Harrison raised his voice.

“You cannot detain us.”

The security supervisor replied calmly.

“We can ask you to leave the aircraft. Refusal would create another problem.”

Peter Rowe immediately stepped forward.

“I'll cooperate.”

Harrison stared at him.

“Peter.”

“I said I'll cooperate.”

Clark remained silent.

But Naomi noticed something.

He was sweating.

Not from embarrassment.

From fear.

She looked directly at him.

“Mr. Dunning, is there something you'd like to tell me?”

Harrison answered immediately.

“No.”

Naomi didn't look away from Clark.

“I wasn't asking you.”

Clark's lips parted.

No words came out.

Harrison grabbed his arm.

“Say nothing.”

Captain Miller stepped between them.

“Do not touch another passenger.”

Harrison released him.

Clark looked at Naomi.

His face was almost gray.

“We weren't supposed to be on this flight.”

The entire cabin seemed to stop breathing.

Harrison turned toward him.

“Clark.”

“Our reservations were changed last night.”

“Be quiet.”

Clark looked directly at Naomi.

“Harrison insisted.”

Naomi felt a chill move through her.

“What are you saying?”

Clark swallowed.

“He knew you were going to New York.”

The security supervisor looked at Harrison.

Harrison said nothing.

Naomi stared at Clark.

“How?”

Clark shook his head.

“I don't know everything.”

“Then tell me what you know.”

Harrison took a step forward.

“Clark, don't say another word.”

But Clark finally seemed to understand that Harrison could no longer protect him.

“He knew your flight.”

Naomi's heartbeat slowed.

Strangely, that frightened her more than anything Harrison had said.

Her seat.

The confrontation.

The accusations.

None of it had been an accident.

Someone had known exactly where she would be.

And they had arranged to be there too.

Naomi looked toward the rain-covered window.

The flight hadn't even left the ground.

But suddenly, she understood something.

Harrison Hale hadn't tried to remove her from seat 2A because he thought she didn't belong.

He had wanted something much more dangerous.

He had wanted her to lose control.

The three men were escorted into separate interview rooms near the gate.

Passengers remained on the aircraft while the airline decided whether Flight 227 could still depart.

Naomi stood in the forward galley with Captain Miller, Emily Ward, and Ronald Pierce.

Rain hammered against the fuselage.

“How did they know?” Captain Miller asked.

Naomi folded her arms.

“Only a handful of people had my itinerary.”

Ronald shifted uncomfortably.

“Executive travel information appears in the internal reservation system.”

“Under restricted access.”

“Yes.”

“Then find out who accessed it.”

Ronald immediately reached for his phone.

Across the galley, Emily stood with her hands clasped tightly together.

Naomi noticed she was still shaking.

“You should sit down.”

“I'm fine.”

“You're trembling.”

Emily hesitated before lowering herself into the crew seat.

“I thought I was going to lose my job.”

Naomi sat across from her.

“Has someone threatened you before?”

Emily glanced toward Ronald.

He avoided her eyes.

“Answer honestly.”

“Yes.”

“Passengers?”

“And managers.”

Ronald sighed.

“Customer complaints have become a major performance metric. Crew members are evaluated partly on escalation rates.”

Naomi stared at him.

“Who approved that policy?”

“It came from an outside consulting review.”

“What firm?”

No one answered.

They didn't have to.

Hale, Dunning and Cross.

Naomi suddenly understood that Harrison's influence extended far beyond a restructuring proposal.

His company had already been inside Meridian Atlantic.

They had helped create policies that taught employees to fear wealthy passengers.

Policies that made workers more afraid of complaints than they were confident in their own judgment.

Naomi's phone rang.

Elena Ruiz.

Meridian Atlantic's general counsel.

“Naomi,” Elena said. “We have a serious problem.”

Naomi looked toward Captain Miller.

“Only one?”

“We reviewed the cabin footage remotely. Clark Dunning has requested whistleblower protection.”

Naomi stood.

“What does he have?”

“Documents. Emails. Internal access logs.”

“And?”

Elena paused.

“He says Harrison paid someone inside Meridian Atlantic to monitor your travel information and executive communications.”