Chapter 7 - WHAT HER FATHER NEVER TOLD HER
Naomi waited until Pierce was gone.
Then she asked:
“What did Mom do?”
Ethan sat down slowly.
“Something brave.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He almost smiled.
No point pretending.
“Rachel stole documents.”
Naomi blinked.
“From work?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed AeroDyne was destroying evidence.”
Susan Keller placed a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.
“She copied test results, emails, and internal engineering notes.”
Naomi looked at her father.
“Was that illegal?”
“Possibly.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“And you helped?”
Ethan looked out the window.
“No.”
That answer surprised her more.
Rachel had asked Ethan to store a backup.
He refused.
Not because he supported AeroDyne.
Because they had a six-year-old daughter.
Naomi.
“I told her we had to think about you.”
Naomi swallowed.
“What did Mom say?”
Ethan laughed sadly.
“She said that was exactly why she had to do it.”
Naomi hugged Blue.
“She was mad?”
“Furious.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
It hurt hearing that her parents’ final week together had included an argument.
Ethan continued.
“The night before the crash, I apologized.”
“Did she?”
“Eventually.”
“What did she say?”
“That courage and recklessness sometimes wear the same coat.”
Naomi liked that.
It sounded like something worth remembering.
Susan Keller opened the newly arrived archive box.
Inside were sealed investigation documents.
Photographs.
Emails.
Maintenance records.
And Rachel’s recovered company laptop.
Pierce’s attorneys had kept parts of the material sealed through years of litigation.
Now the order had expired.
Susan began reading.
Ten minutes later, she stopped.
“What?”
She handed Ethan an email.
From Rachel.
To Harold Pierce.
Subject:
ORIGINAL THERMAL TEST DATA.
Pierce had replied:
Bring everything. Do not send electronically. Too many people have access.
Rachel responded:
I will take Flight 417 tomorrow morning.
Naomi’s stomach tightened.
Pierce knew.
Exactly.
Then Susan opened another message.
Sent twenty minutes later.
From Pierce to an internal AeroDyne account.
Subject:
REYNOLDS ISSUE.
Only one sentence:
She is carrying originals tomorrow.
Naomi stared.
“Who did he send it to?”
Susan checked.
The recipient name had been redacted.
But the account ID remained.
Daniel Cross, now allowed into the room, leaned over.
“I know that ID.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Who?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Preston Hale.”
The room became silent.
Hale knew Rachel’s flight.
Pierce told him.
But neither fact proved they caused the accident.
Then Susan opened the engineering folder.
Inside was a service bulletin drafted three days before Flight 417.
URGENT GROUNDING RECOMMENDATION.
Rachel’s signature.
Daniel’s signature.
And a third signature authorizing cancellation of the bulletin.
Preston Hale.
Naomi whispered:
“He stopped it?”
Daniel nodded.
But Susan kept reading.
Then her expression changed.
“There’s another signature.”
“What?”
She turned the page.
The final executive approval did not belong to Hale.
It belonged to someone higher.
AeroDyne’s chief executive officer.
Jonathan Mercer.
Naomi had never heard the name.
But her father had.
Ethan looked as though he had been punched.
Naomi stared.
“Who is Jonathan Mercer?”
Her father closed his eyes.
May you like
Then said:
“Your grandfather.”
