“We're going to make the financing decision based on verified information and the agreement's requirements. Your concerns will be examined, but we won't assume wrongdoing before the evidence supports it.”
Nina nodded slowly.
Then whispered, “Thank you.”
After the call, Eleanor looked toward me.
“She's frightened.”
I nodded.
“Very.”
“We need to be careful about retaliation.”
“Agreed.”
Eleanor closed the file.
Then said something that would become important later.
“Adrian, we also need to consider who at Northstar may know she contacted us.”
I frowned.
“Would they?”
“Potentially. The internal reporting history suggests people already know she's raising questions. If information has been shared outside authorized channels, someone may suspect she's cooperating.”
I looked toward the window.
For several seconds, I was silent.
Then nodded.
“Let's protect the process.”
Three days before Flight 408, Nina's attorney contacted Eleanor.
Nina had received notice of a meeting concerning alleged performance deficiencies.
The timing worried her.
She feared losing her job.
She also wanted to provide additional context about the reporting changes.
Eleanor arranged a properly supervised exchange through counsel.
The meeting was scheduled for New York, where Northstar's independent board committee would be gathering to finalize financing matters.
Nina agreed to travel.
And because her presence could be important, the airline's general counsel arranged a ticket under a confidential internal process.
That detail should have remained private.
But somebody in Leonard Pike's office discovered she was traveling.
Then a second itinerary appeared on the executive travel system.
Mine.
Northstar Meridian Flight 408.
Los Angeles to New York.
Seat 2A.
When Pike learned I would be on the same aircraft as Nina Alvarez, he realized something that frightened him far more than the possibility of a difficult board meeting.
The analyst who questioned his reports and the investor who controlled approval of seven hundred million dollars might speak before he had an opportunity to explain the discrepancies away.
He needed to prevent that.
And he knew exactly which executive could be manipulated into creating a confrontation.
Richard Halden.
Senior executive vice president for commercial operations and premium guest experience.
A man who loved status.
Hated being questioned.
And believed first class was less a seating category than a social hierarchy.
Pike did not tell Halden that Adrian Cole was the managing partner of Apex Harbor Capital.