Chapter 7 - The Widow Who Had Kept Everything
The next morning, Nora received a phone call she almost didn't answer.
The number was unfamiliar.
She was sitting outside the base medical clinic, still waiting for her post-flight evaluation to be completed.
Her hands were wrapped around a paper cup of coffee.
She hadn't slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Dale's airplane rolling toward the ocean.
Then she heard his voice.
Three clicks.
The phone rang again.
Nora answered.
"Valdez."
A woman's voice spoke cautiously.
"Is this Nora Valdez?"
"Yes."
"My name is Hannah Rourke."
Nora sat upright.
"Daniel's wife?"
A pause.
"His widow."
Nora closed her eyes.
"I'm so sorry."
"Daniel talked about you."
Nora stared at the empty parking lot.
"What did he say?"
"That you were the only officer who believed him."
Nora couldn't speak.
Hannah continued.
"I saw the news about the pilot you helped yesterday."
"It's not supposed to be public yet."
"The local station reported an emergency landing."
Nora waited.
"Then someone from Daniel's old squadron called me."
Her voice trembled.
"He said the oxygen system was involved."
Nora gripped the phone.
"Mrs. Rourke, I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position."
"I'm already uncomfortable."
A long silence followed.
Then Hannah spoke.
"Daniel died with people calling him a liar."
Nora swallowed.
"What happened?"
"He was killed in a traffic accident."
"I'm sorry."
"He'd been trying to reopen your case."
Nora went still.
"What?"
Hannah's breathing became uneven.
"Daniel never accepted what happened."
Nora pressed the phone closer.
"Did he tell you why?"
"Because the maintenance paperwork was wrong."
Nora stood.
"Where are you?"
"Portland."
"Can we speak in person?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
Hannah hesitated.
"Because someone came to my house this morning."
Nora felt cold.
"Who?"
"A man in a navy-blue suit."
"Did he identify himself?"
"He said he represented an office reviewing old aviation records."
"What did he want?"
Hannah's voice dropped.
"Daniel's computer."
Nora looked around.
The parking lot was nearly empty.
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
"Good."
"But he knew I had it."
Nora's heart quickened.
"Hannah, please don't meet with anyone claiming to be an investigator until their identity and authority have been independently verified."
"I understand."
"Have you contacted the police?"
"Not yet."
"Please do."
There was a pause.
Then Hannah whispered.
"Daniel left something for you."
Nora froze.
"For me?"
"He said if anyone ever proved the oxygen system was dangerous, I should give it to the pilot whose career he couldn't save."
Nora lowered herself onto the curb.
"What is it?"
"A sealed envelope."
"What's inside?"
"I haven't opened it."
"Why not?"
Hannah began crying.
"Because he wrote something on the front."
Nora felt her own eyes burn.
"What?"
Hannah took a shaky breath.
"Don't let them call her a liar again."
Nora couldn't answer.
For three years, she'd believed she was alone.
She'd believed everyone who could have defended her had chosen silence.
Now she was learning that one person had tried.
And that person was dead.
When the call ended, Nora immediately contacted Captain Sloan.
Within an hour, the matter was transferred to independent investigators.
Hannah agreed to place the envelope and Daniel's computer with counsel until the proper evidence-handling arrangements could be made.
Nora wasn't allowed to retrieve either item herself.
She understood why.
Evidence needed a documented chain of custody.
Personal desperation couldn't be allowed to compromise it.
Still, the waiting was unbearable.
That afternoon, she visited Dale Ketterman.
He was sitting upright in a hospital bed, pale but alert.
Emily sat beside him.
She had one hand on her pregnant belly and the other wrapped tightly around Dale's fingers.
When Nora appeared in the doorway, Emily stood.
"Are you Nora?"
Nora nodded.
Emily crossed the room.
Then hugged her.
Nora froze.
She hadn't expected it.
Emily held on.
"Thank you."
Nora swallowed.
"I'm glad he's okay."
Emily stepped back, tears running down her cheeks.
"He told me you stayed with him."
Nora looked toward the bed.
Dale gave a tired smile.
"She made me land."
Nora shook her head.
"You landed your own jet."
"After you got me thinking straight."
"With help from half the station."
Dale looked at his wife.
"See?"
Emily smiled through her tears.
"She's stubborn."
"Extremely," Dale replied.
Nora laughed softly.
For a moment, the room felt normal.
Then Dale's expression changed.
"Ember."
Nora looked at him.
"Yeah?"
"I remembered something."
The laughter vanished.
Emily sat down.
Dale swallowed.
"When I was checking the aircraft before takeoff, I found something strange in the maintenance log."
Nora felt her pulse quicken.
"What?"
"A note about an intermittent oxygen-system fault."
"Was it unresolved?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"It had been signed off."
"By whom?"
Dale frowned.
"That's the strange part."
Nora waited.
"The corrective action entry was dated the day before."
"Okay."
"But the aircraft had been grounded at that time for an unrelated inspection."
Nora felt a cold sensation spread through her chest.
Dale continued.
"I asked the maintenance desk about it."
"What did they say?"
"That the record had been imported from another system."
"Did they identify the source?"
"No."
Nora swallowed.
"Do you remember the technician's name?"
Dale nodded.
"Petty Officer Caleb Price."
Nora had never heard the name.
Dale reached for the water beside his bed.
Then stopped.
"There's more."
Nora stepped closer.
"What?"
"Before I took off, I received a message on the squadron operations computer."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"What did it say?"
Dale looked directly at her.
"Stop asking questions about the oxygen records."
Emily covered her mouth.
Nora felt the blood drain from her face.
"Did you save it?"
Dale shook his head.
"It disappeared when I tried to open it again."
Nora stared at him.
Then Dale added something that changed everything.
"The message included a flight number."
"What flight number?"
He took a slow breath.
"Navy Eight-Seven-Four."
Nora's knees nearly buckled.
That had been her aircraft.
Three years earlier.
The Super Hornet she'd lost over the Coral Sea.
May you like
Somebody had warned Dale to stop asking questions.
And they had used Nora's old aircraft number to make sure he understood why.
