Naomi looked at the pointing finger.
Then back at Claire.
“Is that an official security instruction?”
“Yes.”
“Are you airport security?”
Claire hesitated.
“No, but—”
“Are you ground operations?”
“No.”
“Are you the captain?”
“No.”
“Then under whose authority are you ordering me off the tarmac?”
Claire's face hardened.
“Under the authority of the crew.”
“Which crew member authorized you to remove me?”
Claire said nothing.
The baggage handler nearby stopped pretending not to listen.
Naomi noticed another employee discreetly pulling out his phone.
She wished he wouldn't.
She didn't want spectacle.
She wanted truth.
Claire, however, saw the phone.
Her embarrassment transformed into anger.
“Put that away!” she snapped at the employee.
The employee immediately lowered it.
Naomi's expression changed.
“Don't speak to him like that.”
Claire turned back.
“Excuse me?”
“He hasn't done anything.”
“This is none of your concern.”
“He is an employee standing in his assigned work area.”
“And you're interfering with operations.”
“No,” Naomi said. “You are.”
That sentence landed differently.
Claire's face reddened.
She took another step forward until barely two feet separated them.
“You need to understand something.”
Naomi remained still.
Claire continued.
“I have worked executive flights for six years. I know our passengers. I know our clients. I know who is supposed to be here.”
Naomi looked directly into her eyes.
“And people who look like me don't fit that picture?”
Claire's expression flickered.
There it was.
The accusation she had been trying not to hear.
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
Claire looked around.
Now several employees were watching.
She lowered her voice.
“Don't make this about race.”
Naomi felt a familiar exhaustion.
She had not mentioned race.
Claire had.
“I asked why you assumed I didn't belong here.”
“You're unbelievable.”
“And you still haven't checked my credentials.”
Claire laughed loudly.
It was a defensive, almost theatrical laugh.
“Oh, please.”
Naomi's face remained calm.
That seemed to infuriate Claire even more.
“You know what? Fine. Show me your boarding pass.”
“I don't have one.”
Claire smiled triumphantly.
“Exactly.”
Naomi said nothing.
Claire extended one gloved hand.
“Then leave.”
“I don't need a boarding pass.”
“Everyone boarding needs one.”
“I'm not boarding as a passenger.”
Claire stared.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Waiting.”
“For whom?”
Naomi glanced toward the aircraft stairs.
“For Captain Daniel Mercer.”
The confidence disappeared from Claire's face for half a second.
Captain Mercer was not just another pilot.
He was Meridian Crown's chief pilot and director of flight operations.
Claire recovered quickly.
“Captain Mercer doesn't meet random people on the tarmac.”
Naomi's expression remained unreadable.
“Apparently he does today.”
Claire scoffed.
“You expect me to believe the chief pilot asked you to stand beside his aircraft?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is between Captain Mercer and me.”
Claire shook her head.
“This is ridiculous.”
She reached toward Naomi's suitcase.
Naomi moved her hand onto the handle before Claire could touch it.
“Don't.”
The word was quiet.
But absolute.
Claire stopped.
For the first time, she seemed uncertain.
Then pride took over again.
“If you refuse to leave, I'll have you escorted out.”
“By whom?”
“Security.”
“Call them.”
Claire blinked.
Naomi repeated it.
“Call security.”
That was not the reaction Claire expected.
People who were somewhere illegally did not usually invite security to investigate.
Claire's hand moved toward the radio clipped at her waist.
Before she touched it, a voice came from behind them.
“Claire?”
Everyone turned.
Captain Daniel Mercer was descending the aircraft stairs.
He was fifty-three, tall, broad-shouldered, with graying hair and the quiet presence of a man who had spent thirty years making decisions at thirty thousand feet.
Four gold stripes marked his sleeves.
His expression was neutral as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Claire immediately straightened.
“Captain.”
Daniel looked at her.
Then at Naomi.
His face changed instantly.
Not dramatically.
But unmistakably.
“Dr. Brooks.”
Claire froze.
Daniel crossed the remaining distance quickly.
“I apologize. The maintenance review took longer than expected.”
Naomi nodded.
“No problem, Captain.”
Daniel noticed the employees standing nearby.
Then Claire's flushed face.
Then Naomi's suitcase.
Something was wrong.
“Is everything all right?”
Naomi looked at Claire.
Claire opened her mouth first.
“Captain, I found this woman standing in the restricted area without a boarding pass.”
Daniel's eyebrows lifted.
“This woman?”
Claire didn't notice the warning.
“She claimed she was waiting for you, but she couldn't provide a boarding pass, and she refused to return to the terminal.”