Chapter 2 - The Man Wearing a Dead Man’s Watch
David ordered the pilots to divert to Philadelphia.
Celeste protested.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“The mistake was allowing you near Ethan.”
“You think Marcus is the danger?”
“I think you assaulted my son because he was holding evidence.”
“I was trying to keep him out of something he cannot understand.”
“He is eight.”
“Exactly.”
David pointed toward the rear seat.
“Sit down.”
Celeste obeyed.
Not because she suddenly respected him.
Because Maya remained between Celeste and Ethan, and the security footage had changed the balance of power.
Ethan sat beneath a blanket with the compass in both hands.
“Did Mom give this to Uncle Marcus?”
“Great-Uncle Marcus,” David corrected automatically.
Then hated himself for caring about the distinction.
Maya enlarged the archived footage.
Laura looked frightened, but she did not appear physically restrained.
Marcus spoke to her.
The old cabin microphone had recorded fragments.
“…cannot go back…”
Laura answered.
“…David has to know.”
Then Marcus:
“Not yet.”
Celeste said sharply, “Turn it off.”
David ignored her.
Laura pushed the compass into Marcus’s hand.
“Keep this until Ethan is safe.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“She said my name.”
David’s chest tightened.
“Yes.”
Marcus replied:
“If Celeste finds out—”
The recording glitched.
Celeste looked away.
David noticed.
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have watched this before.”
“No.”
“You knew exactly when to lunge for the tablet.”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
David lowered his voice.
“Why did Marcus have Dad’s watch?”
She laughed bitterly.
“You really know nothing.”
“Then educate me.”
“Dad gave it to him.”
“Before he accused Marcus of embezzlement?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Most of what Father told you didn’t.”
David’s anger sharpened.
Thomas Bennett had built Bennett Aero from two leased turboprops into a company worth nearly $600 million. He had also been demanding, secretive, and obsessed with family loyalty.
Marcus had served as CFO until a $12 million accounting discrepancy was discovered.
Thomas accused him publicly.
Marcus resigned.
The brothers never reconciled.
Or so David believed.
“Dad died believing Marcus stole from us.”
Celeste stared at him.
“No. Dad died knowing Marcus had taken the blame for him.”
David went still.
“For what?”
Celeste shook her head.
“I’m not saying another word without a lawyer.”
“You had plenty of words when you were hitting Ethan.”
Maya quietly said, “Mr. Bennett.”
David turned.
She had opened the aircraft maintenance archive.
“Flight BAH-2719 wasn’t scheduled through normal dispatch.”
“Meaning?”
“It was classified as an owner repositioning flight.”
“Who authorized it?”
Maya looked at Celeste.
“Family-office credentials.”
Celeste said nothing.
David had given Celeste operational authority over the Bennett Family Office after Laura disappeared. Celeste managed trust distributions, estate assets, and personal aircraft scheduling.
Fourteen months ago, she had possessed exactly the access required.
“You scheduled Laura’s flight.”
“No.”
“Your credentials did.”
“Credentials can be used by other people.”
The echo of her earlier lie infuriated him.
Maya opened the passenger data.
Two names appeared.
Laura Bennett.
Marcus Bennett.
A third passenger field had been manually removed.
David frowned.
“Can you restore it?”
“Maybe through the server archive.”
“Do it.”
Celeste’s voice became urgent.
“David, there are things about Laura you are not prepared to know.”
“You spent eighteen months telling me she stole from us.”
“She did move money.”
“Why?”
Celeste did not answer.
David looked at Ethan.
His son was watching every face.
This was no longer only an adult secret.
David sat beside him.
“I should have listened more when you asked about Mom.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“You always got sad.”
“I know.”
“So Aunt Celeste told me to stop.”
David looked across the cabin.
“How long?”
Ethan hesitated.
“How long has she been telling you not to ask?”
“Since Mom disappeared.”
Celeste whispered, “I was trying to help him move on.”
Maya’s expression hardened.
Ethan continued.
“She took Mom’s letters.”
David turned sharply.
“What letters?”
Ethan looked frightened again.
“The ones I found in her desk.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“What did Celeste do with them?”
“She said they were fake.”
Celeste rose.
“David—”
“Sit down.”
She did.
Ethan whispered, “She burned them.”
David felt something inside him break.
“You burned Laura’s letters?”
“They were dangerous.”
“To whom?”
Celeste looked at him.
“You.”
David almost laughed.
“Everything is supposedly to protect me.”
“You would have gone after Marcus.”
“I’m going after him now.”
“And that is exactly what Laura did not want.”
Maya interrupted.
“I recovered part of the deleted third-passenger record.”
David turned.
The screen displayed initials.
J.C.
“That could be anyone,” Celeste said.
Maya opened an associated catering authorization.
The full name appeared.
Jonathan Cross.
David knew him too.
Jonathan Cross was Bennett Aero’s general counsel.
He had handled Laura’s missing-person investigation for the family.
He had stood beside David at press conferences.
He had helped police obtain financial records.
He had personally assured David there was no evidence Laura had ever boarded a Bennett aircraft after disappearing.
David stared at the screen.
Jonathan had lied.
Not by omission.
Directly.
His phone rang.
Jonathan’s name appeared.
David answered.
“Where are you?”
Jonathan’s tone was cautious.
“At home. Why?”
“Did you fly with Laura and Marcus fourteen months ago?”
Silence.
That silence was enough.
“Jonathan?”
“David, listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“Do not let Celeste take the compass.”
David looked across the cabin.
Celeste was already staring at it.
Jonathan continued.
“And when you land, do not go home.”
“Why?”
“Because if Celeste has finally lost control of this, Marcus will know.”
David stood.
“What is in the compass?”
Jonathan breathed once.
Then said:
“The reason your mother never received the inheritance your father claimed she did.”
The call disconnected.
David stared at the phone.
His mother had been dead for twelve years.
Her estate had supposedly been settled long ago.
Yet somehow Laura’s disappearance, Marcus’s exile, Celeste’s fear, and the compass all led back to her money.
The jet began descending.
Then Maya’s tablet chimed.
Someone on the ground had remotely attempted to delete the archived Flight BAH-2719 footage.
May you like
Three times.
The login credentials belonged to Celeste.
