Elias’s expression changed.“What kind of company?”
“A chain of residential care facilities.”Maya turned her face toward the window.
“My husband was injured in one.”Elias waited.
“He lost his sight gradually after complications from an untreated infection.” Her voice tightened. “I spent years fighting them because management had ignored repeated warnings about unsafe conditions.”“You became blind later?”
Maya nodded. “Macular degeneration. Different cause.”Elias absorbed that.
“Was Eleanor involved in the company?”“She was young then. Her father owned it.”
“And your case?”“We settled.”
Elias studied Maya.“Did the settlement harm the family financially?”
“It destroyed the company.”Silence stretched between them.
Then Maya added, “And Eleanor’s father died less than a year later.”Elias spoke carefully.
“Do you think she blamed you?”Maya’s answer came after several seconds.
“I think I have spent thirty years hoping she didn’t.”The aircraft seemed suddenly smaller.
Airport officers returned to Maya for a statement, but before they finished, Lena received a call from a colleague outside. Her expression changed so sharply that Elias noticed immediately.“What happened?”