Chapter 10 - The Father In The Rain.
The black sedan did not get far.
A security barrier lowered at the end of the block after Hale alerted local police.
The driver stopped before reaching it, abandoned the car, and disappeared into a covered parking structure.
Claire and security arrived minutes later.
The driver's seat was empty.
The memory card was not inside.
Vanessa opened the rear door and froze.
Her father was lying across the back seat, conscious but exhausted, his formal jacket soaked through.
"Dad."
Grant Cole opened his eyes.
"Vanessa?"
The anger on her face collapsed into fear.
She climbed inside and took his hand.
Claire stayed near the door while medics checked him.
There was no dramatic injury, only signs of stress, dehydration, and a bruised wrist where someone had apparently restrained him.
Grant refused transport until he spoke to Hale.
"Marcus took the card, didn't he?"
Claire watched him carefully.
"How did you know Maya had one?"
Grant closed his eyes.
"Because I told her to bring it."
Vanessa looked at him.
"You told me Claire destroyed the recorder."
Grant's face tightened.
"I lied to you."
The simplicity of the sentence hurt her more than an excuse would have.
"Why?"
"Because I was ashamed."
Vanessa stood up inside the parking structure, glittering gown damp at the hem.
"You used me."
Grant did not argue.
He explained that after Northstar, Marcus Vane approached him with evidence that Cole Aeronautics could lose every government contract if the failure notice became public.
Marcus offered a solution.
The recorder would be removed from the chain of evidence temporarily.
The official report would emphasize command decisions and weather conditions.
Grant agreed to hide the recorder while lawyers prepared a defense.
"Temporary became fourteen months," Claire said.
Grant looked at her.
"Yes."
"And while it was hidden, my crew lived with people suggesting we caused the accident."
"Yes."
"You let your daughter repeat that lie tonight."
Grant looked toward Vanessa.
"Yes."
She turned away from him.
Claire had imagined confronting whoever hid the recorder many times.
In those fantasies, the person was arrogant and easy to hate.
Grant looked smaller than that.
That did not make what he had done less serious.
It only made it more human, and therefore more infuriating.
Hale asked the question that mattered now.
"Why change your mind?"
Grant looked toward the street beyond the garage.
"Three weeks ago, Marcus told me the inquiry would be closed permanently."
"That was what you wanted."
"Until he said Maya Torres had to be discredited too."
Claire's eyes narrowed.
Grant continued.
"He wanted me to accuse her of falsifying engineering records."
"And you refused?"
"I finally understood there would always be another person to blame."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"So you found a conscience when the lie became inconvenient."
Grant accepted that too.
Then he reached into the inside pocket of his wet shirt.
"Marcus thinks he took Maya's only copy."
He pulled out a small silver drive.
Maya stared at it.
"What is that?"
"The recorder audio."
Claire felt every sound around her fade.
Grant looked directly at her.
"I made a copy the night I hid the original."
Hale held out an evidence bag.
Grant did not give him the drive immediately.
"Before you hear it, Commander, you need to know something."
Claire waited.
Grant's voice dropped.
"The recording does not only clear you."
May you like
He looked at Hale.
"It proves someone at mission command knew the system had failed before you were ordered to continue."
