Maya walked past her.
In the jet bridge, the air felt cooler.
Airport sounds reached her all at once.
Rolling suitcases.
Cleaning carts.
Distant announcements.
Footsteps echoing against the walls.
Naomi called again.
This time Maya answered.
Naomi did not say hello.
“Tell me you are safe.”
“I’m off the plane.”
“Thank God. The videos are everywhere. Crestline’s board is in emergency session. Douglas Whitman’s office has called three times asking whether you are still attending tomorrow.”
Maya stopped halfway down the jet bridge.
Behind her, Lena, Samuel, Margaret, and David followed at a respectful distance.
Ahead, Denise Harper was speaking urgently into her phone.
Maya looked back through the open aircraft door.
Clare stood near the galley.
Ethan was speaking with the officer.
Captain Mallerie had appeared at the cockpit entrance, reading something on his tablet with a face that had gone gray.
Naomi’s voice sharpened.
“Maya, do they know?”
Maya looked at the Crestline logo painted beside the aircraft door.
“No,” she said. “Not yet.”
There was a pause.
Then Naomi understood.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Preserve every contract file.”
“Notify legal to prepare a termination review, but do not send it.”
“I want the board packet, the partnership agreement, the due-diligence notes, and every complaint analysis we prepared on Crestline ready tonight.”
“Maya, they’re going to try to settle this before morning.”
“I know.”
“With money.”
“I know.”
Naomi’s voice went quiet.
“Then what are you going to do?”
Maya stepped into the terminal, where several people had already recognized Lena from the video and were pointing toward the jet bridge.
“I’m going to let them tell me exactly what they think I’m worth before they find out who I am.”
Naomi exhaled.
“I’ll have legal waiting.”
Maya ended the call.
Across the terminal, a television above a closed airport bar showed breaking-news graphics.
There was no sound, only captions, but Maya could read enough.
Crestline Airways passenger incident goes viral after medical-meal dispute.
Lena came to stand beside her.
“You okay?”
Maya looked at the screen.
Then at the reflection of herself beneath it.
Charcoal blazer.
Coffee stain on the cuff.
Tired eyes.
Shoulders still straight.
“No,” she said. “But I’m ready.”
Behind them, inside the aircraft, Clare Donovan’s employee badge stopped working for the first time when she tried to unlock a crew cabinet.
She stared at the red light.
The night was moving faster now.
Maya did not go to the hotel first.
Denise Harper led her through a side corridor of the terminal, away from the growing crowd near the arrival gate.
Lena, Samuel, Margaret, and David followed long enough to give their names and contact information to Corporate Security.
Each of them offered the same thing without being asked twice.
Video.
Statements.
Timestamps.
Anything needed.
When Samuel handed over his phone number, he looked at Maya.