We have thirty passengers waiting in the heat.”

“I’m not the one holding up your airplane,” Caldwell said.

“These people are in my space.

I have a fourteen-million-dollar closing at seven o’clock tonight in Denver.

I need absolute quiet to review my contracts before my board meeting.”

Hayes looked at me.

He looked at Sophie sitting quietly in the window seat.

“Ma’am, I understand you have boarding passes for row two,” Hayes said.

He glanced down at the crisp white one-hundred-and-eighty-dollar ticket receipts lying on the edge of my tray table.

“We do,” I said.

“Sometimes our reservation system overbooks the premium cabin by mistake,” he said.

“Or passengers feel uncomfortable sitting near business travelers who need to conduct business.”