She stopped three feet away.
“Mr. Henderson.”
Curtis looked up from his documents.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
He waited.
“I should have checked.”
“Yes.”
She looked down.
“I knew she was wrong.”
Curtis closed the folder.
“Why didn’t you do it?”
Maribel swallowed.
“Because she writes my evaluations.”
“That’s the short answer.”
“What’s the long one?”
Maribel hesitated.
Curtis gestured toward the facing seat.
“Sit.”
She looked startled.
“I’m on duty.”
“Then stand.”
She almost smiled.
“I worked for three years to get into private aviation.”
“My family doesn’t know people in this business.”
“I don’t have connections.”
“Vanessa does.”
“Captains respect her.”
“Clients request her.”
“She decides who gets recommended for the good rotations.”
Curtis listened.
“When she told me not to touch the tablet, I thought if I embarrassed her in front of a passenger, she could ruin me.”
“Could she?”
Maribel looked toward the galley.
“I thought so.”
Curtis asked:
“Has she punished people for disagreeing?”
Maribel took too long answering.
That was an answer.
“Sometimes.”
“How?”
“Bad routes.”
“Last-minute standby.”
“Negative comments.”
“Nothing obvious.”
“Enough.”
Curtis leaned back.
“Did you report it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Maribel almost laughed.
“To who?”
That question stayed with him.
Curtis asked:
“Do you know our anonymous reporting channel?”
“Yes.”
“Do you trust it?”
Maribel hesitated again.
“No.”
“Why?”
“People think anonymous means management eventually figures it out.”
Curtis said nothing.
Maribel continued.
“I know that sounds paranoid.”
“No.”
“It sounds like information.”
She looked at him.
“Are you going to fire me?”
Curtis frowned.
“That decision won’t be mine.”
“But you own the company.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t mean I should personally decide every employee consequence.”
Maribel looked confused.
Curtis continued.
“If I punish everyone who disappointed me personally, we don’t have governance.”
“We have a king.”
Maribel almost smiled.
“Do I look like a king?”
She glanced at his sweater.
Curtis raised one eyebrow.
Maribel immediately became nervous.
Then he smiled slightly.
“Exactly.”
She laughed once.
Quietly.
Then became serious.
“I should have done more.”
“Yes.”
Curtis said.
“But you did eventually.”
“That matters too.”
He returned to his documents.
Maribel walked back to the galley.
For the rest of the flight, she did her job perfectly.
Curtis noticed.
He also noticed she looked over her shoulder less often now.
Seattle was gray when they landed.
Rain streaked the windows.
Curtis exited the jet through the private terminal.
No press knew about the incident yet.
That lasted approximately three hours.