Hendricks rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I've flown with her maybe six times. She challenges junior crew. Pushes harder in economy than I like. I've corrected tone issues before."
"Did you report them?"
He hesitated.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the incidents weren't this severe. And because Dennis Morrison has a reputation. Complaints about Rebecca seem to disappear, while the person raising them gets asked whether they're creating team conflict."
"So everyone learned to work around her."
"Yes."
Naomi looked toward the rear cabin.
That sentence explained more than any training completion report.
Organizations rarely became dangerous because one person was terrible in secret. They became dangerous because everyone around that person learned adaptation instead of correction.
"Captain, I need your report to include that."
"It will."
"Even if it reflects poorly on your own decision not to escalate sooner."
Hendricks looked at her.
"Yes."
"Good."
In the rear galley, Rebecca sat on a jump seat while Marcus stood several feet away.
She had tried to talk to him three times.
"Marcus, you know how passengers twist things."
He said nothing.
"I was enforcing a rule."
Still nothing.
"You saw him push against me."
Marcus finally looked at her.
"No. I saw a kid crying while you had your hand around his arm."
Rebecca's jaw tightened.
"You're going to let her ruin me because she's Black and you're Black?"
Marcus stared at her in disbelief.
"You still think that's the problem."
"I'm saying you're biased."
"The passenger videos don't have a race. The marks on his arm don't have an opinion."
Rebecca looked away.
Her phone buzzed in the crew storage compartment where she had been allowed to retrieve it for operational communication.
A message from Dennis Morrison filled the screen.
WHAT HAPPENED? CORPORATE LEGAL JUST CALLED ME.
She typed with shaking fingers.
Kid wandered forward. I redirected him. Mother overreacted. Mother is Richardson.
The reply came almost immediately.
NAOMI RICHARDSON?
Yes.
Three dots appeared.
Then:
Do not text me anything else. Do not delete anything. Get counsel through union if needed.
Rebecca stared at the message.
For fifteen years, Dennis had always been the person she called when a complaint became uncomfortable.
He had never told her not to contact him before.
The absence of protection felt like falling.