"Did either of you threaten Mr. Holloway?"
"No."
Laura turned to Maya. "Did you make any statement about harming anyone, interfering with the flight, or refusing a crew instruction?"
"No."
Grace frowned. "Why are you asking this now?"
Laura hesitated. Maya noticed immediately. "Someone filed something."
Laura did not confirm it. "I received a request to verify the cabin conduct."
"From Mercer?" Grace asked.
Laura remained careful. "I can't discuss another passenger's communication."
Maya nodded. "You don't need to." She looked at the tablet. "Has anyone on the crew reported that we made a verbal threat?"
"No."
"Has anyone reported a physical threat?"
"No."
"Did either of us interfere with crew duties?"
"No."
Maya kept her voice calm. "Then put those three answers into the flight record."
Laura studied her for a moment. "You want them added separately?"
"Yes. Clear language: no verbal threat observed, no physical threat observed, no interference with crew duties observed."
Laura entered each statement. Grace watched her type. "So somebody is trying to make it sound like we did something."
Laura looked up. "I'm not saying that."
Maya answered before Grace could continue. "She doesn't have to. The important part is what the crew actually observed."
Laura nodded once and returned toward the front. Grace waited until she was gone. "This is getting worse."
"It's getting more official," Maya said.
"That sounds worse."
"It can be if the wrong version is the only one in the system."
Grace looked toward first class. Mercer was holding his phone again. "What do you think he wrote?"
"I don't know."
"You're not worried?"
"I am." Grace looked surprised by the answer. Maya continued, "But being worried doesn't mean we start guessing. We stay with what we can prove."
At the front of the cabin, Cole had already seen enough of Mercer's report to understand what he was doing.
"You called her confrontational."
"She was."
"She disagreed with you."
"She challenged law enforcement in the cabin."
"You were off duty."
Mercer kept his eyes on the screen. "That doesn't erase the fact that I'm law enforcement."
Cole leaned closer. "You also called Grace agitated. She was nervous. That is not the same thing."
"It is relevant behavior."
"To what?"
"To what may happen when we land."
Cole stared at him. "Nothing has happened."
Mercer scrolled through the report. "That's why it says 'possible security concern.'"
Cole shook his head. "You're writing a report about something you think might happen because they wouldn't give us their seats."
Mercer turned toward him. "They didn't just refuse to move. Williams challenged authority in front of a full cabin and started building a record against us."
"She asked the crew to document what happened."
"Exactly."
Cole sat back. "You sound like you're trying to get ahead of a complaint."
"I am getting ahead of a problem."
"That's not the same thing."
Mercer lowered his voice. "You've been a cop long enough to know what happens when someone files first. Their version becomes the starting point. Then you spend the rest of the time defending yourself."
"So now you're filing first?"
"I'm documenting risk."
Cole looked toward Maya and Grace. "They're sitting quietly."
"For now."
Cole's expression hardened. "Stop saying that."
Mercer glanced at him. "Saying what?"
"'For now.' 'Not yet.' 'Potential escalation.' You keep using words that make it sound like they're about to do something."
"Because I don't know what they'll do when we land."
"Neither do I. That doesn't make them a threat."
Mercer returned to the report. Cole saw a line requesting law enforcement follow-up at the destination.
"You're asking officers to meet the plane?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"To identify them and document the contact."
"They're already identified. Their names are on the flight record."
Mercer ignored him. Cole reached toward the phone, then stopped before touching it. "Dan, think about what you're doing."
Mercer looked at him. "I am thinking."
"No, you're reacting."
Mercer's voice became firm. "I am making sure that if they turn this into an accusation against us, there is an official record showing there were concerns about their behavior."
Cole stared at him. "You had the concern after they asked Laura to preserve the record."
Mercer did not answer.
"That matters," Cole said. "It matters to you. It will matter to anyone who reads the timestamps."
Mercer's eyes narrowed. "Whose side are you on?"
Cole looked at him for several seconds. "There shouldn't be sides. There should be what happened."
Mercer gave a short, humorless laugh. "That sounds good until you're the one being investigated."
Cole did not respond.
Several rows behind, Laura returned to Maya with the updated record. "I added the statements you requested."
Maya looked at the screen. The entries were clear: No verbal threat observed. No physical threat observed. No interference with crew duties observed.
Maya nodded. "Thank you."
Grace read the lines, too. "Can somebody remove those?"