Chapter 11 - Harbor Master
"Harbor Master."
Elena repeated the words inside the NCIS interview room.
Brooks sat opposite her.
On the table was a printed copy of the personnel risk-assessment file.
Several sections had been withheld to protect the investigation.
But Elena could see enough.
Names.
Roles.
Risk scores.
Recommended responses.
And the repeated code name.
HARBOR MASTER.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"We're working on that."
"Could it be Admiral Sloane?"
"Possibly."
"Captain Hale?"
"Possibly."
"Dr. Harrow?"
"Also possible."
Elena leaned back.
"That's not very reassuring."
Brooks gave her a tired look.
"Investigations rarely are."
She pointed to a line in the document.
"Look here."
Elena read it.
HARBOR POINT — ESCALATION MANAGEMENT.
"What am I looking for?"
"The date."
Elena leaned closer.
The file had been created six months earlier.
Long before the suspicious Thursday shipment.
Long before the hospitalized sailors.
Long before she had reported anything.
"But my name is on it."
"Yes."
"How could they know I'd raise concerns?"
Brooks tapped another section.
"They didn't. At least not when the original file was created."
Elena noticed an entry history.
Her name had been added three days before the chow hall incident.
"After I found the discrepancy."
"Correct."
"Then someone inside the installation was reporting names to the contractor."
"That's what the records suggest."
Elena stared at the list.
Mercer.
Ward.
Rebecca Shaw.
Michael Hale.
Her own name.
Different people.
Different jobs.
One common factor.
Each had questioned something the organization wanted left alone.
"Did they do this at other installations?"
Brooks nodded.
"We've identified similar records elsewhere."
Elena felt sick.
"How many?"
"Enough that investigators from multiple offices are coordinating."
"Are sailors still being served questionable food?"
"Potentially affected lots have been identified for review and appropriate holds. Medical and supply personnel are addressing the immediate risk."
Elena looked down at the document.
"Why would a company do this?"
"Money is one possibility."
"How much?"
"That depends on what the records ultimately establish."
Elena folded her arms.
Brooks continued.
"We're examining whether shipments that should have been rejected were accepted and billed as compliant."
Elena understood immediately.
Rejected food meant losses.
Replacement shipments meant expense.
Proper storage meant time and money.
But if a company could conceal failures and manipulate acceptance records, it could charge the government for products it shouldn't have delivered.
"And the resilience program?" Elena asked.
Brooks nodded.
"May have provided access, credibility, and a convenient explanation for unusual procedures."
Elena stared at her.
"So the exercise wasn't necessarily the crime."
"Correct. The concern is that people used a legitimate program as cover for misconduct."
There was a knock.
Another agent entered and whispered something to Brooks.
Her expression changed.
"Excuse me."
She stepped outside.
Elena waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
When Brooks returned, her face was tense.
"Lieutenant, I need to ask you about the anonymous messages."
Elena sat straighter.
"I gave you everything."
"I know."
"What's wrong?"
"Rebecca Shaw says she sent the first message about the chow hall."
Elena felt hope.
"Then she planted the package."
"She arranged for it to be placed there."
"Who delivered it?"
"An employee who has now come forward."
"Why didn't Rebecca contact NCIS herself?"
"She says she didn't know whom she could trust and feared she was being monitored. That doesn't mean her decision was wise, but it explains her account."
Elena nodded.
"What about the later messages?"
Brooks hesitated.
"She says she didn't send them."
Elena stared.
"The ones about Captain Hale's brother?"
"Correct."
"The photograph of the admiral?"
"She didn't send that either."
Elena felt her stomach twist.
"Then someone else was manipulating me."
"That's possible."
"Someone wanted me to suspect Hale and Sloane."
"Yes."
Elena thought back.
The initials.
The photograph.
The hospital bracelet.
Every clue had pointed toward a different powerful man.
Each had dragged her attention away from the actual shipments.
"Dr. Harrow," she whispered.
Brooks watched her.
"Why him?"
"Because the more I focused on Navy officers, the less I focused on the civilian consultant who had access to the health reports."
Brooks nodded slowly.
"That's one interpretation."
Elena leaned forward.
"Did Rebecca identify Harbor Master?"
"Not by name."
"What did she say?"
Brooks opened her notebook.
"She said Harbor Master wasn't a person with formal authority over every shipment. It was someone who could make other people believe the necessary approvals existed."
Elena thought about the forged initials.
The multiple receiving records.
The medical classification changes.
"Someone who controlled information."
"Yes."
"And who could convince senior officers they were following legitimate procedures."
"Possibly."
Brooks studied her for a moment.
Then said, "Rebecca also described a meeting."
"What meeting?"
"Three months ago. At a private conference facility."
"Who attended?"
"Martin Vale, Richard Harrow, Grant Collins, and several others."
"Was Sloane there?"
"Rebecca says he attended part of the meeting."
Elena felt a surge of frustration.
"Then why isn't he being arrested?"
"Because attending a meeting isn't a crime."
Elena looked away.
Brooks continued.
"Rebecca says she overheard a conversation about the release authorizations."
"What did she hear?"
"Someone said the system needed a senior officer's initials to prevent lower-level employees from questioning the approvals."
Elena looked up sharply.
"R.H."
"Yes."
"Captain Hale's initials."
"Or Richard Harrow's."
Elena stared at her.
Then a terrible thought formed.
"What if the initials were never meant to identify Hale?"
Brooks waited.
"What if the whole point was that they could identify either man?"
The agent leaned forward.
"Explain."
"If something went wrong, Harrow could say it was Hale's authorization. If Hale challenged the record, Harrow could claim the initials were his own technical approval."
Brooks considered it.
"Ambiguous attribution."
"Exactly."
Elena looked at the document.
"Nobody was supposed to know whose order it was."
Brooks nodded.
"That's a plausible theory."
Before Elena could continue, Brooks's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then stood.
"Where is he?"
Her expression hardened.
"Keep him there. I'm coming."
She ended the call.
Elena rose.
"Who?"
Brooks looked at her.
"Commander Collins."
"What happened?"
"He's requested to speak with NCIS."
Elena stared.
"About what?"
"He's offering information about Harbor Master."
"Then he knows."
Brooks picked up her case.
"Maybe."
Elena moved toward the door.
Brooks stopped her.
"Lieutenant, you can't attend that interview."
Elena nodded reluctantly.
Brooks opened the door.
Then paused.
"There's something you should know."
"What?"
"Collins says he wants protection for his family."
Elena frowned.
"Why?"
Brooks looked grim.
"Because someone sent him a photograph of his daughter at school."
Elena's anger faltered.
Collins had bullied her.
Threatened Mercer.
Helped conceal records.
But his daughter hadn't done any of those things.
"Is she safe?"
"Security measures are being arranged."
Brooks stepped into the hallway.
Then added one final sentence.
"Collins says Harbor Master warned him that the next person who talked would end up like Michael Hale."
Elena stood motionless.
For the first time, she wondered whether the man who had humiliated her in the chow hall had also been terrified.
Not innocent.
Not helpless.
May you like
But terrified.
And fear, she was beginning to understand, had become one of the most valuable tools in the entire operation.
