Sharon’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. Her fingers hovered over her keyboard like a pianist frozen mid-chord. « Ma’am? The passengers for that party just walked through to the security gate. Are you the primary account holder? »
Billionaire Mafia Slept at His Mistress’s Apartment Once—By Sunrise, His Wife Had Already Divorced Him…018
« I am the sole guarantor of the executive corporate card used to secure the flight, the resort accommodations at the Four Seasons Maui, and the vehicle rentals, » I replied, my voice dropping into that quiet, rhythmic cadence I used when delivering an adverse audit report to a reckless board of directors. « My name is Margaret Vance. Here is my corporate identification, my driver’s license, and the secondary authorization token. »
I slid the black titanium card across the counter, followed by my license.
Sharon checked the screen, her eyes widening as the system brought up the platinum-tier profile associated with my firm. Her gaze flicked over my shoulder toward the security line, where Vanessa was currently gesturing sharply at a TSA agent about the size of her carry-on bottle of expensive moisturizer, while Derek stood with his hands in his pockets, looking bored.
« Ms. Vance, » Sharon whispered, her fingers suddenly flying across the keys with a frantic, rhythmic clicking. « The system shows that these tickets were booked under an executive corporate travel package. If I pull the authorization, the system will immediately flag their passes at the TSA checkpoint as voided, and the reservation for the Maui villa will be automatically cancelled for non-payment. »
« I am fully aware of how the software operates, Sharon. I helped design the internal auditing protocols for this specific carrier ten years ago, » I said, offering her a very small, very polite smile. « Please proceed with the cancellation. Re-route the non-refundable credit portion back to my primary corporate account, and charge the standard cancellation penalty to the individual cards listed under Vanessa Pemberton and Derek Thomas. »
« And the luggage? » Sharon asked, her eyes gleaming with the sudden, sharp thrill of an airline employee who was finally witnessing a righteous execution after a lifetime of dealing with abusive travelers. « Two of the bags have already passed down the belt to the sorting room. »
« Flag them for immediate removal at the security clearance point, » I said smoothly. « Let the owners carry them back out to the curb themselves. »
« Processing now, Ms. Vance, » Sharon said.
The rhythmic clacking of her keyboard sounded like a barrage of small, clean gunshots in the quiet corner of the terminal.
