The search of the building continued for almost an hour.
Nobody found the attacker.
The basement was secured, the surviving records were removed, and the unconscious officer was transported for treatment. The fire had destroyed several boxes, but most of the important material had survived because Elena's team had photographed it before the attack.
Maya sat outside in the early morning light.
She could still smell smoke on her clothes.
Elena joined her.
"How are you holding up?"
Maya looked at the sky.
"I don't know."
"That's fair."
Maya held Daniel's letter in her hand.
"They knew about me."
"Yes."
"They knew about Leo."
"Yes."
"And they put us on that flight."
Elena sat beside her.
"I believe so."
Maya stared at the letter.
"I keep thinking about what would have happened if I hadn't heard the captain."
"You heard him."
"But I almost didn't move."
"You did move."
Maya shook her head.
"I was afraid."
Elena looked at her.
"Being afraid isn't the same as failing."
Maya looked away.
Daniel had once said something similar.
She hadn't believed him.
Now she did.
Michael was brought to the location shortly afterward.
When he saw the photograph of Maya and Leo's names on the passenger manifest, he became pale.
"They were using you."
"I know."
Michael sat down.
"Daniel warned me they might do something like this."
Maya turned.
"What did he say?"
"He said if they couldn't silence you through grief, they would try to make you look responsible for another disaster."
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know where you were."
"You could have found me."
Michael lowered his head.
"I tried."
He explained that after Daniel's death, Michael had attempted to report the altered maintenance records. His report disappeared. When he asked questions, he received a warning. A week later, his daughter was followed home from school.
"I understood the message."
Maya's anger softened slightly.
"You were protecting her."
"I thought I was."
Michael looked at the ground.
"Then I spent seven years regretting that I stayed silent."
Maya nodded.
"So did I."
Elena arrived carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a small notebook recovered from the basement.
"Found this behind a false wall."
Maya recognized the handwriting.
Daniel.
She couldn't speak.
Elena opened it carefully.
Most of the pages were technical notes. Component numbers. Dates. Names. Flight schedules.
Then they found an entry dated two days before Daniel's final flight.
"Aircraft has been altered despite maintenance refusal."
Another line:
"Whitmore knows."
Another:
"Pierce controls procurement."
Then:
"If they force the flight, I will document everything."
Maya touched the page.
"He knew."
Michael whispered, "Yes."
The final entry was incomplete.
"Michael has evidence. If I don't return, get it to Maya. She will understand the flight systems better than anyone they send."
Maya closed her eyes.
Daniel had trusted her.
Not because she was his wife.
Because he knew exactly what she could do.
Elena turned another page.
There was a diagram of the hydraulic system.
A component had been circled.
Maya studied it.
"This isn't the only problem."
"What do you see?"
"The hydraulic component was deliberately compromised, but Daniel also marked a secondary control line."
Elena frowned.
"What would happen if both failed?"
Maya answered immediately.
"Loss of stable control during descent."
Michael looked at her.
"That sounds like what happened on Flight 412."
Maya's face tightened.
"Exactly."
Elena understood.
"The same design."
Maya nodded.
"They reused the method."
"Which means they knew exactly how Flight 412 would behave."
Maya looked at the manifest.
"And they expected me to be blamed."
A technician approached Elena.
"We found something in the server logs."
Elena followed him.
Maya and Michael went with her.
The logs showed that someone had accessed the passenger manifest from an internal terminal. The login belonged to a senior security officer.
The same officer had been assigned to protect Maya after the warning at her house.
Maya felt a chill.
"He's been near me this whole time."
Elena immediately ordered the officer detained.
But he was gone.
His vehicle was missing.
His office was empty.
On his desk was a photograph of Maya and Leo.
On the back was another message.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST ALONE."
Maya stared at it.
Michael stepped beside her.
"They're getting desperate."
Elena shook her head.
"No. They're getting close."
"What do you mean?"
Elena pointed to the photograph.
"They wouldn't threaten you unless they believed the evidence was almost complete."
Maya looked at the recovered documents.
"We need Pierce."
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
Elena checked the records.
"According to his last official address, he lives in another state."
Michael spoke quietly.
"That's not where he is."
Everyone looked at him.
"I know where he keeps a private aircraft."
Maya frowned.
"How?"
"Daniel told me."
Elena's expression hardened.
"Where?"
Michael gave her the location.
A private airfield.
The same coordinates Daniel had written in his notebook.
Maya suddenly understood.
"The coordinates weren't a storage facility."
Michael shook his head.
"They were a meeting point."
"Daniel was going there."
"Yes."
Elena looked at the clock.
"If Pierce is there, he may know we're coming."
Maya stood.
"Then we don't give him time."
Click here to continue reading: PART 16: Daniel’s Last Flight
The Quiet Mother in Seat 8A Heard a Question That No Ordinary Passenger Was Supposed to Answer
Part 15 of 20
