matters to me.”
“I did not.”
“Then that matters too.”
“You’re very skilled at saying nothing.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“I’m saying I don’t have enough information to call you a liar or call someone else one.”
Olivia looked away.
That should have been reasonable.
Instead it felt disloyal, which was absurd because Daniel Carter had known her for less than a week and had no loyalty to give.
He opened his tablet again.
She hated that too.
Twenty minutes passed without conversation.
A flight attendant brought sparkling water and a plate of almonds.
Olivia took the water.
Daniel accepted the almonds, ate three, then folded the packet shut and placed it in his bag.
“You save airline snacks?” Olivia asked.
He looked mildly embarrassed.
“Emma likes them.”
“You could buy almonds.”
“I know.”
“She specifically likes packaged aircraft almonds?”
“She likes evidence that I went somewhere.”
The irritation went out of Olivia before she could stop it.
“What do you bring her from freight routes?”
“Mostly terrible things from truck stops.”
“Such as?”
“Snow globes, magnets, once a key chain shaped like Nebraska.”
“What does Nebraska look like as a key chain?”
“Flat.”
Olivia smiled despite herself.
Daniel noticed but wisely did not mention it.
After a moment he said, “She has a shelf.”
“For souvenirs?”
“For proof.”
The word changed the space between them.
Olivia looked at the water in her hand.
“She worries you won’t come back.”
Daniel’s face closed slightly.
“Her mother went into the hospital and didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You already said that.”
“I can say it twice.”
“Fair.”
He turned toward the window.
“We had six months where every goodbye got weird.”
“What do you mean?”
“School drop-off.”
He rubbed his thumb across the edge of the almond packet.
“She’d hold onto the door handle and ask what time I’d be back.”
“That sounds normal.”
“It was, until she started asking what happened if I wasn’t.”
Olivia did not answer.
Daniel gave a dry little laugh.
“So I started bringing junk home.”
“And it worked?”
“No.”
May you like
That answer surprised her.
“Not really.”
