Page 46 of So Sinister
Donald released a brief bark of laughter.“I can’t be as specific as Ihavebeen.Look, we take the privacy of our employees very—”
“Yeah, that’s enough,” Faith said, chopping her hand in front of her face.“I don’t give a shit about your reputation or MAA’s.I need to know why someone’s murdering people and leaving bombs in their hands.I’m being nice about it right now, but if I have to start putting official pressure on you, the niceness—”
“Okay,” Donald said quietly.“Okay.”
His face was crestfallen.He stared at Faith’s chest, but she was pretty sure he was avoiding her eyes, not ogling her breasts.The sweat on his head was pooling into thick blotches that clung to him like glue rather than sliding off.
“In the post 9/11 world, security incidents of the sort we suffered five years ago are catastrophic, not just for the airport affected but for air travel as a whole.If it was revealed to people that there were gaps in our procedures that led to this incident, then it could cause a two-hundred-twenty-billion-dollar industry to shrink drastically.When incidents of this nature occur, the root cause of the problem must be determined and addressed, yes, but it must also be kept secret from the public.You understand.You don’t release details of an investigation, or you have incidents like what recently occurred with your suspect at the Port Covington warehouse.”
Faith bristled at that allusion, but she didn’t argue.Donald was working his way up to telling them what they needed to know.She would let him talk.
He took a deep breath and continued.“The event in question was complex.Blame was primarily placed on the K9 handler whose dog failed to locate the explosive, however…” His lips trembled, but he forced the admission out.“There were multiple levels of failure.The TSA and the airport both have equipment that’s supposed to detect explosives.The TSA’s equipment simply failed to detect the bomb.Our equipment… was inoperable at the time.”
“So you were conducting flight operations despite the fact that your security equipment was malfunctioning,” Jessica summarized.
He nodded glumly."Yes.You have to understand."
"We don't," Faith interrupted.She couldn't handle justification anymore."But we're not here for that.We want to know what happened to Robert Stevenson."
Donald took another deep breath.“Well, as you’ve learned, a number of security officers were terminated in the weeks following the incident.They were…” He lifted a shaking hand to his head and tried to wipe the sweat off of his bald spot.He succeeded in smearing it through the coarse remains of his hair.“They were terminated because they were aware of the malfunctioning equipment and had voiced concerns several times about its ineffectiveness and the risks associated.”
Jessica scoffed.“So you paid them off so they wouldn’t go to the news with that information.”
Donald nodded.His eyes had dropped from Faith’s chest to her waist.“Yes.”
Faith let that admission hang in the air for a moment.She was here to solve the murders of Jackson Entwhistle and Raelynn Hayes, not hold the MAA to account for their mishandling of the incident five years ago.
Still, in a way, Donald Portnoy and his fellow executives were as culpable for those two deaths as they were for the seven who died when that bomb made it through security and exploded in baggage claim.And if that bomb had made it onto its intended flight?
She took a breath to let her emotions settle, then asked, “Why was no settlement given to Robert Stevenson?”
Donald’s eyes fell further.He was now staring at the small airplane-shaped magnet resting on the current date on his desktop calendar.“Mr.Stevenson was the maintenance technician for the detection equipment.He… We felt…”
Faith helped him out.“You figured you could save a few bucks by telling him that you’d blame him for the failure of the equipment, despite what I assume were repeated warnings on his part and repeated requests for the tools, time, and budget necessary to fix it?”
Donald nodded, now staring at his own lap.
Jessica scoffed.She shook her head at him, lips curled in disgust.“What would the settlement have been?”
His voice was barely perceptible.“Seventy thousand.”
“Seventy thousand dollars.And even though it was all your fault, you still chose to pinch those few pennies.”
He didn’t bother with an answer.
Faith let the silence hang for a moment longer, then asked, “Besides Jackson Entwhistle and Raelynn Hayes, who do you feel Mr.Stevenson might potentially target?”
He took a deep breath and lifted his eyes.“Well… There’s me, of course.Besides me, I suppose our former chief of security might be at risk.”
“Who’s your former chief of security?”
“James Hartford.He left MAA two years ago.It’s my understanding that he now works for the TSA as chief of security for Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport.”
Faith nodded.“We’ll arrange for increased security for both you and Mr.Hartford.In the meantime, why don’t you make a list of anyone else who might be targeted and send it to me so I can arrange protection for them as well?”
He nodded.“Sure.I can do that.”
She got to her feet and started for the door, Jessica and Turk following.Halfway there, Donald called, “Wait!I…”
