"Mom didn't," Zoe said with the gentle superiority of someone sharing important information. Vanessa looked at him over the top of Zoe's head. Something in her expression. Complicated, honest, the particular look of a person sitting inside a consequence they made for themselves. He just nodded once.
She nodded back. She left at 4. Said goodbye to Zoe in the driveway with a hug that lasted longer than it started. Zoe let it last, which was its own answer to a question Marcus hadn't asked. Vanessa shook Marcus's hand, which was a strange formality that somehow felt right.
Thank you, she said, for letting this happen. She deserves her mother, Marcus said. That's what this is. Vanessa held his gaze for a moment. You're a good man, Marcus.
You always were. I just couldn't see it from where I was standing. He looked at her, thought about the version of himself that had needed to hear that. Thought about the version of himself that existed. Now, seven months into the investigation, with 43 memos on file, and Earl Hutchkins in protective cooperation and a criminal investigation with Richard Callaway's name on the cover.
I know, he said simply. Not arrogantly, just factually. Vanessa almost smiled, got in her car, left. Zoe stood on the porch watching the car disappear and Marcus stood beside her and neither of them said anything for a moment. Then Zoe said, "Can Amara come over now?" Already texted her mom, he said.
She beamed at him and went inside. And he stood on the porch alone for one more minute, looking at the place where Vanessa's car had been. And then he let it go. Clean and complete. The way you close a door when you're done with a room.
He went inside. The following Thursday, Patricia called at 8:00 in the morning with a voice that had shed all its usual professional caution. The DOJ filed, she said. This morning, Richard Callaway has been indicted on three counts of federal wire fraud, two counts of making false statements to federal investigators, that's the press conference, and one count of obstruction of justice. She paused.
Gerald Price accepted a plea agreement yesterday. He testified before the grand jury Tuesday. He corroborated Hutchkins completely and then added detail we didn't have. There were internal emails. Callaway knew about the inspection falsification for at least 8 months before flight 1 147.
He was copied on communications about it. He chose schedule and profit over correction. Marcus was sitting at his kitchen table with his coffee and he set it down very carefully. 8 Months, he said. 8 Months, Patricia confirmed.
He thought about 8 months of knowing, 8 months of flights, 8 months of passengers boarding aircraft with hydraulic systems that had not been properly inspected. Trusting that the airline that sold them a ticket had done its job. Trusting the system the way people who are not pilots trust systems completely because they have no reason not to. He thought about the 14 people who'd been injured on flight 1,47. He thought about what nearly happened.