“I am hanging up now, and you are going to face the consequences of what you did.”

“Mark, wait—”

I cut the call.

I blocked her number immediately.

The police arrived a minute later, their boots crunching on the glass.

I spent the next two hours giving my statement to a tired-looking officer named Davis.

Luis provided the security footage, which clearly showed the intruder’s face and the crowbar.

By the time I got back to my apartment, the sun was beginning to rise over the ocean.

I didn’t sleep.

At nine the next morning, I was sitting in a high-rise office downtown.

The glass windows looked out over the sparkling expanse of Biscayne Bay.

Sarah Vance sat across from me at a polished mahogany table.

She was a sharp woman in a tailored gray suit, her graying hair pulled back into a tight bun.

She pushed a thick manila folder across the table toward me.

“The airline’s internal review is officially complete, Captain Collins,” she said.

“You have been fully cleared of all allegations.”

I let out a long breath I felt like I had been holding for days.