PART 4 — SOMEONE WAS USING MY NAME
I didn’t breathe for several seconds.
My name was on the screen.
My credentials.
My authority.
But I was standing in a banquet hall forty minutes from the airport command center.
Someone had just logged into the system as me.
“Rebecca.”
“Yes?”
“Lock my credentials.”
“They’re already restricted.”
“Then lock the physical access associated with them.”
A pause.
“Natalie, that’s not possible without shutting down executive command access.”
“Do it.”
“Understood.”
I ended the call.
Dad was still staring at me.
“What is happening?”
I looked at him.
“For the first time tonight, I don’t know.”
Logan stepped forward.
“Let me help.”
I turned.
“No.”
“Natalie—”
“Stay away from Hartwell.”
His face tightened.
“I didn’t do this.”
“Then you have nothing to fear.”
I walked out.
The banquet hall doors closed behind me.
My driver was already waiting.
I got into the car and immediately called the command center.
“Status.”
Rebecca answered.
“Runway three is closed. Federal security teams are arriving. We have aircraft approaching from the east.”
“How long?”
“Eleven minutes.”
“Any indication why the diversion was initiated?”
“Not yet.”
I stared through the windshield.
“Who has physical access to the tower?”
“We’re checking.”
“And the unauthorized login?”
“Still active.”
My pulse quickened.
“Still active?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Executive command network.”
“That system is supposed to be isolated.”
“I know.”
My driver accelerated.
Rain streaked across the windshield.
Then Rebecca said something that made my entire body go cold.
“Natalie…”
“What?”
“The user just opened your emergency authorization file.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Can you terminate the session?”
“We tried.”
“And?”
“It rejected the command.”
“Why?”
Another pause.
“Because the system believes the user is you.”
I looked down at my phone.
A new notification appeared.
EXECUTIVE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST PENDING.
Then another.
AIRCRAFT LANDING PRIORITY: OVERRIDE.
Someone was preparing to force a landing sequence.
I whispered,
“Rebecca, listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“If that override goes through, what happens?”
Her voice dropped.
“The aircraft will land on the designated emergency runway regardless of the current runway restrictions.”
I stared at the rain.
“And what is currently occupying that runway?”
Silence.
Then:
“Emergency response vehicles.”
My heart stopped.
I sat upright.
“Rebecca, shut it down.”
“We’re trying.”
“No.”
I looked at the clock.
“Don’t try.”
My voice became cold.
“Get everyone off that runway.”
A warning tone suddenly screamed through my phone.
Rebecca shouted.
“Natalie!”
“What?”
“The override just activated.”
I heard alarms in the background.
Then her voice broke.
“The aircraft is already on final approach.”
I closed my eyes.
Somewhere inside Hartwell, someone had just used my name to create a disaster.
And if I was right about who had access to the system…
This had never been about Logan’s contract.
It had been about getting me out of the way.