"Enough."
"What kind?"
"Emails. Flight logs. complaints. recordings."
"Recordings?"
"Yes."
"Of Vale?"
"Among others."
Malcolm stood.
"I need them."
"No."
"Andrea."
"No."
"People are still exposed."
"People were exposed when I tried."
"I am not Richard Vale."
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"You're more dangerous."
Malcolm's expression changed.
"Why?"
"Because you believe power can fix things."
He said nothing.
Andrea continued.
"Sometimes power is the thing that broke them."
Malcolm sat again.
"Then help me use it differently."
Andrea studied him.
Long silence.
Then she stood.
She walked toward the boxes.
Pulled one down.
Opened it.
Inside were envelopes, old phones, USB drives, printed screenshots, handwritten notes.
She removed a small digital recorder.
"Richard had three people he protected."
Malcolm listened.
"Steven Parker was one."
"Who were the others?"
Andrea looked at him.
"One is retired."
"And the third?"
She handed him the recorder.
"Still at Northstar."
"Who?"
"Listen."
Malcolm pressed play.
Static.
Then voices.
Andrea's younger voice.
Richard Vale.
A third person.
Andrea saying:
"You can't keep burying these complaints."
Vale replying:
"We're protecting the company."
Andrea:
"You're protecting Parker."
Then the third voice.
Calm.
Female.
"Andrea, sign the agreement."
Malcolm froze.
He knew that voice.
He looked at Andrea.
"Who is that?"
Andrea's expression became grim.
"You know."
Malcolm replayed it.
The woman spoke again.
"Sign the agreement, Andrea."
His stomach dropped.
Malcolm played the recording again.
Evelyn Shaw's voice filled Andrea Cole's apartment.
"Sign the agreement, Andrea."
Then Richard Vale spoke.
"We can make this painless."
Andrea's younger voice answered.
"For whom?"
The recording ended.
Malcolm stared at the device.
Evelyn had been the first senior executive to defend him on Flight 418.
She had ordered Parker off the aircraft.
She had opened the old complaints.
And six years earlier, she had apparently helped suppress Andrea Cole.
Marcus Bell folded his arms.
"Now we know why she recognized the name."
Andrea nodded.
"She was there."
Malcolm wanted to reject the obvious conclusion.
He couldn't.
"Was Evelyn part of the threat against your daughter?"
"I don't know."
"Did she threaten you personally?"
"No."
"Did she support Vale?"
Andrea gave him a tired look.
"She supported the settlement."
"That's not what I asked."
"It's the only answer I can prove."
That distinction mattered.
Malcolm placed the recorder on the table.
"What happened after this?"
Andrea sat again.
"Evelyn came to my apartment alone."
"When?"
"Two days later."
"Why?"
"She told me to take the settlement."
"Did she say why?"
"She said I couldn't win."
Malcolm's expression hardened.
"That sounds like pressure."
"It was."
"But?"
Andrea looked at him.
"She also slipped a piece of paper into my file."
"What paper?"
"A phone number."
"For whom?"
"Federal labor investigators."
Malcolm stared.
Andrea continued.
"I never called."
"Why not?"
"Because my daughter was being followed."
Marcus asked, "Do you still have the paper?"
"No."
"Did Evelyn know you didn't call?"
"I don't know."
Malcolm stood.
"So Evelyn may have been helping you."
"Or protecting herself."
"Which do you believe?"