Chapter 5 - The Other Option Was Waiting
Claire did not board the plane.
Ruiz made that decision before Claire could.
The flight crew was told to stand down pending an inspection, and Bennett Aerospace security was ordered to preserve all manifests, maintenance logs, and communications.
Adrian called it theater.
Claire called it caution.
At 11:18 p.m., caution became something else.
A maintenance supervisor phoned Marcus.
He put the call on speaker.
“We found a discrepancy in the fuel-pressure sensor,” the supervisor said. “The aircraft should never have been cleared.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Ruiz leaned toward the phone.
“Could that cause a crash?”
“Not necessarily. But it could force an emergency diversion, and the alert system had been manually disabled.”
The room went silent.
Adrian’s face changed.
For the first time, even he looked genuinely shocked.
“That wasn’t me.”
Claire believed his surprise.
She did not believe his innocence.
Ruiz asked the supervisor who had accessed the aircraft.
There were three authorized entries that afternoon.
The chief mechanic.
A ground operations manager.
And Daniel Hayes.
Lauren’s husband.
Claire stared at Lauren.
Lauren stopped crying.
“Daniel?”
It was the first time all evening she sounded truly confused.
Ruiz caught it.
“You didn’t know?”
Lauren shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian snapped, “This proves nothing.”
Marcus turned on him.
“It proves your plan involved far more risk than you admitted.”
“My plan?”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Yes, I wanted Claire out as CEO.”
Claire flinched despite herself.
There it was.
Finally.
The clean truth.
Adrian looked at her.
“You’ve been running Bennett Aerospace into the ground chasing that defense prototype.”
“That prototype saved the company.”
“It also put our marriage last.”
Claire stared at him.
“So you humiliated me publicly and conspired with my CFO to remove me?”
“I wanted leverage.”
“With my company?”
“With our life.”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“My father built that company before I met you.”
“And I spent twelve years living in its shadow.”
For one dangerous second, Claire almost saw the wounded man behind the betrayal.
Then she remembered Eli on that stage.
“You could have left.”
Adrian looked away.
Ruiz turned to Lauren.
“What was Daniel doing at the hangar?”
Lauren seemed unable to answer.
Marcus did.
“Daniel Hayes owns Meridian Aviation Services. Bennett contracts with them for private fleet maintenance.”
Claire’s head snapped around.
She had known Daniel’s company serviced corporate aircraft.
She had never thought about who approved the contract.
Lauren had.
“Lauren,” Claire whispered. “Did you bring Meridian into Bennett?”
Lauren looked sick.
“Yes.”
Ruiz asked, “And did you know Daniel accessed Mrs. Bennett’s plane today?”
“No.”
Then Lauren’s phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
Ruiz noticed.
“Who is it?”
Lauren hesitated.
Another message arrived.
Claire could read the preview from where she stood.
May you like
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP HER QUIET.
Lauren dropped the phone.
