No signature.
No code.
No official formatting.
Nothing legitimate.
She looked toward the Senior Flight Attendant.
“Did you see this before boarding?”
The woman shook her head too quickly.
“No.”
The Captain looked at her.
The CEO noticed.
“You don’t believe her.”
The Captain’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
The Senior Flight Attendant stepped forward.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
The Captain turned.
“Enough.”
She froze.
The CEO folded the manifest.
“What else?”
The Captain hesitated.
“That’s why I asked to speak privately.”
The CEO stood.
“Go ahead.”
The Captain looked toward the nearby passengers.
“They can hear.”
“They’ve already heard enough.”
He lowered his voice anyway.
“We found an unauthorized cockpit jumpseat request in the system.”
The CEO’s expression changed.
“Name?”
“That’s the problem.”
The cockpit door opened behind him.
A man’s voice said:
“Her name is on the internal priority list.”
The CEO froze.
She knew the voice.
The Captain turned sharply.
A man stepped through the cockpit doorway.
Dark suit.
No pilot uniform.
Corporate access badge clipped to his belt.
Late forties.
The Operations Executive.
He was not supposed to be on Flight 417.
He was supposed to be in Chicago.
The CEO stared.
“What are you doing here?”
The Operations Executive looked at the manifest in her hand.
Then at the Senior Flight Attendant.
Nobody spoke.
The CEO repeated:
“What are you doing here?”
The Operations Executive exhaled.
“We need to get you off this aircraft.”
The older man across the aisle looked between them.
The CEO did not move.
“Why?”
“We found something overnight.”
“What?”
The Operations Executive glanced toward the Captain.
The Captain seemed angry now.
Not frightened.
Angry.
The Operations Executive said:
“Not here.”
The CEO looked toward the cabin.
“You have ten seconds to decide whether you want to keep saying that.”
The Operations Executive closed his eyes.
Then:
“Someone accessed the executive travel audit file.”
The CEO’s face hardened.
Only three people knew she was conducting anonymous flight inspections.
The board chairman.
General counsel.
Operations Executive.
The man standing in front of her.
The CEO whispered:
“When?”
“Last night.”
“From where?”
“Corporate VPN.”
“Whose credentials?”
Silence.
The answer arrived before words.
The Operations Executive looked toward the floor.