“Tell me what he meant.”
Judy stood beside the piano with her boarding pass clenched in one hand.
Richard said nothing.
Evan and his companions were disappearing down the concourse, but Judy barely noticed.
“Richard.”
He looked at her.
“You knew my father’s name before Evan said it, didn’t you?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Judy felt the floor tilt beneath her.
“Who are you?”
“I told you. Richard Galloway.”
“That’s a name, not an answer.”
Something like respect moved through his expression.
Richard motioned toward a quieter seating area.
“My family owns Galloway Aviation Group.”
“I figured out the aviation part.”
“We also own logistics companies, private terminals, security firms, shipping interests, and several businesses that appear much less impressive on tax documents than they actually are.”
Judy stared.
“That sounded intentionally ominous.”
“It was intentionally accurate.”
“What does that have to do with my father?”
Richard leaned forward.
“Thomas Davis audited a logistics company three years ago.”
Judy’s stomach tightened.
Her father had spent thirty-five years as a forensic accountant.
“He found irregularities.”
“What kind?”
“Money moving through shell companies. Cargo invoices that didn’t match manifests. Payments routed through firms controlled by Evan Mercer.”
Judy stared at the place where Evan had disappeared.
“No.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“My father hated Evan because he thought Evan was arrogant.”
“That may have contributed.”
“You’re saying Dad knew Evan was involved in crime?”
“I’m saying your father suspected Evan was involved in financial fraud.”
Judy lowered herself into a chair.
“And you?”
Richard did not flinch.
“My family has a complicated reputation.”
“That is an extraordinary way of avoiding my question.”
This time Richard almost smiled.
“Your father contacted me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Judy’s breath caught.
“He believed someone inside one of my companies was using our routes to move illegal funds. He thought Evan was connected.”
“Why would Dad contact you?”
“Because the theft was from me.”
Judy stared.
Everything she knew seemed to be rearranging itself.
“You’re saying Evan was stealing from you?”
“Among others.”
“Then why isn’t he in prison?”
“Evidence disappeared.”
Judy felt suddenly cold.
“My father.”
Richard nodded.
“Your father had copies.”
“And?”
“He refused to give them to anyone until he knew you were safe.”
Judy’s voice cracked.
“Safe from what?”
Richard’s eyes held hers.
“Evan.”
Her phone buzzed.
She nearly dropped it.
Her mother.
They moved Dad’s surgery up. 6:00 a.m. He keeps asking for you.
Judy stood instantly.
“I need to get on that plane.”
“You will.”
Richard rose.
“I’m coming with you.”
“What?”
“There are people watching the terminal.”
“I’m not getting on a plane with some self-described complicated criminal empire because my ex is apparently committing financial crimes.”
“I didn’t say criminal empire.”
“You strongly implied it.”
Richard considered that.
“Fair.”
Judy grabbed her suitcase.
“You arranged the flight. Thank you. But I can manage from here.”
Richard reached for the suitcase handle.
She tightened her grip.
“I can carry my own bag.”
“I know.”
“Then let go.”
He did immediately.
That surprised her.
No argument.
No smug smile.
Just respect.
“Fine,” Richard said. “Carry your bag. But I’m still going to Denver.”
“Why?”
“Because Evan just confirmed something I have suspected for three years.”
“What?”
“That your father is still a threat to him.”
Judy swallowed.
“Dad is about to have heart surgery.”
“Exactly.”
The implication landed like ice.
“You think someone might hurt him?”
“I think men like Evan prefer problems that can be mistaken for bad luck.”
Judy’s face drained.
Richard saw it and lowered his voice.
“My people are already contacting the hospital.”
“Your people?”
“Security.”
Judy took a step back.
“You keep saying things that should make me run away.”
“And yet?”
“And somehow Evan scares me more.”
Richard nodded.
“That’s rational.”
They boarded together twenty minutes later.
Judy had expected economy.
Instead, an employee escorted them into first class.
“I didn’t pay for this.”
“You’re not paying.”
“I don’t accept expensive favors from strangers.”
Richard sat beside her.
“You already destroyed my coffee. We’re beyond normal boundaries.”
She laughed before she could stop herself.
It felt strange to laugh while terrified.
The plane lifted into darkness.
For the first hour Judy said almost nothing.
Then turbulence shook the cabin.
Her fingers gripped the armrest.
Richard noticed.
“You don’t like flying?”
“I don’t like situations where physics gets a vote.”
He looked out the window.
“That covers most of life.”
Judy glanced at him.
“You don’t seem like someone who jokes.”
“I don’t.”
“That was almost a joke.”
“Altitude affects me.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
After a while Richard opened his laptop.
Numbers filled the screen.
Judy looked once.
Then again.
“Your formula is wrong.”
Richard turned.
“What?”
She pointed.
“That projected fuel surcharge. Column H references last quarter’s index.”
He stared at the screen.
Then at her.
“You saw that from there?”
“I work in corporate accounting.”
“You’re an accountant?”
“Financial controller.”
He corrected the formula.
The projected loss changed by nearly four million dollars.
Richard slowly turned toward her.
Judy shrugged.
“I’m good with numbers.”
“So was your father.”
“Still is.”
Richard closed the laptop.
“Yes.”
The word mattered.
Not was.
Still is.
Judy looked away before he could see how much that helped.
They landed in Salt Lake City shortly after midnight.
Their connecting flight had been delayed.
Twenty minutes became forty.
Forty became seventy.
Judy paced near the windows.
“We’re going to miss the surgery.”
Richard made a call.
Then another.
Finally he returned.
“There’s a Galloway aircraft on the south apron.”
Judy stared.
“You have a private jet sitting here?”
“It arrived from Seattle forty minutes ago.”
“You said commercial routing was fine.”
“It was. Now it isn’t.”
“I cannot afford a private plane.”
Richard seemed genuinely confused.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“Richard.”
“Your father has been waiting three years to see you. I’m not allowing an airline maintenance delay to decide whether that happens.”
The simplicity of the statement silenced her.
They were driven across the airport.
Halfway to the aircraft, Richard’s phone rang.
His expression changed when he answered.
“Yes?”
He listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Is Thomas safe?”
Judy stopped walking.
Richard’s eyes found hers.
“What happened?”
He ended the call.
“There was an incident at the hospital.”
Judy’s knees almost buckled.
“What incident?”
“A man posing as a maintenance contractor tried to access the cardiac wing.”
“Oh God.”
“He didn’t reach your father.”
“How do you know?”
“My security team intercepted him.”
Judy stared at Richard.
The night became suddenly much larger than one missed flight.
“What did he want?”
“We don’t know.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“But he had your father’s room number.”
Judy looked toward the waiting jet.
“Then get me to Denver.”
Richard nodded once.
They boarded.
Three hours later, snow covered the mountains beneath them.
At 5:21 a.m., they landed.
At 5:39, Judy ran through the hospital entrance.
At 5:46, she reached her father’s room.
Her mother stood near the bed crying.
Thomas Davis looked smaller than Judy remembered.
Older.
Fragile.
But when his eyes found his daughter, everything else disappeared.
“Judy?”
She crossed the room.
“Hi, Dad.”
His lips trembled.
“You came.”
Judy took his hand.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Thomas squeezed her fingers.
Then his eyes moved past her.
To Richard.
The change in him was immediate.
“Galloway.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Mr. Davis.”
Thomas looked at Judy.
Then back at Richard.
“You brought her?”
“Yes.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Then maybe I was wrong about you.”
Judy frowned.
“Dad, what is going on?”
Her father opened his eyes again.
“There’s something you need to know.”
A nurse appeared at the doorway.
“We need to take him down.”
Thomas ignored her.
His grip tightened around Judy’s fingers.
“Evan never loved you.”
Judy swallowed.
“I know.”
“No.”
Her father shook his head weakly.
“You don’t understand.”
He pulled her closer.
“He chose you because of me.”
And then the medical team wheeled him away.
---