Chapter 13 - The Visit from Washington
Nathaniel Crane arrived at Fort Hawthorne at 10:30 the following morning.
No announcement had been made.
No official itinerary existed.
One minute Tessa was reviewing evidence inside Building 100.
The next, three black government SUVs passed through the main gate accompanied by a Secret Service-style protective detail.
General Vance stood beside Tessa at the operations center window.
“He moved quickly,” she said.
“Too quickly.”
Crane entered ten minutes later.
He was sixty-one, silver-haired, lean, and immaculately dressed in a navy suit.
He smiled warmly.
“Captain Marlow.”
Tessa stood.
“Mr. Deputy Secretary.”
He shook her hand.
“I wish we were meeting under less troubling circumstances.”
“You already know about Warehouse Seven?”
Crane gave a small laugh.
“Tessa, half the Pentagon knows by now. You placed an entire sector of Fort Hawthorne under emergency evidence lockdown.”
“That information is classified.”
His smile remained.
“Classification doesn’t stop phones from ringing.”
General Vance entered behind them.
“Nathaniel.”
“Marcus.”
The warmth vanished from Crane’s eyes.
Tessa noticed immediately.
Old history.
Perhaps old hatred.
Crane walked toward the conference table.
“I came because the Secretary is concerned that your investigation could destabilize ongoing defense procurement reviews.”
“My investigation hasn’t identified any current procurement issue.”
“Yet.”
He opened a leather portfolio.
“I’m issuing a temporary transfer of jurisdiction.”
Tessa did not touch the document.
“To whom?”
“A Pentagon special review board.”
“Appointed by you?”
“Approved by the Secretary.”
“Who sits on it?”
Crane’s smile tightened.
“Professionals with appropriate clearance.”
Tessa leaned back.
“You flew from Washington before breakfast to remove evidence from my command because professionals somewhere else might handle it better?”
“Be careful, Captain.”
“There it is.”
Crane raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“The rank.”
Tessa’s voice stayed calm.
“Everyone who wants me cooperative says ‘Tessa.’ Everyone who wants me intimidated suddenly remembers I’m only a captain.”
General Vance almost smiled.
Crane did not.
“This isn’t intimidation. It is chain of command.”
Tessa slid her father’s note across the table.
Trust Marcus.
Do not trust Washington.
Crane’s eyes paused on the handwriting for less than a second.
But it was enough.
Recognition.
“You’ve seen his handwriting before,” Tessa said.
Crane looked up.
“I served in the Department of Defense while your father was active. Of course I saw his reports.”
“Did you know Evelyn Shaw?”
Silence.
Then Crane nodded.
“Yes.”
Vance moved closer.
“You never told investigators that.”
“Nobody asked me.”
Tessa watched him carefully.
“Did your former law firm manage Meridian Strategic Holdings?”
For the first time, Crane’s expression changed.
Not much.
Just a slight tightening around the mouth.
“My firm managed thousands of corporate clients.”
“So yes?”
“So I have no memory of that particular entity.”
Tessa stepped forward.
“Convenient.”
Crane closed his portfolio.
“I respected what you accomplished against Harrison Voss. Do not let grief turn a successful commander into a conspiracy theorist.”
“My father used that same word in a recording.”
Crane froze.
Tessa continued.
“He called it the Circle.”
Vance watched Crane’s face.
The deputy secretary’s calm façade cracked for half a heartbeat.
Then it returned.
“That name means nothing to me.”
Tessa knew he was lying.
Crane headed toward the door.
“My team will assume custody of Warehouse Seven at 1800.”
“No.”
He turned.
Tessa stood perfectly straight.
“That evidence is connected to potential criminal activity committed on this installation. Until I receive an authenticated order from the Secretary himself, it remains secured under my authority.”
Crane’s eyes hardened.
“You are challenging the Deputy Secretary of Defense?”
“I’m following regulations.”
“That distinction may not save your career.”
After Crane left, Vance walked to the window.
“You just made the second-most-powerful civilian official in the Pentagon your enemy.”
“No.”
Tessa picked up the transfer document.
“He arrived that way.”
She inspected the signature.
Something bothered her.
Then she saw it.
The Secretary’s digital approval code contained twelve characters.
Official codes contained fourteen.
“Marcus.”
Vance came closer.
She pointed.
“This isn’t authenticated.”
His face darkened.
“He forged the authorization?”
“Or someone in his office did.”
Tessa immediately called Pentagon communications.
No answer.
Then every monitor in Building 100 went black.
The lights flickered.
Emergency power activated.
A base-wide alarm screamed.
Ruiz rushed through the door.
“Commander! Warehouse Seven lost power!”
Tessa grabbed her sidearm.
“Lock down the gates.”
Another officer shouted from the operations desk.
“Ma’am, we have movement near the east perimeter.”
Security footage returned for three seconds.
Long enough to show six masked men in tactical clothing entering Warehouse Seven.
Then the feed vanished again.
Tessa ran.
Outside, thunder rolled over Fort Hawthorne.
May you like
But beneath it came another sound.
Gunfire.
