Pretty sure the jury’s still out on that one. Pun intended.
“Damn, Nat.” Archer looked at the handwritten note again. “I hate to say it, but I think Logan’s gut is spot on with this one.” He glanced at the papers in his hands. “The numbers in these reports aren’t matching with what I’m seeing in these graphs. I’ll still need to do more digging, but there’s definitely some shady shit going on at Frost.”
“He’s right,” Archer joined in while studying the pictures of the updated fuel tanks and other modifications the company had made on the WA-800 jet. “Something about these tanks isn’t jiving with me.”
“What did you find?” Logan’s blue gaze fell to those same images.
“The pictures Natalie found are all of the jet’s fuel tanks and various parts of the fuel system.” Archer’s dark gaze rose to meet his.”
“Yeah, I know.” Logan nodded. “I looked them over, but I didn’t see any defects or anything. And I did a search looking for any reported crashes or injuries involving that jet, as well as those specific tanks. Nothing popped up.”
“The tanks, themselves, are fine. The problem is here.” Lifting a set of stapled papers their anonymous whistle-blower had provided, the former medic explained, “According to the company’s initial modification proposal, their justification for the additional tanks was to save time and money. They wouldn’t have to refuel as often, and the design of the new tanks would make the entire fueling system run more efficiently, saving on the amount of fuel needed for the same amount of airtime.”
“You smell bullshit?” Chase asked the other man point blank.
“Don’t just smell it, brother.” A negative jerk of his head. “I think our girl here’s standing right in the middle of the pile.”
All eyes turned her way, but hers had already slid to meet Logan’s. The concern she found there ramped up her own, and it took everything in her not to cross the room in search of his comforting embrace.
And the more Archer explained, the more Natalie wished she’d never seen that fucking file…or Frost Avionics.
“For starters,” Archer began again, “there’s nothing in the design of these tanks that would affect how they burn fuel. That means their efficiency is the same as the original tanks.”
“You saidfor starters.” Natalie looked over at him. “What else is wrong with Frost’s proposal?”
Meeting her inquiring gaze, he crossed the room to where she stood. “You tell me.” Archer held out a different set of stapled papers for her to take.
“What’s this?” Her focus immediately lowered to the blur of printed numbers now in her hands.
“Your mystery man…or woman…was kind enough to leave you a copy of the company’s fuel expense reports for that specific jet. They go back five years. Look at the total volume of fuel used each year. It’s the second-to-the-last column on each of the reports.”
As told, Natalie found the targeted column before sliding her focus to the very last number at the bottom. One after the other, she took in each of the last five years’ amounts. And then she shared her assessment.
“They go up each year, but it’s a steady climb,” she noted aloud. “No massive dip or jump between any of the years.” When Archer nodded, understanding finally clicked. “If those tanks were as fuel-efficient as Frost claimed, that steady incline would’ve leveled out or possibly even lowered a fraction.”
“Like I said, the tanks did nothing for fuel efficiency, which means they saved the company zilch.”
“That matches up with these,” Donovan rasped, holding up a spreadsheet of his own. “The jet’s fuel management reports, also going back five years. The pounds of fuel recorded for the overseas tripsafterthe new tanks were installed increased by twelve percent.”
Natalie’s brow furrowed. “Right, because they had more tanks to fill.”
“Or so they’d like you to think.”
She blinked with a quick shake of her head. “Okay, now you’ve lost me.”
“I’ll rephrase.” The former SEAL did just that. “If they were really upping the pounds of fuel by one-fourth each trip, then that steady increase in fuel costs Arch found wouldn’t have been so steady. There would have been a noticeable spike during the updated jet’s initial flights.”
When Donovan looked to Archer for confirmation, the other man quickly flipped through the papers still in his hands. Moving back and forth between two different pages more than once, Archer was nodding his head before his eyes found the room, once more.
“Van’s right.” He looked at his friends and former teammates. “There’s very little change in the fuel costs for those months.”
Needing clarification on what she thought they were trying to say, Natalie said, “Okay, so let me see if I’m following what you two are saying. Glenn Frost and Dennis Atkinson were given the green light to modify their largest jet airliner by adding two new fuel tanks that would supposedly save them money in the long run due to their innovative fuel efficiency.” She took a breath and looked to Logan. “Is that right, so far?”
“Sounds like it to me,” he nodded in confirmation.
“Okay, good.” She exhaled. “So then they get their approval, install the new tanks, and everyone’s happy. Except the amount of money they’re spending on fuel doesn’t match with the amount of fuel they’re claiming to be using.”
Archer and Van answered her with a unified, “Exactly.”