Chapter 7 - The Missing Eleven Seconds
Police reached Charles Sinclair's home twelve minutes later.
He was alive.
His study had been searched.
Daniel was gone.
A locked filing cabinet had been forced open.
Only one folder appeared missing.
Laura Walker.
Vanessa sat with her hands pressed together.
Ethan stood near the window.
He wanted to go to Charles's house.
He wanted to find Daniel himself.
Instead, he stayed beside Emma.
That was the decision Laura would have wanted.
Marcus received another update.
Airport security had found the flaw Daniel and Mercer had exploited.
Eleven seconds of surveillance footage at Gate 14 had been overwritten.
Not deleted.
Replaced with a loop.
The alteration happened while Robert was away from his terminal.
Someone had accessed the system locally.
Robert insisted it was Mercer.
Mercer remained missing.
Daniel was now a suspect.
And Adrian Cole, officially dead, remained at the center.
Ethan asked the obvious question.
"Was Adrian's body identified?"
Marcus checked.
Dental records.
Closed casket.
Family confirmation.
But the dental verification had been submitted digitally.
Ethan had learned enough that morning not to trust a digital record simply because it existed.
"Find the original."
The investigation expanded.
Emma ate a sandwich and continued drawing.
She drew faces now.
Claire.
Noah.
Robert.
Vanessa.
Then a man Ethan did not recognize.
"Who's that?"
"The man from the airplane."
"What man?"
"He was sitting behind the lady."
"Vanessa?"
Emma nodded.
"Which seat?"
"I don't know."
Ethan showed Marcus.
Passenger records indicated 2A had been occupied by Thomas Vale, a consultant.
Security found him among the displaced passengers.
Thomas looked nothing like Emma's drawing.
"Em, are you sure?"
"Not him."
"Where was the man?"
"He wasn't sitting all the time."
Ethan's skin prickled.
"Was he crew?"
"No. He had a suit."
"Did you hear him say anything?"
Emma thought.
"He told the mean lady, 'It's done.'"
Vanessa overheard.
"What?"
Emma looked frightened.
Vanessa softened her voice.
"When did you hear that?"
"When Dad was getting my pencil."
Vanessa frowned.
"No man spoke to me."
Emma shook her head.
"Not you."
"Then who?"
Emma pointed toward Claire.
Claire stared at her.
"Someone spoke to me?"
Emma nodded.
Claire's face changed.
"I remember."
Everyone waited.
"A passenger asked whether boarding was complete. He stood near the galley. I thought he was from business class."
"Did he say 'It's done'?"
Claire closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Security reviewed cabin footage.
Aircraft cabin cameras were limited, but the boarding door camera captured the edge of the galley.
A man appeared for four seconds.
Dark suit.
Gray hair.
He leaned toward Claire.
Then disappeared toward the jet bridge.
His face never fully turned toward the camera.
Vanessa stared at the image.
"I know that watch."
Ethan looked at her.
"What?"
"The watch."
She enlarged the frame.
The man's wrist showed beneath his sleeve.
Vintage silver case.
Dark leather strap.
"My father gave Daniel that watch for twenty years of service."
Now they had proof Daniel had boarded Flight 217.
But his name did not appear on the passenger list.
He had entered using staff access.
Why?
Marcus reconstructed the timeline.
Daniel learned Ethan was in 1A the previous night.
He contacted someone inside Aurelia.
Vanessa arrived demanding the seat.
Claire and Robert created a confrontation.
Daniel entered during the confusion.
Mercer accessed the terminal.
Then records were changed.
It was coordinated.
Vanessa stared at the timeline.
"My demand gave them cover."
Nobody contradicted her.
She looked at Ethan.
"I didn't know."
"I believe you."
Relief flashed across her face.
Then Ethan added, "But you still chose to treat my daughter and me the way you did."
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
"I know."
That mattered too.
Being manipulated did not erase responsibility.
The investigators recovered Daniel's company emails.
One contained a coded reference:
PROJECT L608.
Laura's flight number.
Another contained today's flight.
217 — WINDOW OPENS AT BOARDING.
Ethan felt sick.
"What window?"
Marcus searched.
Another message.
WALKER + MINOR CONFIRMED.
Vanessa whispered, "They knew Emma would be here."
Ethan stood so quickly his chair scraped backward.
"We're leaving."
Marcus nodded.
Security would escort them.
Then Noah entered.
He had remembered something.
"The photograph."
"What about it?"
"The original seating photograph has metadata."
Marcus already knew.
Noah shook his head.
"Not that photo."
He pulled up another image.
"When the tablet froze, I accidentally took a burst."
Three photographs.
The first showed the seating chart.
The second showed Claire's hand.
The third caught a reflection in the dark edge of the screen.
A face.
Daniel Price.
And beside Daniel stood another man.
Ethan stared.
Marcus whispered, "Enhance it."
They enlarged the reflection.
The second man had gray hair and a scar beside his left eye.
Robert dropped into a chair.
"No."
"You know him?" Ethan asked.
Robert looked physically ill.
"That's Adrian."
Marcus stared.
"Adrian Cole?"
Robert nodded.
"The man who's supposed to be dead."
Ethan looked again.
If Robert was right, Laura's whistleblower had survived.
Which meant his death had been falsified.
The same kind of falsification Laura had discovered.
Then Ethan's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a whisper.
"Ethan Walker?"
"Yes."
"My name is Adrian Cole."
Every person in the room stopped moving.
Ethan gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"Why are you with Daniel?"
A long silence.
"I'm not with Daniel."
"I have a photograph."
"Then your photograph is eleven seconds too early."
"What does that mean?"
Adrian whispered, "Look at what happened after the missing footage."
Marcus began pulling up the timeline.
Ethan said, "Tell me."
But Adrian spoke first.
"Daniel didn't board Flight 217 to hurt you."
"Why did he board?"
"To put something under seat 1A."
Ethan's blood went cold.
Security officers turned toward the aircraft.
May you like
Adrian's next words were almost inaudible.
"And whatever you do, don't let them open it..."
