Chapter 11 - The Mechanic Who Kept a Copy
A week after the gala, the Bay Ledger put Mara's face on its front page beside a new headline: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON HARBOR BRIDGE?
The paper didn't clear anyone. It asked questions with dates and names attached. That was enough to make Victor Voss's lawyers threaten a lawsuit before breakfast.
Paige's therapy bill came due that afternoon. Mara offered to help pay it. Paige looked at her over a bowl of soup and said, "I'm not letting that family make me somebody else's charity project. Help me get my coverage back."
"Deal," Mara said.
June's next lead was Frank Danner, the mechanic whose name appeared on the shuttle's maintenance logs. They found him at a small repair shop outside town, working on a rusted pickup.
"No reporters," he barked when he saw June's camera.
Mara stepped forward. "I'm not here for a sound bite. I was on that shuttle."
He glanced at her crutch. His anger drained away.
"I wrote DO NOT OPERATE on the card," he said. "Brake fluid had leaked from a damaged line. I asked for the bus to be taken out of service. My supervisor called back and said the Voss office wanted it on the road."
"Why didn't you testify?" Mara asked.
"I tried. A lawyer showed me a statement with my signature. Said I'd already certified the bus safe. Then they fired me. My wife was getting chemotherapy, and every shop in the county suddenly had no openings."
"That doesn't make it right," Teresa said.
"I know." He wiped his hands on a rag. "There's a difference between having an excuse and sleeping at night."
Frank dug beneath a drawer and produced a carbon copy of the work order. His own handwriting cut across the page. Under it was a second note, added in blue ink: HOLD REPAIRS. CLIENT APPROVED DEPARTURE.
A signature followed. Celeste Voss.
"Will you swear to this?" June asked.
Frank stared at the floor. "Yes. And I'll tell them how much it cost me to stay quiet."
His phone rang. He listened, turning white.
May you like
"What's wrong?" Mara asked.
"My shop," he said. "Somebody just drove a truck through the front doors."
