Chapter 29 - The Treason Ledger
The bridge of the *Avalon* was bathed in red tactical lighting. Standing behind the helm was a man I recognized instantly from the intelligence briefings Clara had filed: Jonathan Drake, the chief operating officer of Vanguard Maritime’s western division. He was a retired naval supply officer who had spent the last decade trading federal access for corporate kickbacks.
Beside him, clutching an open briefcase stuffed with shredded hard drives and burnt thumb drives, stood a woman in an expensive shearling coat.
I blinked through the rain-streaked glass, my blood running cold.
It was my sister’s high-priced attorney, Evelyn Vance-Cross—my father’s second cousin, the very woman who had drawn up the fraudulent quitclaim deed that started this nightmare.
"Commander Vance," Drake said, his voice trembling as he backed toward the navigation console. "You're boarding a commercially registered vessel outside naval jurisdiction. This is piracy under maritime law."
"You're operating within a restricted naval acoustic testing corridor, tampering with classified military assets, and orchestrating domestic espionage," I replied, shoving the captured contractor to the deck. "Your jurisdiction ended the second you spliced into the Deep Pine array."
Evelyn dropped her briefcase, papers scattering across the bridge floor. "Marcus... please," she stammered, tears cutting tracks through her heavy makeup. "I didn't know about the military hardware. I swear to God, I didn't! Drake told me it was just an inheritance dispute! He said if I used your father to get access to the boathouse easement for two weeks, they'd pay off Julianne’s entire student loan debt and clear your father’s mortgage arrears! They offered me a two-hundred-thousand-dollar retainer!"
"You sold my estate for a retainer?" I walked forward, kicking the briefcase away from her reaching hands. "You used my father's senile arrogance and Julianne's greed to breach a federal intelligence installation."
"They were going to lose the house anyway!" she cried, collapsing against the bulkhead. "Your father was drowning in credit card debt you refused to pay! He was desperate! He thought he was outsmarting you!"
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"He outsmarted himself into a federal penitentiary," I said coldly.
I reached for the bridge’s master radio console, flipped the emergency selector switch to the primary Fleet Command frequency, and transmitted the pre-designated override code: *ALPHA-SEVEN-BLACKOUT.*
