Chapter 28 - Confrontation on the Tarmac
Before the maintenance crew could roll their heavy equipment toward the hangar apron, the high-pitched screech of tires echoed across the wet tarmac.
A sleek black town car tore past the perimeter security checkpoint, splashing through standing puddles before skidding to a halt directly between Daniel’s crew and the barricaded hangar doors.
The door flew open, and Julian Croft stepped out into the rain, holding a black umbrella against the storm. His expensive suit was already getting ruined by the driving rain, but his eyes burned with the manic desperation of a cornered predator.
"Halt this operation immediately!" Croft roared, brandishing a laminated document in his hand. "Hank Miller, step away from those tractors! By order of the Executive Logistics Oversight Committee, this facility is under an administrative stay!"
Hank and his mechanics stopped in their tracks, looking between Croft and Daniel with deep uncertainty.
Daniel stepped forward, his tall frame cutting through the rain, his voice booming over the wind like rolling thunder. "Julian, you were relieved of your executive authority four hours ago by unanimous vote of the board of directors. You have no legal standing on this airfield."
"The board's vote was procedural and invalid without twenty-four hours notice!" Croft shouted back, his voice shrill against the wind. "I am still a registered minority stakeholder in this logistics hub! If you breach those doors, Daniel, I will have the state police arrest every single mechanic on this apron for commercial burglary!"
The ground crew murmured nervously, several mechanics hesitating with their tools. The threat of criminal charges was a terrifying prospect for working-class men with families to feed.
Ava watched the doubt spreading through the men’s faces. She knew that in corporate battles, bullies like Croft didn't rely on real law—they relied on fear, jargon, and the illusion of authority to paralyze decent people.
Ava stepped out from behind her father, walking directly past the puddle toward Croft.
"Mr. Croft," Ava said, her voice clear, sharp, and ringing across the open tarmac with shocking force.
Croft glared down at her, his lips curling in contempt. "Stay out of this, you little—"
"You are holding a voided commercial administrative writ from the State of Illinois," Ava interrupted him, her tone clinical and fearless. "It was superseded at twelve-fifteen PM today by Federal Emergency Order 44-B, signed directly by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration under the National Defense and Public Health Transport Act."
She gestured toward the two federal inspectors standing behind her, who held up their official Department of Transportation credentials encased in heavy leather badges.
"Under federal statute 49 U.S.C. Section 40101," Ava continued, stepping right into the shadow of Croft’s umbrella, "any individual who knowingly obstructs the tarmac transit of federally designated emergency medical cargo is guilty of a Class C federal felony, punishable by up to ten years in federal penitentiary and immediate asset forfeiture."
She looked at the private security guards standing behind Croft’s tractors.
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"If you don't turn off those tractors and move them right now," Ava told the guards with absolute certainty, "you won't be dealing with local police. You will be taken into custody by federal marshals in five minutes."
The four private security guards looked at each other, looked at the federal badges, threw down their keys, and ran off into the rain.
