Greer blinked. "I... yes, I've reviewed the employee handbook."
"Section 12.4 states that no crew member shall relocate, deny service to, or alter the seating assignment of any passenger based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or socioeconomic appearance. Violation is grounds for immediate suspension and referral to the FAA. Did you know that when you told your guards to drag me to the back of the plane?"
Greer's silence was its own confession.
"Question three." Simone paused, letting the morning air carry the weight of it. "How many times have you done this before?"
Greer's eyes dropped to the tarmac. His shoulders caved. The epaulets he'd been smoothing all morning suddenly looked like they weighed fifty pounds each. He didn't answer.
Tanya stepped out of the aircraft behind Linda. She'd been standing just inside the door, listening. Now she walked forward. Her voice was shaking, but her words were steady.
"I can answer that, Ms. Fletcher."
Every head on the tarmac turned.
"In the eight months I've been on Captain Greer's crew, I've seen him do this twice before. Both times to Black passengers. Both times he used security to remove them. Both times he gave their seats to white passengers he called VIPs." She swallowed hard. "Both times I reported it. Both times nothing happened."
Patricia Hayes was already writing. Garrett Cole had his clipboard out.
Simone looked at Tanya. Really looked at her. Then she nodded. "Thank you, Tanya. That took courage."
She turned back to Greer. The pilot stood there, gut hanging, sweat dripping, epaulets crooked, looking like a man watching his career bleed out on a tarmac.
"Captain Greer, you are suspended from all flight operations, effective immediately. Your credentials will be held pending a full investigation. Garrett," she turned to Cole, "I want his passenger manifests and complaint records for the last twelve months. Every flight, every reassignment, every incident report filed—and every one that should have been filed, but wasn't—on my desk by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow."