“I don’t need to call anyone.”
Ava tilted her head.
“Then how exactly are you confirming passenger access?”
“I know who belongs on that airplane.”
There it was.
Belongs.
Not booked.
Not cleared.
Not listed.
Belongs.
Ava looked directly into her eyes.
“And I don’t?”
Elise hesitated.
Only a fraction.
Then:
“No.”
The ground worker looked down.
That told Ava he had heard.
Maybe he was embarrassed.
Maybe frightened.
Maybe simply trying not to become involved.
Elise continued.
“This conversation is over.”
She raised one hand toward two uniformed security employees near the building.
“Security.”
Ava remained still.
The two men approached.
One was Black, perhaps early forties, tall and broad-shouldered.
The other was white, younger.
The older guard looked between Ava and Elise.
“Problem?”
Elise answered immediately.
“This woman accessed the ramp without authorization and is trying to approach the Sterling Crest aircraft.”
Ava’s eyebrows rose.
“That is not what happened.”
Elise ignored her.
“I want her taken back inside.”
The older guard looked at Ava.
“Ma’am, did reception clear you?”
“Yes.”
“Ramp credential?”
Ava held it up.
He inspected it.
Valid.
His expression changed.
Elise noticed.
“She probably told them she was meeting someone.”
Ava said calmly:
“No. I gave them the tail number.”
The guard looked toward the terminal.
Then back.
“What’s your name?”
“Ava Coleman.”
Something flickered across his face.
Recognition?
Maybe.
Not enough.
Elise folded her arms.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
The younger security guard said:
“We can call reception.”
Elise snapped:
“I already know she’s not supposed to be here.”
The older guard looked at Elise.
“Still, if the pass is valid—”
“She is not boarding that jet.”
Ava watched the dynamic carefully.
Elise was senior guest services.
Not security.
Yet she was accustomed to being obeyed.
The older guard knew that.
The younger one too.
Hierarchy could become a substitute for judgment quickly.
Ava had spent years trying to prevent exactly that inside Sterling Crest.
Now she was watching another company perform it perfectly.
She took out her phone.
Elise pointed at it.
“Do not start filming.”
“I wasn’t.”
“What are you doing?”
“Calling someone.”
“That won’t change anything.”
Ava almost smiled.
“No?”
“No.”
Ava looked at the screen.
Her operations director, Daniel Reeves, had called two minutes earlier.
She pressed return.
One ring.
“Ava?”
“Where are you?”
Daniel’s voice was immediate.
“Crossing the terminal. Why?”
“Come to Stand Four.”
“Problem?”
Ava looked at Elise.
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“One you should see.”
“I’m thirty seconds away.”
She ended the call.
Elise shook her head.
“Whoever you called cannot authorize you onto that aircraft.”
Ava slipped the phone away.
“Then this should be interesting.”
Elise’s face reddened slightly.
“You think being sarcastic helps?”
“No.”
“You’re trespassing.”
“No.”