Chapter 2 - WHY EMILY WAS IN THE FIRST ROW
Emily had not stolen anyone’s seat.
She was sitting in 1A because Daniel had arranged it through the airline’s employee travel department three days earlier.
Daniel was scheduled to captain Flight 101 from Minneapolis to Denver. Emily was supposed to remain with her mother, Rachel, for the weekend.
Then Rachel’s father suffered a stroke in Wisconsin.
Rachel drove east.
Daniel could not leave Emily alone, and their regular sitter was unavailable.
The airline approved Emily as a non-revenue dependent passenger on the flight, with a confirmed seat because of her medical condition and age.
She would spend the Denver layover with Daniel’s sister before returning home with Rachel the following day.
The arrangement was ordinary enough.
Karen did not see it that way.
She had boarded expecting the upgrade she believed she deserved.
Her husband’s consulting company purchased dozens of business-class tickets each year. Karen had spent the previous twenty minutes at the gate arguing that loyalty status should place her in 1A after another passenger failed to board.
Instead, the seat remained assigned to Emily.
Karen watched a twelve-year-old walk past her holding a teddy bear and concluded someone had cheated her.
At first she complained to Melissa.
Then she demanded a supervisor.
When told Emily’s placement was legitimate and could not be discussed because she was a minor, Karen became convinced secrecy proved favoritism.
“What is she, the captain’s little princess?”
Melissa had not answered.
That silence gave Karen a target.
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By the time Flight 101 reached cruising altitude, Emily was asleep.
Karen had been watching her for nearly an hour.
