Evan stared at her.
“People who actually matter?”
She smiled.
“Exactly.”
He glanced toward the young flight attendant.
Then back at Darla.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Darla rolled her eyes.
“Oh, spare me the lecture.”
She leaned forward.
“Listen carefully. I'm not moving. So you can either walk back to wherever you came from or I can have security escort you out.”
Evan reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
He removed his phone.
Darla smirked.
“Calling somebody important?”
He unlocked the screen.
“Actually, yes.”
She laughed.
“Who? Your lawyer?”
“No.”
“Your boss?”
Evan looked up.
“I don't have one in the sense you're suggesting.”
Darla tilted her head.
“Oh, really?”
He nodded.
Then he said something so quietly that the nearest passengers had to lean forward to hear it.
“Mrs. Whitmore, I'd recommend you take your assigned seat before we continue this conversation.”
She froze.
“Excuse me?”
“Your company closed a change-of-control transaction yesterday evening.”
The color shifted in her face.
Evan continued.
“The new controlling shareholder is Cole Meridian Capital.”
Darla stopped smiling.
For the first time, she looked genuinely confused.
“How would you know that?”
“Because I signed the transaction documents.”
Her expression tightened.
“Who are you?”
Evan held her gaze.
“My name is Evan Cole.”
A pause.
“I'm the founder and chief executive of Cole Meridian Capital.”
Darla stared.
He continued.
“And as of yesterday evening, my company owns the controlling interest in Whitmore & Vale.”
Nobody moved.
Even the sound of conversation from the rear cabin seemed to disappear.
Darla blinked.
Then she laughed nervously.
“That's impossible.”
Evan glanced at his phone.
“You should have received notice from your board.”
“I would know if something like that happened.”
“Then I suggest you check.”
Darla snatched her phone from the armrest.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the screen.
For several seconds, she stared.
Then she opened an email.
Her expression changed.
The message had arrived the previous evening.
It carried the subject line:
CONFIDENTIAL — NOTICE OF COMPLETED CHANGE OF CONTROL
She opened it.
Read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
Her breathing slowed.
Evan stood silently in the aisle.
Darla looked up.
Her face had gone pale.
“You're Evan Cole?”
“Yes.”
“The Evan Cole?”
He nodded once.
“The transaction closed at 6:14 p.m. yesterday.”
She looked toward her screen again.
Her hands were trembling.