“Tomcat,” he greeted without looking away from the screen, his tone all business.
Fallon stepped around the table, pushing a few papers toward me as I approached. “Take a look.”
I scanned the sheets—flight logs and test data, some familiar from Linden’s files, others obtained through one of our Navy contacts. After bringing her to the compound, I’d reached out for intel on those flagged reports she’d stumbled upon. Fallon had been working through them methodically, laying out discrepancies side by side, searching for patterns.
My stomach knotted as I started to grasp what I was seeing as I studied the files for three separate flights.
“These logs all have the same discrepancy?” My voice was tight, frustration building fast beneath the surface. “Each labeled ‘aborted before takeoff,’ but conflicting records say each flight was completed, with fatalities?”
Fallon nodded, his expression dark. “Exactly. Carson Holbrook’s crash wasn’t an isolated incident. There are more, but Wizard hasn’t recovered the redacted info yet.”
Wizard’s gaze finally lifted from the screen, eyes sharp behind his black-rimmed glasses. He spun his chair to face me, crossing his arms across his chest. “I’ve cleaned up some of the redacted crash data from those records. So far, each flight had a completely different issue. One had catastrophic instrument failure, another reported an explosive decompression event ataltitude, and the third experienced total engine flameout mid-flight. And Carson’s issue was different as well. They were each caused by problems in an isolated system, but they’re all distinct, no two crashes are alike. And they all resulted in the pilot being unable to recover and their bird went down.”
“All buried under the same cover-up,” Fallon added, his tone grim. “Flights supposedly canceled on paper, but pilots dying in the air. And at spaced-out intervals that seem random at first glance, but when you study them like I have, you eventually spot the unintentional pattern. Someone is hiding something major.”
I stared at the reports again, my mind racing. “What’s linking them together, though? If each crash had different causes, why hide it? Why falsify records?”
Wizard shook his head slowly, his lips pressed into a thin line. “That’s the part we haven’t fully unraveled yet. But the deeper I dig, the uglier this looks. This isn’t just negligence or incompetence, brother. It’s deliberate and calculated.”
Fallon tapped one of the files, his voice edged with quiet anger. “Whatever happened on Carson’s flight, it sure as fuck wasn’t pilot error or some routine mechanical failure. Not based on what we’re seeing.”
My jaw clenched tight as I stared down at the scattered papers, rage simmering just below the surface. A cover-up like this was carefully orchestrated. Someone high up had to know about it, likely profiting from whatever was being hidden. But for now, the truth behind these crashes—and Linden’s brother’s death—still felt out of reach. We needed more.
“What about the black box data?” I asked, my tone clipped. “That would tell us exactly what happened on Carson’s flight.”
Fallon sighed. “Not in these files. We’ve got the logs, transcripts, and some maintenance reports. But no flight recorder info. It’s probably stored separately or already buriedsomewhere deeper. It’ll take Wizard more time to find it, assuming they didn’t purge the damn thing.”
Wizard gave a dark smirk. “As if deleting the data could keep me from getting my hands on it.” He took off his glasses and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Getting the black box data will mean going deeper. Only a matter of time, but it’s not something I can pull overnight.”
I nodded, weighing our next steps. “Then we keep looking. Carson’s crash is our priority, but these others might be the key to breaking the whole thing wide open. We find the loose string, and we unravel this entire fucking mess.”
Both Fallon and Wizard nodded silently in agreement. There was no turning back now. Whoever had buried this was powerful, dangerous, and had no qualms about killing to keep it hidden. But I was ready for the fight.
The office door swung open, cutting through the charged silence as King stepped into the room with Ace trailing close behind. King wore his habitual scowl, and Ace’s attention was locked on the tablet he was scrolling through rapidly.
King stopped just inside the doorway, giving us each a nod. “What’ve we got?”
Ace lifted his gaze briefly from the tablet as he rattled off what he’d uncovered. “Aegis Aerospace’s financials are clean on the surface, but they’re funneling significant funds into offshore accounts. Money is moving in ways that raise red flags. Looks like shell corporations and layers of smoke screens. Typical shit when someone’s trying to hide something.”
King’s jaw tightened imperceptibly. “How deep?”
Ace swiped his finger across the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Deep enough. They’re paying big sums labeled as ‘consulting fees’ and ‘procurement advances,’ but the entities on the receiving end are practically ghosts. Someone powerful is pulling the strings behind these crashes and the cover-up. Andit seems like they have enough clout to make sure no one asks questions.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, the muscles in my shoulders tensing with the weight of what Ace was saying. “Whoever’s running this has the resources to silence questions and pay for cooperation. It’s a system built on lies and dead pilots.”
Fallon shook his head slowly, his voice dark. “But why? What’s worth killing their own people for? It doesn’t add up yet.”
King’s gaze cut sharply to mine, his eyes assessing. “We need answers. And your girl might have seen just enough to get tangled in something lethal.”
I met my prez’s stare head-on, understanding passing silently between us. “She deserves to know. About her brother. All of it.”
King’s expression didn’t soften, but his slow nod carried the weight of approval. “You’re cleared to share what you think she needs to know. This stays club business, but she’s earned the right to understand what she’s caught in and why she lost her brother.”
“Understood.” Relief mixed with gratitude.
King gave another short nod before turning back toward the door.
Ace glanced at Wizard. “Sent you some shit to unlock so I can dig deeper.”
