Chapter 3 - Someone Inside the Investigation
"THEY DIDN'T JUST FORGE A DEAD WOMAN'S SIGNATURE. THEY FORGED MINE, TOO!"
Victoria spoke the words quietly, but Daniel Shaw could hear the fury beneath them.
She stood near a deserted boarding gate, holding her phone close to her ear.
Around her, Crestline Airways employees were trying to accommodate passengers displaced from Flight 417.
Behind the counter, a young customer service representative was apologizing to an elderly couple who had already missed a connecting flight.
The ordinary frustrations of travel continued.
Yet Victoria knew the situation had moved beyond aircraft maintenance fraud.
Someone had deliberately placed her identity inside the airline's records.
The implications were alarming.
If the falsified document went unchallenged, Crestline's lawyers could argue that federal investigators had already reviewed the disputed maintenance release.
Worse, someone might try to portray Victoria as a participant in the very misconduct she was investigating.
"Tell me exactly what you found," she instructed.
Daniel spoke from the Department of Transportation's field office outside Washington.
"The airline's legal department forwarded a document claiming you authorized a special compliance waiver for N417CR."
"There's no such waiver."
"I know."
"The FAA controls airworthiness determinations. I couldn't issue that authorization even if I wanted to."
"I know that, too."
"Then why does the document exist?"
"That's what we're trying to establish."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"It contains your full name, badge identification number, and an agency contact address."
Victoria stopped walking.
"Those details were never in the complaint file."
"No."
"Where were they?"
Daniel hesitated.
"In our internal case assignment records."
A cold sensation moved through her chest.
Only a limited number of people had access to those records.
Her supervisor.
Daniel.
A small group of authorized investigators.
And the agency's secure administrative staff.
"Daniel, lock down my credentials and preserve every access log."
"Already requested."
"Don't circulate the document any further until we know who created it."
"Understood."
Victoria ended the call.
For fourteen years, she had trusted the principle that evidence mattered more than personal loyalties.
Now she faced the uncomfortable possibility that someone wearing the same federal credentials as hers might be helping the criminals she was investigating.
Victor Rourke arrived at Gate C18 thirty minutes later.
Victoria recognized him from company photographs.
He was fifty-three, broad-shouldered, and immaculately dressed in a charcoal-gray suit.
His silver hair was carefully styled.
His expression conveyed the polished confidence of a man accustomed to expensive offices and unquestioned authority.
He approached with two company attorneys.
"Special Agent Hayes."
Victoria turned.
"Mr. Rourke."
"I understand you've caused a substantial operational disruption."
"I understand your airline attempted to dispatch an aircraft with questionable maintenance records."
Rourke smiled thinly.
"An administrative discrepancy."
"A deceased technician's credentials were used this morning."
"Electronic systems occasionally experience errors."
"Dead employees don't experience login errors, Mr. Rourke. Someone uses their accounts."
One of the attorneys shifted uncomfortably.
Rourke's smile disappeared.
"I assure you Crestline takes safety seriously."
"Then preserving all relevant records shouldn't be a problem."
"Of course not."
"That includes maintenance authorization logs, employee access histories, repair invoices, and internal communications concerning aircraft N417CR."
The attorney beside Rourke spoke.
"We'll review the scope of any lawful request."
Victoria nodded.
"Please do. My office is coordinating the necessary preservation and investigative procedures."
Rourke leaned closer.
"Agent Hayes, perhaps you're unaware of how much damage an unfounded accusation can do to an airline."
"I'm aware of what falsified maintenance records can do to passengers."
His eyes narrowed.
"Be careful about confusing suspicion with proof."
Victoria held his gaze.
"Be careful about confusing influence with immunity."
For one moment, Rourke's carefully controlled expression cracked.
Then he looked over her shoulder.
Captain Collins was approaching.
"Richard," Rourke said warmly. "I've been looking for you."
Collins stopped several feet away.
"Victor."
Rourke placed a hand on the captain's shoulder.
"We'll straighten this out. You've done nothing wrong."
Collins didn't answer.
Victoria noticed the tension in his face.
Rourke noticed it, too.
His fingers tightened slightly before he removed his hand.
"Perhaps we should discuss this privately."
Victoria stepped forward.
"Captain Collins is a material witness. If you discuss the investigation, those communications may become evidence."
Rourke stared at her.
"Are you accusing me of witness tampering?"
"I'm explaining why everyone involved should be careful."
Collins looked between them.
Then he said something unexpected.
"I'd rather not meet privately, Victor."
For the first time, Rourke appeared genuinely surprised.
Later that afternoon, Victoria met Daniel Shaw and Anthony Chen in a temporary conference room provided by airport operations.
Daniel was forty-four, athletic, and usually easygoing.
They had worked together for five years.
He had an excellent investigative record and an instinct for identifying weaknesses in financial transactions.
Now he looked unusually tired.
"There's another issue," he said.
He placed several printed records on the table.
"Nine months of maintenance activity from Crestline's western facilities. Repeated part numbers, duplicate approvals, and transactions routed through the same supplier."
Chen leaned forward.
"Blue Ridge Aeronautics?"
Daniel nodded.
"Ever heard of them?"
"Only indirectly. They've supplied replacement assemblies to several operators."
Victoria examined the invoices.
The same component identification appeared on multiple aircraft.
"Why would an identical serialized part appear in three different repair records?"
Chen adjusted his glasses.
"It shouldn't. A physical serialized component can't be installed on three aircraft at once."
Daniel pointed to another page.
"Unless the paperwork is false."
Victoria looked at the supplier's address.
A small industrial property outside Richmond, Virginia.
No public employee directory.
No visible executive leadership.
And millions of dollars in transactions over eighteen months.
"Who owns it?" she asked.
"We're tracing that."
The conference room door opened.
Megan Brooks stood outside, clutching her phone.
"I'm sorry to interrupt."
Victoria looked up.
"What's wrong?"
Megan stepped inside.
"I received an email from Nora's old account."
Victoria frowned.
"When?"
"Just now."
"Did someone hack it?"
"I don't know."
Megan turned the screen toward her.
The message had been scheduled months earlier.
Its subject line read:
IF THEY START USING MY NAME AGAIN.
Victoria felt her pulse quicken.
Megan opened it.
There were only two sentences.
If my employee number appears on another maintenance release, the people responsible are still operating. Ask Richard Collins what happened at Mile Marker Nineteen.
Below the message was an attachment.
A photograph of a white utility truck.
The image was blurry.
But one detail was unmistakable.
May you like
On the driver's door was the blue mountain logo of Blue Ridge Aeronautics.
And standing beside the truck was Victor Rourke.
