She left the meeting with her resolve sharpened rather than shaken, more certain than ever that she needed Mason back inside the building, whatever it cost her. Behind her, unseen, Logan picked up his phone and gave a quiet instruction to building security, an order that no one named Mason Reed was to be allowed back through the front doors of Langford Motors under any circumstances should he ever try to return. Amelia decided to go to Mason herself rather than send anyone else on her behalf. She traveled without an entourage, only Evelyn driving the car and waiting outside while Amelia walked into the garage alone. Mason was wiping grease from his hands when he saw her step through the bay door, and he showed no trace of the nervous difference most people reserved for someone with her name.
Amelia introduced herself plainly, telling him she knew his name from a file her father had left behind. Mason asked without missing a beat whether she believed the official record or the words of a dead man. Amelia was quiet for a long moment before answering that she wanted the truth, whatever it turned out to be. Mason told her that the truth was never free, not because of money, but because of what it had already cost him once before. Amelia admitted that Langford Motors was in the middle of a crisis with the L9 program and that she needed him to look at it.
Mason refused again, the same way he had refused Evelyn until Amelia reached into her bag and handed him a copy of her father's handwritten note. When his eyes landed on the line that read, "Mason Reed, saved us," something in his expression shifted for the first time since she had arrived. It was the first time in years that anyone connected to the Langford family had acknowledged the truth, even if only on a sheet of paper meant for no one else's eyes. Mason agreed to return, but only under three conditions. He would not sign any agreement of silence before examining the engine himself.
Every technical finding would be recorded on camera as it happened. And if he uncovered evidence of a deliberately hidden flaw, Amelia would be required to reopen the Phoenix file publicly before the full board. Amelia accepted without hesitation. When Mason arrived back at Langford Motors, security stopped him at the entrance exactly as Logan had instructed. Amelia appeared at precisely the right moment, ordering the doors opened immediately.