Chapter 2 - The Warehouse That Wasn't Supposed to Be Open
Elena reached Warehouse Four seventeen minutes later.
She hadn't been ordered there.
In fact, Captain Hale had specifically told her to remain available for NCIS.
But when Master Chief Bennett learned that the disposal truck was preparing to leave, he requested authorization for Elena to accompany him as a witness familiar with the shipment records.
Hale agreed under one condition.
"Observe. Preserve what you can lawfully preserve. Don't conduct your own search."
Now Elena stood outside the warehouse while two security personnel blocked the loading bay.
A white refrigerated truck idled beneath the awning.
Its rear doors were open.
Inside were thirty-six sealed cartons stacked on wooden pallets.
Each carton carried the same blue-and-white label.
HARBORLINE PROVISIONS.
Elena recognized the name immediately.
Three days earlier, she'd found it on the receiving manifest that didn't match the installation's inventory system.
A civilian warehouse supervisor hurried toward them.
"Master Chief, this is a health and sanitation matter. We're required to remove compromised inventory immediately."
Bennett folded his arms.
"By whose authority?"
"Lieutenant Commander Collins."
"He's been relieved of duty pending review."
The supervisor blinked.
"I wasn't informed."
"You're informed now."
Elena stepped closer to the loading platform.
She could smell cleaning chemicals.
Something sharper lingered beneath them.
"Why is the truck already loaded?"
The supervisor looked at her.
"Excuse me?"
"If the refrigeration system failed this afternoon, why was the disposal truck scheduled yesterday?"
The man's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Bennett turned toward her.
"How do you know it was scheduled yesterday?"
Elena pointed toward a clipboard beside the driver's door.
The dispatch sheet was visible beneath its transparent cover.
SCHEDULED SERVICE: WEDNESDAY, 0700.
EMERGENCY REMOVAL AUTHORIZATION: THURSDAY, 1215.
The two entries contradicted each other.
The first had been printed nearly thirty hours before the claimed emergency.
The second carried Collins's name.
The supervisor reached for the clipboard.
Bennett raised a hand.
"Leave it."
"I'm responsible for those records."
"And you'll have an opportunity to explain them."
A black sedan pulled into the warehouse lot.
A woman in civilian clothes stepped out.
Dark blazer.
Black slacks.
A leather case in her left hand.
She moved with the controlled confidence of someone accustomed to arriving after people had already begun lying.
"Special Agent Naomi Brooks. NCIS."
Bennett introduced himself.
Then Elena.
Brooks studied the warehouse, the idling truck, and the supervisor's tense expression.
"Who authorized the removal?"
The supervisor repeated Collins's name.
Brooks opened a notebook.
"And who authorized the original shipment?"
The man hesitated.
"That's handled through procurement."
"I'm asking who signed for it."
"I'd have to check."
"Then don't touch anything until we determine what records need to be preserved."
Brooks contacted her office to arrange appropriate evidence handling and coordinate with installation security.
Elena was relieved.
For the first time in three days, somebody was asking the questions she had been punished for asking.
Brooks then turned to her.
"Lieutenant Reyes, I understand you identified a discrepancy."
"Several, ma'am."
"Start with the most important."
Elena took a breath.
"Three sailors became seriously ill after eating meals prepared with ingredients associated with a shipment received last Thursday. The medical investigation hasn't established the source yet, but the shipment's receiving records are inconsistent."
"What kind of inconsistency?"
"The digital record says the shipment passed a receiving inspection Thursday morning. The paper approval in the pouch appears to have been prepared Tuesday."
"That alone doesn't establish fraud."
"I know."
Brooks watched her carefully.
"Good. Keep going."
"The receiving clerk who initially questioned the temperature readings is Seaman Daniel Mercer. He says he was instructed to accept the shipment anyway."
"Who instructed him?"
"According to Mercer, Commander Collins."
"Did Mercer put that in writing?"
"Yes. Then he received disciplinary paperwork for allegedly falsifying an inspection entry."
Brooks wrote something down.
"Where is Mercer?"
Elena hesitated.
"Restricted to his quarters pending an administrative review."
Brooks looked up sharply.
"Restricted by whom?"
Elena didn't need to answer.
Brooks already knew.
She turned toward Bennett.
"Master Chief, I want the paperwork concerning Mercer's restriction preserved. I'll need to determine whether he's being pressured as a potential witness."
"Aye, ma'am."
A man wearing surgical scrubs emerged from the side entrance.
"Agent Brooks?"
"Yes."
"I'm Dr. Aaron Kim, preventive medicine."
His face was tired.
"The installation commander asked me to meet you here."
Brooks shook his hand.
"Do you have a preliminary finding?"
"Not a confirmed source."
"Any reason to believe this shipment matters?"
Kim glanced toward the refrigerated truck.
"Enough reason that we should not destroy it."
"Explain."
"Two of the hospitalized sailors had consumed a prepared meal that may have included ingredients from this lot. The third ate at a separate service location that reportedly used the same distributor."
Elena felt a chill.
"Separate location?"
Kim nodded.
"Different galley. Same supplier."
Brooks looked toward the truck.
"That widens the scope."
Kim continued.
"More importantly, both facilities reported an unusual taste in certain refrigerated products before the illnesses. But their complaints never reached the health office."
"Where did they go?"
"Through the logistics complaint system."
Elena looked at Brooks.
"Collins oversees that routing."
Brooks closed her notebook.
"Then we have more than one set of records to preserve."
A warehouse worker approached nervously.
"Ma'am, can I tell you something?"
Brooks turned.
"Of course."
The worker looked toward his supervisor.
"Privately?"
Brooks moved several steps away with him.
They spoke for less than a minute.
When she returned, her expression had changed.
"Master Chief, secure the entrance."
Bennett immediately signaled the guards.
The supervisor protested.
"What is happening?"
Brooks looked directly at him.
"One of your employees says the refrigeration alarm didn't go off this morning."
The man went pale.
"He says someone disconnected the alarm before the disposal truck arrived."
The supervisor shook his head.
"That's impossible."
Brooks continued.
"He also says he watched a pallet get moved into a locked storage room before the truck was loaded."
Elena looked toward the warehouse interior.
"Which pallet?"
Brooks turned to her.
"The one carrying the original temperature-monitoring devices."
Elena felt a surge of hope.
The devices might show whether the shipment had actually stayed cold during transportation.
But before she could speak, the warehouse supervisor blurted out something that silenced everyone.
"You don't understand. That room belongs to the executive officer's office."
Brooks narrowed her eyes.
"Who told you that?"
The man swallowed.
"Commander Collins."
"Where's the key?"
He looked toward a steel door at the far end of the building.
Then he whispered.
"Commander Collins took it yesterday."
May you like
At that exact moment, the building's fire alarm began screaming.
And smoke started pouring from beneath the locked door.
