Chapter 25 - Passenger 14C
Marcus spread the evidence across the table once more.
The boarding pass.
The cassette.
The notebook.
The blueprint.
Every clue seemed to circle back to one simple code.
14C.
"It isn't just a seat number," Dana said.
"It's a marker."
The communications officer searched archived passenger manifests again.
This time he ignored names and searched only for Seat 14C across multiple years.
Hundreds of flights appeared.
Then something unusual emerged.
On twelve separate occasions over nine years, Seat 14C had been occupied by different names...
...but every ticket had been purchased using the same payment authorization code.
Marcus frowned.
"Different identities."
"Same buyer."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"They kept moving couriers instead of messages."
The technician printed the payment history.
The transactions all originated from shell companies that no longer existed.
Except one.
One corporation remained active.
Dana read the company name aloud.
Everyone turned toward Victor.
Victor didn't deny it.
Instead, he smiled for the first time since the investigation began.
"You've finally reached the beginning."
Marcus stepped closer.
"The beginning of what?"
Victor leaned back calmly.
"The investigation Daniel never finished."
Before Marcus could ask another question, every monitor inside the operations room switched to black without warning.
One line of white text slowly appeared across every screen in the airport:
ARCHIVE NODE 3 HAS ACKNOWLEDGED NEW CUSTODIANS.
May you like
A second line appeared beneath it.
PROCEED TO PHASE TWO.
