Chapter 12 - UNCLE MARTIN
David called Johnson Aerotech headquarters from the ramp.
"Lock every executive account."
His chief of staff went silent. "Including yours?"
"Mine first. Then Martin Hale's. Freeze badge access, cloud sessions, financial approvals, everything."
"David, Martin is your COO."
"I know exactly who he is."
He ended the call.
Malik was still staring at the waveform on his phone.
"Maybe Uncle Martin was trying to stop Mercer."
David crouched. "Maybe."
It hurt to say the word.
Martin had been there when Malik was born.
He had held him in a hospital blanket and complained that David had named a baby like a future senator.
He had taught Malik to ride a bike in the Johnson driveway.
He had a key to their house.
David had never once wondered whether that key was a mistake.
Lena opened the cloud copy in the temporary evidence room.
Luis's decryption phrase unlocked the first layer.
Folders filled the screen.
THERMAL EVENTS.
MAINTENANCE OVERRIDES.
SUPPLIER CONTRACTS.
JOHNSON AEROTECH WARNINGS.
Lena opened the warnings.
Nine months of engineering alerts appeared.
Every original warned Meridian about heat accumulation around the Altair relay retrofit.
Every original had been routed through Johnson Aerotech executive review.
Every one had been softened before Meridian received it.
"Show the reviewer," David said.
Lena clicked.
M. HALE.
Malik made a small sound behind him.
David did not turn.
The financial folder was worse.
Altair Systems paid a consulting entity called Hale Strategic Operations.
Six figures at a time.
The first payment arrived three days after Martin approved the procurement waiver.
The last arrived yesterday.
David dialed him.
Martin answered immediately.
"David, thank God. Vance altered the scope. I can prove it."
"Where are you?"
"Headquarters."
David looked at his chief of staff's text.
MARTIN BADGE HAS NOT ENTERED HQ TODAY.
"Try again."
Silence.
"I was trying to keep the contract alive," Martin said.
David closed his eyes once.
There it was.
Not denial.
Justification.
"You took money."
"I took consulting fees."
"You buried safety warnings."
"I changed language while Altair replaced bad units."
"They didn't replace them."
"Vance told me they did."
"And you believed him because the deposits cleared?"
Martin's breath hit the microphone.
"You think Johnson Aerotech survived because you were always right? I made deals while you got to be the man who never compromised."
David looked at Malik.
The boy's face had gone blank in the way it did when pain arrived before tears.
"Did you know Malik was in 2A?"
A pause.
Too long.
"Martin."
"I knew Luis used my credential."
"When?"
"This morning."
"Before Catherine touched him?"
No answer.
David stood.
"You knew my son was sitting over evidence Vance wanted destroyed, and you said nothing."
"I was trying to get to the airport."
"You called Mercer first."
Martin's voice cracked. "I called him to keep Vance from doing something stupid."
"You told him not to touch the drive until you knew what Luis copied."
Silence.
Malik stepped closer. "Uncle Martin?"
David's stomach dropped.
Martin heard him.
His voice changed.
"Malik. Hey, champ. I need you to understand something."
Malik's eyes filled.
"Did you know?"
Martin did not answer the child either.
David took the phone off speaker.
"Where are you?"
"David, if the federal team gets the failsafe folder, Vance will dump the whole thing on Johnson Aerotech. You need me."
"No. You needed me to trust you."
The line went dead.
A federal agent crossed the room fast.
"Mr. Johnson. Martin Hale's vehicle entered airport property twenty-eight minutes ago."
David turned.
"Where?"
"Parking structure. Level four. Vehicle is empty."
Catherine stood from her chair.
"Where's Malik?"
David looked behind him.
The chair was empty.
The water bottle rolled slowly across the floor.
"Malik?"
No answer.
David ran into the corridor.
A security guard pointed toward the far doors. "A boy just went with a man in a blue coat."
David's knees nearly buckled.
Martin had been wearing a blue coat.
On the floor beside the doors lay Malik's boarding pass.
Seat 2A.
On the back, someone had written four words.
May you like
COME ALONE. BRING THE KEY.
