Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE KEY
David locked his phone before Martin could see the screen.
"What is it?" Martin asked.
"Nothing."
Martin stared at him. "You don't say 'nothing' like that."
Mercer stepped forward. "The device came from airline property. Hand it over."
David slipped it into his inside pocket.
"Seal the plane. Call federal investigators."
"You don't get to dictate procedure."
"Then explain why you knew something was under 2A before I opened it."
Mercer's mouth shut.
Lena moved between them. "Enough. Gate office. Offline computer. We make a forensic copy and nobody takes the original anywhere."
Martin nodded quickly. "That's the right move."
David noticed the relief in his voice.
They crossed the jet bridge with Malik between David and Catherine.
Passengers watched from the windows.
Phones followed them.
The humiliation had already become a spectacle.
Now the spectacle had evidence.
Inside the gate office, Lena disconnected an old maintenance laptop from every network she could find.
Catherine shut the blinds.
Martin stood behind David's chair.
Too close.
"Back up," David said.
Martin blinked. "Seriously?"
"Give me ten feet."
Malik looked at his father.
Martin did not argue.
That made it worse.
Lena inserted the drive through a write blocker.
The directory opened without asking for a password.
Five folders appeared.
THERMAL EVENTS.
MAINTENANCE OVERRIDES.
SUPPLIER CONTRACTS.
JOHNSON AEROTECH WARNINGS.
FAILSAFE COPY.
David's stomach dropped.
Martin stepped closer despite the warning.
"Pull it. Now."
"Why?"
"Because if that thing contains stolen company data, every second you browse it destroys chain-of-custody arguments."
"You sound like a lawyer."
"I sound like the guy who's spent fourteen years cleaning up after you when you decide being right is the same thing as being careful."
Malik looked up.
He had heard that argument before.
Martin was the man who came to birthdays with ridiculous gifts, who taught Malik how to throw a curveball badly, who kept an extra key to David's house because he had once been family before family became complicated.
David hated that the anonymous message had put suspicion between them in less than a minute.
His phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
YOUR SON WAS PUT IN 2A ON PURPOSE.
David's thumb froze.
Another message.
THEY KNEW YOU WOULD COME IF HE CALLED.
He typed one word.
WHO?
The reply came immediately.
THE MAN WHO HID THE DRIVE IS LUIS ORTEGA. FIND HIM BEFORE THEY DO.
Lena searched the maintenance roster.
"Luis Ortega. Senior avionics technician. Twenty-two years with Meridian."
Catherine leaned over her shoulder. "I know him."
"Is he working today?"
Lena's eyebrows pinched. "System says he called in sick at 5:31 a.m."
Malik shook his head. "He was on the plane."
David's phone buzzed again.
A photo loaded.
Security-camera quality.
Malik walking toward Gate 14 that morning.
Twenty feet behind him, Luis Ortega pushed a maintenance cart.
The picture had been taken from another screen.
Below it, one sentence appeared.
CHECK WHO CREATED MALIK'S ORIGINAL SEAT ASSIGNMENT.
David looked at Lena. "Reservation creation log. Not the change. The original seat."
She pulled it up.
6:12 A.M.
SEAT ASSIGNED: 2A.
PARTNER CREDENTIAL: JX-EXEC-04.
Martin's lips parted.
David knew the credential number before Lena opened the owner field.
Only four people at Johnson Aerotech had JX executive keys.
His was 01.
The screen populated.
JX-EXEC-04 - MARTIN HALE.
Malik looked at the man he called Uncle Martin.
May you like
"Why did you put me in that seat?"
