Richard hesitated.
"I don't know."
"Did he ever ask about her?"
Richard closed his eyes.
Three days earlier, he'd attended a business dinner with Vale.
During the conversation, Richard complained about his upcoming flight to London.
Vale recommended Flight 212.
Richard mentioned his preference for Seat 2A.
"Leave it with me," Vale had said.
Then, almost casually, Vale asked whether Daniel Coleman's daughter traveled frequently.
Richard hadn't thought anything of it.
Now the memory made his stomach tighten.
Daniel became very quiet.
"Did he ask anything else?"
"Something about whether your family received free upgrades."
Marcus exchanged a glance with Elizabeth.
Zara's reservation had been created three weeks earlier through the airline's youth travel desk.
Someone with access to internal passenger information could have known exactly when and where she was flying.
And Martin Vale had been asking questions about her.
Marcus checked Vale's recent system activity.
One search appeared repeatedly.
DANIEL COLEMAN — BOARD AUDIT.
Daniel was scheduled to present the findings of his operational-integrity investigation to the airline's board the following Monday.
Suddenly, the situation began to make sense.
What if Vale hadn't merely been protecting a wealthy customer?
What if he wanted a public confrontation involving Daniel Coleman's daughter?
A powerful airline executive stopping an international flight because a businessman upset his child would make a devastating headline.
The details could be buried.
The investigation could be discredited.
And Daniel's credibility might collapse before the board meeting.
Richard sank onto a bench.
"He wanted this to happen."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"He may have been counting on you reacting exactly the way you did."
Richard looked horrified.
"He used me."
Daniel's voice remained cold.
"You still knew the seat belonged to someone else."
Richard lowered his head.
He had been manipulated.
But he hadn't been innocent.
After a long silence, he unlocked his phone again.
"There are six months of messages between me and Vale."
Marcus stared at him.
"Six months?"
Richard nodded.
And suddenly the investigation became much bigger.
The messages exposed an unofficial network involving twelve of the airline's largest corporate customers.
Executives had received secret priority codes, restricted upgrades, lounge exceptions, and preferential seat assignments.
In exchange, Vale received expensive trips disguised as corporate hospitality, business introductions, and promises of future employment.
Richard admitted he had benefited from the arrangement.
"Did you ever question why you were receiving privileges beyond your contract?" Marcus asked.
Richard looked away.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I liked the results."
But the most disturbing discovery was hidden in a file Vale had sent him two weeks earlier.
It contained confidential travel profiles belonging to several airline executives and their families.
One of those profiles belonged to Zara Coleman.
It included her age, travel date, flight number, assigned seat, youth-service status, and emergency contact information.
Daniel's voice became dangerously quiet.
"That information is restricted."
Corporate Sales should not have had access to it.
Vale had either obtained it illegally or received it from someone who had.
Airport law enforcement was notified.
Vale's company credentials were suspended immediately.
But when security officers arrived at his New York office, he was gone.
His laptop was still docked.
His jacket hung over the back of his chair.
A cup of coffee sat on his desk.
Still warm.
Back at Flight 212, Marcus determined there was no immediate evidence of a physical threat to the aircraft.
However, because compromised credentials had touched related systems, he recommended replacing a cabin tablet and refreshing the digital passenger manifest.
Daniel approved the security precautions.
Only after those checks were complete would the flight depart.
Richard was allowed to continue in Seat 2B if he cooperated with the investigation.
He agreed.
Before returning to the cabin, he asked Marcus one question.
"Is Daniel Coleman going to destroy my company?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Mr. Coleman has already removed himself from decisions involving your corporate contract. Compliance and Legal will handle that independently."