“And we’re believing the saboteur now?”
“I never sabotaged this aircraft,” Adrian said.
Maya tightened her grip.
“Your device was communicating with the plane.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To prevent someone else from taking control.”
Silence.
Pierce looked back.
“Someone else?”
Adrian raised his wrist.
The device displayed lines of code.
“You lost primary navigation twenty-six minutes after takeoff. Three minutes later, an external signal began rewriting your flight-management data. I connected to isolate the infected systems.”
Captain Reeves laughed once.
Without humor.
“So you’re our mysterious guardian angel?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Maya.
“I came for her.”
Maya’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because eight years ago, you were supposed to d/i/e.”
The cockpit became silent.
Maya stared at him.
Adrian continued.
“Ethan Cole wasn’t the target of that operation.”
A flash of lightning filled the windshield.
“You were.”
Maya felt as if the aircraft had tilted beneath her.
