Chapter 11 - The Price of a Shortcut
“Don't jump from an account to a person,” Marissa warned. “Ownership isn't proof he directed anything.”
David stared at the screen. “Then we follow the money legally.”
They reported the attempted data theft through counsel and engaged a forensic firm. No one hacked Elliot's devices. No one staged a trap. They secured access logs and records that the company already lawfully held.
At Evelyn's kitchen table, Malik worked on the last page of the birthday album. He had glued down a picture of his grandmother in the repair shop, standing beneath a sign that read JOHNSON ELECTRIC.
David sat opposite him. “Would you like me to stop talking to reporters about what happened?”
“Are you talking about me?”
“About what people did. But the story belongs to you too.”
Malik pressed a photograph flat. “I don't want people to call me brave just because I was scared.”
“Being brave doesn't mean you weren't scared.”
“Then why did nobody help at first?”
David had no comforting answer. “Some were afraid of making it worse. Some didn't know what to do. That doesn't mean it was right.”
Malik thought about Ben Mercer finally speaking up. “Can we thank the man next to me?”
“We can.”
A call interrupted them. It was Ben, who'd asked permission to share a longer recording with investigators. His footage showed Catherine's second throw of the backpack—and, before that, Elliot standing at the aircraft door while a gate agent told him his seat wasn't confirmed.
Elliot had said, clearly, “Pike promised me the kid would be gone.”
Malik watched the clip once. “He knew I was a kid.”
David nodded.
May you like
Then Ben added something that changed the investigation again.
“There was another passenger recording. A woman in 1D. She told me she heard why they picked that particular kid.”
