Chapter 2 - The Rank Nobody Was Supposed to Know
Nobody moved.
The voice came again.
“Commander Cross-Mercer, Naval Security.”
Grant's face changed first.
He looked at me as if he had misheard.
“Commander?”
I didn't answer him.
I walked toward the front door.
Harrison stepped into my path.
“Evelyn.”
“Move.”
“We need to talk before you open that door.”
That sentence told me more than he realized.
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because there are things about my company you don't understand.”
I stared at him.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Daniel came beside me.
“Dad, what is happening?”
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“It concerns my wife.”
Harrison looked at Daniel, then me.
The fear in his face had disappeared behind calculation.
I'd seen that transformation before.
People who believed they were losing control often tried to manufacture it.
“Evelyn,” he said quietly, “whatever those people think they've discovered, there is an explanation.”
I hadn't told him anyone had discovered anything.
That was mistake number two.
I opened the door.
Two uniformed Naval Criminal Investigative Service security officers stood outside with a woman in civilian clothing.
I knew her.
Special Agent Naomi Pierce.
She showed her credentials anyway.
“Commander.”
“Agent Pierce.”
“We need somewhere private.”
Harrison appeared behind me.
“This is my home.”
Naomi looked at him.
“I know exactly whose home this is, Mr. Mercer.”
That shut him up.
We moved into Harrison's library.
Daniel followed.
Naomi hesitated.
“He stays,” I said.
She nodded.
Harrison attempted to enter.
“No,” Naomi said.
His face hardened.
“Again, this is my house.”
“And this conversation concerns classified federal information.”
The door closed in his face.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then Naomi placed a secure tablet on the desk.
“Your Thanksgiving just got worse.”
“Apparently.”
Daniel looked between us.
Naomi continued.
“At 1640 today, a compartmented procurement archive was accessed using credentials connected to Mercer Strategic Systems.”
Daniel frowned.
“My father's company?”
“Yes.”
“Connected how?”
Naomi looked at me.
I knew what she was asking.
How much did Daniel know?
“Enough,” I said.
She turned the tablet.
A procurement diagram appeared.
My pulse slowed in the way it always did when something dangerous became clear.
Mercer Strategic Systems had been a defense contractor for nearly twenty years.
They manufactured specialized communications components, navigation hardware and secure transport equipment.
Three months earlier, my command had begun a classified review of irregularities involving subcontractors supplying equipment to naval operations.
Mercer wasn't officially under investigation.
Not yet.
But apparently someone had just changed that.
“What was accessed?” I asked.
Naomi's expression answered before she spoke.
“Your task force roster.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What task force?”
I remained silent.
Naomi said, “Commander Cross-Mercer leads the operational review.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
I'd never wanted him to learn this way.
“You lead it?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were advising—”
“I couldn't tell you.”
Daniel absorbed that.
Then nodded.
No anger.
That was one reason I'd married him.
He understood that secrecy wasn't always deception.
Naomi swiped to another screen.
“Whoever entered the system specifically searched your name.”
That was worse.
“Did they open my personnel file?”
“They tried.”
“Failed?”
“Yes.”
“Trace?”
“Internal credential registered to a Mercer Strategic Systems executive account.”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Whose?”
Naomi looked at him.
“Grant Mercer.”
Silence.
Outside the library, something crashed.
We opened the door.
Grant was standing in the dining room.
His face was pale.
Harrison was shouting at him.
“What did you do?”
“I didn't do anything!”
Patricia stood between them.
Daniel walked forward.
“Grant.”
Grant looked at him.
“What?”
“Where's your company laptop?”
Grant blinked.
“Why?”
“Where is it?”
“In Dad's office.”
Harrison immediately said, “No.”
Everyone turned.
Naomi stepped forward.
“We'll need that computer secured.”
“You'll need a warrant.”
“Dad,” Daniel said, “why are you fighting this?”
“Because this is my home and my company.”
Grant looked confused now.
“What's going on?”
Naomi faced him.
“Mr. Mercer, has anyone else used your corporate credentials today?”
“My what?”
“Your secure network login.”
Grant shrugged.
“My assistant maybe.”
“Your assistant has your password?”
Harrison closed his eyes.
Grant noticed.
“What?”
“Grant,” Harrison said, “stop talking.”
Naomi smiled without humor.
“That is excellent legal advice.”
Patricia looked at me.
“This is because of her.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“This started before dinner.”
She ignored him.
“You brought federal agents into our home on Thanksgiving.”
I stared at her.
“Someone used your son's credentials to access classified military information.”
“And somehow that's our fault?”
“I didn't say it was.”
“But you're thinking it.”
“No. I'm thinking somebody in this house knows more than they're saying.”
Harrison looked at me.
There it was again.
Fear.
I had spent two years believing his contempt came from class arrogance.
Maybe some of it did.
But suddenly I wondered whether Harrison had encouraged his family to underestimate me deliberately.
A harmless desk clerk wasn't worth investigating.
A senior officer was.
Naomi's phone buzzed.
She read the message.
“Commander.”
Something in her tone made everyone quiet.
“What?”
“The access wasn't remote.”
“Meaning?”
“The system recorded physical authentication.”
I understood immediately.
The person using Grant's credentials had authenticated from a secured terminal.
“Location?”
Naomi looked toward Harrison's office.
“Inside this house.”
Grant laughed nervously.
“That's impossible.”
“No,” Harrison said.
His voice was barely audible.
“It isn't.”
Daniel turned to him.
“Dad?”
Harrison walked toward his office.
Naomi blocked him.
“Don't touch anything.”
He stopped.
We entered together.
The office looked immaculate.
Mahogany desk.
Leather chairs.
Bookcases.
Nothing obvious.
Grant pointed.
“My laptop's there.”
It sat closed on a side table.
Naomi photographed it before touching anything.
Then I noticed another object.
A small access-card reader had been connected beneath Harrison's desktop monitor.
Military issue.
It absolutely did not belong there.
I crouched.
Naomi saw it too.
“Don't touch it.”
“I wasn't going to.”
Daniel stared.
“What is that?”
“Something your father should not have.”
Harrison stood in the doorway.
“I've never seen it.”
Grant scoffed.
“It's literally attached to your computer.”
“I said I've never seen it.”
Patricia appeared behind him.
Then she saw the device.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
That reaction was different.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
I stood.
“Patricia.”
She backed away.
“Don't.”
“Have you seen this before?”
“No.”
“You reacted like you had.”
“I said no.”
Harrison turned sharply toward his wife.
“Patricia.”
She looked at him.
Something passed between them.
Daniel saw it too.
“Mom?”
Naomi's phone buzzed again.
She checked it.
Her expression became hard.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“The credentials weren't only used to access the roster.”
She handed me the tablet.
A second directory had been opened.
Personnel families.
Home addresses.
Emergency contacts.
My information.
Daniel's information.
And one additional file.
I stared at the file number.
I recognized it.
Not because I'd seen it recently.
Because I'd personally classified it eleven months earlier.
PROJECT NIGHTGLASS.
Someone had opened it from Harrison Mercer's house.
Behind me, Patricia whispered, “Oh God.”
I turned.
She was staring at the screen.
“You know that name.”
She shook her head.
“Patricia.”
“No.”
Harrison grabbed her arm.
“Say nothing.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Take your hand off Mom.”
Harrison released her.
Patricia's eyes filled with tears.
Then she looked at me.
“I didn't know who you were when Daniel married you.”
Nobody spoke.
“But Harrison did.”
I felt the room narrow.
“What do you mean?”
She swallowed.
“Harrison knew exactly who you were.”
Then the lights went out.
May you like
The entire house dropped into darkness.
Somewhere upstairs, a locked door opened.
