Chapter 5 - SOMEBODY KNEW I WAS COMING
Only six people knew I was taking Flight 418.
My assistant.
My wife.
Evelyn.
Northstar’s CEO, Andrew Mercer.
Martin Vale.
And one member of the board.
I stared at the audit log.
“Who accessed the complaint system?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The account belongs to an administrative service profile. We need IT to trace the device.”
“When?”
“11:43 last night.”
My flight left at 8:10 the next morning.
That wasn’t coincidence.
“Was my reservation visible internally?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“Executive operations, security, certain airport management.”
“So Parker could’ve been told I was coming.”
“Yes.”
“But if he knew who I was, why confront me?”
Tessa answered quietly.
“Maybe he didn’t.”
We all looked at her.
“Maybe whoever told him about you didn’t tell him who you were.”
That possibility was worse.
Someone may have known I was traveling anonymously and deliberately allowed Parker to walk into a disaster.
Why?
Before I could answer that, Northstar CEO Andrew Mercer called.
“Malcolm, we need to get you out of that airport.”
“No.”
“The video is everywhere.”
“I know.”
“Media vans are already outside.”
“Then somebody can speak to them.”
“You?”
“No.”
He sounded relieved.
Then I added, “You.”
Silence.
“Malcolm—”
“You’re CEO.”
“Yes, and my legal team is telling me not to make premature statements.”
“Evelyn is sitting next to me.”
Evelyn leaned toward the phone.
“Andrew, you can confirm the flight is grounded pending review, that no passenger was removed, and that we take allegations of discrimination and retaliation seriously.”
Andrew sighed.
“This could destroy us.”
I looked at Tessa.
A former employee who had kept an eleven-month-old company jacket because losing her job still hurt.
“It already damaged people.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
That silence told me enough.
Andrew had spent twenty years in corporate leadership.
Good numbers.
Good suits.
Good presentations.
But sometimes executives look at a crisis and see only stock price, lawsuits, and headlines.
Employees see rent.
Health insurance.
A kid’s tuition.
A career they spent half their life building.
“We’re doing this properly,” I said. “No spin.”
Andrew didn’t like it.
But he agreed.
Twenty minutes later, IT called Evelyn.
The deleted complaint files had been accessed from a Northstar-issued laptop registered to Martin Vale’s office.
Not necessarily Martin himself.
But close enough to ask questions.
We arranged an emergency board call.
Martin joined from Dallas.
His camera came on.
Blue suit.
White shirt.
Perfect office lighting.
He looked completely calm.
Evelyn started.
“Martin, did you authorize access to the complaint archive at 11:43 p.m. last night?”
“No.”
“Did anyone in your office?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Your department login was used.”
“Shared administrative account.”
“From your assigned laptop.”
That made him blink.
Only once.
But I saw it.
“So?” he said.
“So where was your laptop?”
“My office.”
“In Dallas?”
“Yes.”
“Who had access?”
“My assistant. IT. Cleaning staff, I suppose.”
Evelyn continued.
“Five Parker complaints were deleted.”
“I know nothing about that.”
Tessa leaned toward my ear.
“He’s lying.”
Martin noticed her.
“Who is that?”
“Tessa Morgan.”
His face changed.
Just slightly.
“You remember me?” Tessa asked.
“This is an official board discussion. Former employees shouldn’t be present.”
“You fired me.”
“HR terminated you.”
“After you called Denise Carter and told her not to support my complaint.”
Martin leaned back.
“I’m ending this call if it turns into accusations.”
I spoke.
“You’re not ending anything.”
“Malcolm, you’re emotionally involved.”
“My involvement doesn’t change the audit log.”
“You boarded that plane looking for trouble.”
That stopped me.
“What did you say?”
Martin realized his mistake.
But too late.
I leaned toward the screen.
“How did you know why I boarded?”
“I assumed.”
“No.”
I felt the whole room become still.
“I told Andrew and Evelyn I was traveling anonymously to observe operations.”
Martin’s eyes moved.
“Perhaps Andrew mentioned it.”
Andrew immediately spoke from another window.
“I did not.”
Then IT’s director entered the call.
“I have an update.”
Evelyn turned.
“Go ahead.”
“We traced the login further.”
Martin’s face tightened.
The director continued.
“The complaint deletions were executed from Mr. Vale’s laptop.”
Martin said, “I already told you—”
“But the computer’s camera security log activated during the session.”
Martin stopped talking.
I stared at the screen.
“You have an image?”
“Yes.”
“Who was using the laptop?”
The IT director hesitated.
“It wasn’t Mr. Vale.”
Martin exhaled.
For one second, he almost smiled.
Then the director said the name.
May you like
And Martin’s smile disappeared.
“It was Captain Steven Parker.”
