Chapter 2 - The Black Case
"Who sent that?" Marco asked.
Evelyn locked her screen.
"I don't know."
"Show me."
"No."
His expression hardened.
"I am trying to keep you alive."
"And I'm trying to understand why I suddenly need keeping alive."
The stranger at the end of the jet bridge had disappeared.
Marco spoke into his phone in Italian.
Two security men moved past Evelyn.
Within seconds, the corridor was empty.
No photograph.
No stranger.
No explanation.
Evelyn folded her arms.
"Who opened the case?"
Marco stopped speaking.
That was answer enough.
"You knew."
"No."
"You reacted."
"I react to threats."
"Was the seal broken?"
"I don't know."
"You put it overhead."
Marco stared at her.
Then he lowered his voice.
"The case was prepared in New York by Antonio's physician."
"And?"
"And it was supposed to remain sealed."
"So someone opened it."
"I said supposed."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"Why is someone texting me about it?"
"I intend to find out."
"Not without me."
Marco gave her a look that might have frightened someone else.
Evelyn had spent six years handling angry passengers in metal tubes over oceans.
"You can either explain what's happening, or I call airport police and give them my phone."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"That might be the smartest thing you can do."
It wasn't the answer she expected.
Ten minutes later, officers photographed the messages.
The number was unregistered.
The photograph the stranger carried remained unexplained.
Marco didn't interfere.
That mattered.
So did something else.
He seemed genuinely worried.
At the hospital, Antonio remained under observation.
The medication case entered secured medical custody.
Tests began.
Evelyn expected that to be the end of her involvement.
It wasn't.
At 3:17 a.m., her airline supervisor approached her inside a secure airport lounge.
"There's someone asking for you."
"Police?"
"No."
"Marco?"
"No."
"Who?"
The supervisor handed Evelyn a card.
DR. LUCA MORETTI.
Private physician.
Antonio's physician.
Evelyn looked up.
"He wasn't on the plane."
"No."
"Where is he?"
"Outside."
Evelyn found Dr. Moretti with airport police.
He looked exhausted.
"I prepared Mr. Vitelli's medication case personally," he said.
"Was the seal intact?"
"Yes."
"Could anything inside have caused what happened?"
His eyes shifted toward the officer.
"That is precisely what worries me."
Moretti explained carefully.
The case contained emergency medications and routine prescriptions.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing that should have been accessed during the flight.
"But someone did access it," Evelyn said.
Moretti nodded.
"And replaced one item."
The room seemed to shrink.
"With what?"
"We don't know yet."
Police had already secured it.
Laboratory analysis would take time.
Evelyn thought of Antonio gasping for breath.
The untouched coffee.
The meal.
The case.
"Then whatever happened may not have come from the case."
"Correct."
"Which means?"
Moretti looked directly at her.
"Someone may want us looking at the wrong thing."
That sentence stayed with Evelyn.
By dawn, she was taken to a different hotel under airline-approved security arrangements.
Marco's people did not choose the room.
The airline did.
Evelyn insisted on that.
Before leaving, Marco handed her a number.
"If anything feels wrong—"
"I call the police."
"After that."
She accepted the card.
"Why does Antonio trust you?"
Marco's expression softened almost imperceptibly.
"We grew up together."
"Then why did someone tell me to ask you who opened the case?"
"I don't know."
"Does Antonio have enemies?"
Marco gave a humorless smile.
"Everyone with power has enemies."
"Family?"
The smile disappeared.
"Especially family."
Evelyn slept for three hours.
When she woke, someone had slid an envelope under her hotel door.
No knock.
No footsteps.
Nothing.
Inside was a passenger manifest.
Seat numbers had been circled.
2A.
3C.
7D.
And one more.
4F.
Evelyn recognized the seat.
A man had occupied it during boarding.
Gray jacket.
Glasses.
Quiet.
But she couldn't remember seeing him after dinner.
She called the airline.
Then airport police.
They compared the manifest.
There was a problem.
Seat 4F had officially been empty.
Evelyn felt cold.
"I served him water."
The officer across from her frowned.
"You're certain?"
"Yes."
"Describe him."
She did.
The officer made notes.
"Could he have been in another seat?"
"No."
"You remember because?"
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Because the man had asked a strange question.
Not about the menu.
Not about the flight.
About Antonio.
"During boarding," Evelyn said slowly, "he asked whether the gentleman in 2A was traveling alone."
The officer stopped writing.
"What did you say?"
"That I couldn't discuss another passenger."
"What happened next?"
"He smiled."
"And?"
"He said, 'Good answer.'"
The officer stood.
"Stay here."
Evelyn's phone rang.
Antonio.
She almost didn't answer.
"Hello?"
His voice was weaker than she remembered.
"Evelyn."
"How did you get this number?"
"Marco."
"Of course."
"I owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"For your involvement."
"You nearly stopped breathing. I helped you. That's my job."
"No."
His voice lowered.
"You noticed me before anyone else did."
Evelyn said nothing.
Antonio continued.
"The doctors believe the reaction was triggered deliberately."
"Believe?"
"They're still testing."
"And the medication case?"
"Tampered with."
"Someone wants me to think Marco did it."
Silence.
"Why?"
"I don't know yet."
"Evelyn."
"What?"
"Do not trust messages from strangers."
"That's convenient."
"I know."
"Should I trust you?"
Antonio was quiet.
"No."
That answer surprised her.
"Trust evidence."
The line went dead.
Thirty minutes later, airport police returned.
They had reviewed surveillance footage.
A man matching Evelyn's description had entered the aircraft.
But not as a passenger.
He wore a catering credential.
Then, inside the jet bridge, he removed his jacket.
Underneath was another uniform.
He boarded with the passengers.
He sat in 4F.
And sometime during the flight, while Evelyn was working in economy, he moved forward.
The officer placed a still photograph on the table.
Evelyn stared.
The image showed the man standing beneath Antonio's overhead compartment.
His hand was raised toward the black medication case.
But he wasn't alone.
Someone stood beside him.
Someone Evelyn recognized.
She leaned closer.
The second face came into focus.
Her stomach dropped.
May you like
It was a member of the flight crew.
And that person was walking toward Evelyn's hotel room right now.
