“Yes.”
“I believe he may have had reasons.”
“Yes.”
“I believe reasons don’t undo what those lies did.”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“I believe Adrian doesn’t know everything happening inside his company.”
“That seems possible.”
“I believe someone wanted me on that plane.”
Marisol’s expression changed.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire booked the seat beside mine days before Adrian moved flights.”
“Maybe she wanted to talk to you.”
“That’s what I keep thinking.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
Marisol became quiet.
Then she asked, “What if Adrian wasn’t supposed to meet you?”
I frowned.
“That’s what the note suggests.”
“No.”
She leaned forward.
“What if nobody cared whether you met Adrian?”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“What if the important person was Claire?”
I thought of the empty seat.
The stranger who should have been beside me.
The assistant who disappeared.
“Claire was supposed to sit next to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That’s the question.”
I stood and crossed to the window.
Outside, Houston moved beneath a pale blue sky.
Ordinary traffic.
Ordinary people.
Thousands of lives continuing while mine seemed to have developed hidden doors.
My phone rang.
Ethan.
Marisol saw the name.
“You want me to stay?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
I answered.
“Hello.”
Ethan’s voice was tense.
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Who’s there?”
“Marisol.”
A pause.
“Good.”
I put him on speaker.
“What do you want?”
“I found something.”
Marisol gave me a look.
I sat.
“What?”
“Rebecca called me.”
“Sam’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ethan.”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because she thinks her phone is being monitored.”
Marisol mouthed, Seriously?
I gave her a tiny shrug.
“What did Rebecca say?”
Ethan inhaled.
“She knows Claire Ellison.”
The room went silent.
“How?”
“They worked together.”
I gripped the phone.
“At Prescott?”
“No.”
“Northbridge?”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“When?”
“Before Claire went to Prescott.”
“How long before?”
“About eight years ago.”
I looked at Marisol.
She had gone completely still.
“What did Claire do?”
“Compliance.”
The word hit me.
Ethan’s field.
Financial records.
Approvals.
Missing shipments.
“Did Adrian know?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Does Rebecca?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“What else?”
Ethan hesitated.
“She said Claire left Northbridge suddenly after an internal audit.”
“What happened in the audit?”
“No one ever saw the final report.”
“Why not?”
“It disappeared.”
