“Yes.”
“Good. Ask them to collect you from the public entrance.”
The woman unlocked her phone.
“You should have checked the owner before touching me.”
Vanessa laughed.
This time openly.
“The owner?”
The woman looked toward Violet One.
“Yes.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I know the ownership structure of every aircraft operating through this terminal.”
“Apparently not.”
“Violet One is controlled by Meridian Flight Holdings.”
The woman nodded.
“Correct.”
“Which is a corporate asset.”
“Correct again.”
“So unless you are about to tell me you are secretly the chief executive of Meridian Flight Holdings—”
The jet door opened.
Vanessa stopped.
Chief pilot Daniel Mercer appeared at the top of the stairs.
He was still adjusting his jacket.
Behind him came First Officer Lena Park.
Then Meridian’s chief operating officer.
Then general counsel.
Daniel looked down.
His expression changed immediately.
“Ms. Brooks?”
Vanessa turned.
The Black woman raised one eyebrow.
Daniel came down the stairs so quickly he skipped the final step.
“Ms. Brooks, we were told you were still inside the executive lounge.”
“I was.”
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel noticed the handbag in her hand.
Then Vanessa.
Then the ramp employees standing too still thirty yards away.
He looked back at the woman.
“Are you all right?”
She gave him a small smile.
“I’m fine, Daniel.”
Vanessa’s face had begun losing color.
The chief operating officer reached the bottom of the stairs.
He stared.
“Avery?”
The woman nodded.
Vanessa looked from one face to another.
Something inside her finally began assembling the truth.
Not completely.
Not yet.
Daniel turned toward Vanessa.
“Why was Ms. Brooks standing on the ramp without an escort?”
Vanessa opened her mouth.
“She…”
No sentence came.
Avery Brooks.
Founder.
Chairwoman.
Chief executive officer of Meridian Flight Holdings.
Majority owner of Skylark Executive Aviation.
The woman whose signature appeared on the acquisition documents Vanessa had reviewed eighteen months earlier.
Vanessa had seen photographs.
Of course she had.
But those photographs had shown Avery in boardrooms.
Dark suits.
Straight hair.
Formal portraits.
Never boots.
Never shorts.
Never alone.
Never arriving through a side access door carrying her own bag.
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Vanessa?”
“She didn't identify herself.”
Avery looked at her.
Vanessa rushed onward.
“She entered a secured operating area without an escort.”
Avery said:
“I entered through the owner access corridor.”
Vanessa froze.
The COO looked toward her.
“Owner access?”
Avery nodded.
“I used my credential.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“There must have been an error.”
Avery reached into her handbag.
She removed a black access card.
Placed it against the reader mounted beside the aircraft service door.
The reader flashed green.