I took my phone off speaker.
“David,” I said. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here, Karen.” His voice was tight. “I heard everything.”
“Where is Richard Haverford right now?”
There was a pause. “He’s here. At Gate 14. With the rest of the executive team. He’s standing about ten feet away from me.”
“Don’t say anything to him,” I said. “Don’t let him know anything’s wrong. Let him wait.”
“Karen…”
“I want to look him in the eye,” I said. “Twelve years ago, he watched me get walked up a jet bridge in front of forty passengers. Tonight, I’m going to walk down one.”
Then I turned to Sergeant Kowalski.
“Sergeant, I’d like to make a formal statement about what happened tonight. I’d like it to include the fact that someone made a false report to Apex Air crew that caused you to be called onto this aircraft, with the intention of having me arrested.”
Kowalski nodded and took out his notebook. “Ma’am, I’ll take that statement, and I’ll make sure the report reflects everything. If a false report to law enforcement was made through a third party, the department will want to look at it.” He hesitated. “The California part, though, that’ll be up to LAPD and the airport police out there.”
“I understand,” I said.
Marcus was already on his phone, speaking quietly with the airline’s outside counsel in Los Angeles, a white-shoe firm called Whitmore & Crane that billed $900 an hour. When he hung up, he turned to me.
“I’ve asked Whitmore & Crane to have someone from LAX airport police meet the aircraft at Gate 14,” he said. “Not to arrest anyone. Just to take Ms. Ashford’s statement about tonight’s instructions while it’s fresh, with her union representative present.” He looked at Victoria. “That’s for your protection too, Ms. Ashford. You’ll want your account on the record before anyone else’s.”
Victoria nodded, wiping her eyes.
“There’s one more thing,” Marcus said to me. “Under the executive compensation agreement Richard signed when he was promoted to Senior Vice President, there’s a clawback provision. If an officer is terminated for cause, including fraud, dishonesty, or willful misconduct, the company can recover unvested stock and deferred bonuses.”
“How much?”
Marcus checked his notes.
“Richard has about $2.3 million in unvested restricted stock units and deferred compensation,” he said. “If the board terminates him for cause, all of it is forfeited.”
“And the old case? Flight 1188?”
“The statute of limitations on the theft ran out years ago,” Marcus said. “And on any defamation claim you might have had. We can’t prosecute him for what he did to you twelve years ago, Karen. But Hartwell Mutual paid out $38,000 on a fraudulent claim connected to that watch. Their special investigations unit might be very interested in reopening the file. And what he did tonight is new.”
I nodded.
Then I looked out the window at the ramp lights glowing orange on the wet tarmac.
“Captain Osei,” I said. “I think we’re ready to go to Los Angeles now.”
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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