Chapter 11 - The Last Flight
My father had died when a military transport aircraft went down during a storm over the Atlantic.
Mechanical failure.
That was the official finding.
There were no survivors.
For four years, I had forced myself to accept that sentence.
Now my mother was tearing it open.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She looked sick.
“The man who came to the house said accidents happen to people who create problems.”
“That proves nothing.”
“I know.”
“Then why say Dad was killed?”
“Because after the crash, Kane came to me.”
Hsu leaned forward. “What did he say?”
“He told me the problem was over. He said I should stop asking questions and be grateful my daughters were safe.”
My skin went cold.
“Why didn’t you report that?”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was afraid.”
“For four years?”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury Dad believing it was a mechanical failure.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No.”
My voice shook now.
“You were protecting yourself.”
She looked down.
That was answer enough.
Hsu requested immediate access to the original crash investigation files. Mason made two calls I could not hear.
Within hours, old evidence began moving again.
Maintenance records.
Flight manifests.
Contractor logs.
One name kept appearing near the aircraft’s avionics upgrade.
A subcontractor called Meridian Systems.
Meridian had been purchased six months later by a holding company.
That holding company belonged to Northstar.
Coincidence was beginning to look lazy.
That evening, I sat in our apartment with Dad’s letter open on the kitchen table.
Mason put a bowl of soup in front of me.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat anyway.”
“I hate when you sound like a general.”
“I am a general.”
“At home you’re the man who leaves wet towels on chairs.”
“That accusation is unproven.”
I laughed despite myself.
Then I started crying.
It came without warning.
Mason moved beside me and held me while I pressed my face into his shirt.
“I was angry at him,” I said.
“For dying?”
“For leaving me everything. For making Mom hate me. For making Sienna resent me.”
“You didn’t make any of that happen.”
“I know that here.” I touched my temple. “Not here.” I touched my chest.
He kissed my hair.
My phone rang.
Hsu.
I answered.
“We found Sienna,” he said.
I stood.
“Where?”
“At a hospital in Richmond.”
“Is she hurt?”
“Dehydrated. Bruised. Nothing life-threatening.”
I exhaled.
Then his voice tightened.
“She’s asking for you.”
“I’ll come now.”
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“She says she can identify the person running the operation.”
I looked at Mason.
“Who?”
May you like
Hsu paused.
“She says it’s someone you know.”
