Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The following morning, Captain Hale summoned Elena to his office.
Two people were already waiting.
Agent Brooks sat beside the conference table.
Across from her was a military attorney, Lieutenant Commander Sarah Bennett.
Elena recognized the surname but had never met her.
"Lieutenant Reyes," Hale said, "please sit."
Elena remained standing.
"Sir, has Petty Officer Ward been located?"
Brooks answered.
"Yes. She's safe."
Elena finally exhaled.
"Was she threatened?"
"She received an anonymous message warning her to stop discussing medical records. We're documenting it."
"Is Seaman Mercer safe?"
"He's been interviewed with appropriate protections, and his administrative situation is under review."
Hale gestured toward a chair.
"Sit down, Lieutenant."
This time, Elena obeyed.
Bennett opened a folder.
"Before we discuss anything further, you should understand why I'm here."
Elena looked at her.
"Are you investigating me?"
"No. I'm advising the command on the legal obligations involved in preserving records and preventing retaliation. You'll have the opportunity to consult independent legal counsel if you need it."
Hale leaned forward.
"Elena, the document you found contains my initials. I won't pretend that doesn't create a problem."
"Sir, I never accused you."
"Not yet."
He gave a tired smile.
"And I wouldn't blame you for asking questions."
Brooks placed a photograph on the table.
It showed the handwritten instruction.
RELEASE BEFORE FINAL INSPECTION.
R.H.
"We've established something about this note," she said.
Elena leaned forward.
"The handwriting?"
"Not conclusively. But the instruction appears on a copy of a receiving authorization that was altered after its original preparation."
"Can you identify who altered it?"
"Not yet."
Hale looked toward the window.
"Those are my initials."
Brooks nodded.
"Yes, sir. They are also the initials of at least four other people who worked with the shipment."
Elena sat straighter.
"Four?"
"One civilian. Two Navy personnel. One contractor."
"Who are they?"
Brooks closed the photograph inside the folder.
"I can't give you every name while interviews are underway."
Elena looked at Hale.
"Then why am I here?"
"Because," Hale said, "someone used my authority to justify releasing that shipment."
He leaned closer.
"And I want you to help us understand how they did it."
Elena hesitated.
"Sir, with respect, I can't investigate my own commanding officer."
"You won't. NCIS will handle the criminal investigation. But you identified the original discrepancies, and you can explain what normal receiving procedures should have shown."
Brooks nodded.
"We need your technical observations. Nothing more."
Elena agreed.
For the next hour, she explained the receiving workflow.
Delivery appointment.
Temperature verification.
Inspection documentation.
Acceptance or rejection.
Inventory entry.
Every step was supposed to leave a record.
The suspicious shipment had left too many.
Three different versions of its arrival time.
Two inspection approvals.
One missing temperature attachment.
And a release instruction dated before the delivery.
Brooks wrote everything down.
When Elena finished, the agent looked at her.
"There's another reason we're here."
She slid a second photograph across the table.
Elena recognized the woman immediately.
Dark hair pulled back.
Brown eyes.
A narrow scar above the left eyebrow.
Rebecca Shaw.
"Is this the inspector?"
"Yes."
Brooks studied Elena.
"How well did you know her?"
"Not well. We met twice during food-safety briefings."
"Did she ever mention concerns about Harborline?"
"Once."
"What did she say?"
Elena searched her memory.
It had been nearly a month earlier.
A routine meeting.
Coffee in paper cups.
Rebecca standing beside a projector that wouldn't connect.
Then she remembered.
"She asked whether the installation had independently verified Harborline's distribution records."
Brooks leaned forward.
"What exactly did she ask?"
"She said there was a difference between a supplier passing an audit and a particular shipment being safe."
Hale frowned.
"That sounds reasonable."
"It was. But Collins interrupted her."
"What did he say?"
"He said Harborline had passed all required reviews and that she was wasting the command's time."
Brooks glanced at her notes.
"Did she say anything afterward?"
Elena remembered Rebecca catching her near the hallway.
The woman had looked exhausted.
She'd spoken quietly.
"If a vendor tells you the numbers are perfect, ask who entered them."
At the time, Elena had thought it was ordinary frustration with paperwork.
Now it sounded like a warning.
She repeated it.
Brooks looked at Hale.
Then back at Elena.
"Lieutenant, we located the accident report concerning Rebecca Shaw."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"Was she killed?"
"No."
The room fell silent.
Brooks continued.
"The vehicle involved in that accident belonged to Rebecca Shaw. But the injured driver who died at the scene has not been positively identified as her."
Elena stared.
"Then why did the personnel system say she was dead?"
"An identity confirmation was entered using an administrative record, not a completed forensic identification."
Hale swore under his breath.
Bennett looked up sharply.
"Who submitted that record?"
Brooks turned one page.
"That's under investigation."
Elena felt hope rise.
"So Rebecca might be alive."
"She might."
"Then she could explain everything."
"Possibly."
Brooks hesitated.
"But there's another issue."
She placed a third photograph on the table.
This one showed a woman entering a small roadside motel.
The timestamp was from the previous evening.
Her face was partly obscured by a baseball cap.
But the scar above her eyebrow was visible.
Elena leaned forward.
"That's Rebecca."
"We believe so."
"Then you've found her."
"Not yet. She checked out before our team arrived."
"Why would she run?"
Brooks watched her carefully.
"That's the question."
Elena studied the photograph.
Something was wrong.
Rebecca carried a small overnight bag.
In her other hand was a thick brown envelope.
And written across the envelope in large black letters was a name.
ELENA REYES.
Elena stared at it.
"Why does she have my name?"
Brooks answered quietly.
"Because someone told her you were the only officer she could trust."
"Who?"
The agent's expression hardened.
"According to the motel clerk, Rebecca said the person who helped her escape had already been killed."
Elena looked toward Captain Hale.
Then she asked the question nobody wanted to answer.
"How many people have died because of that shipment?"
May you like
No one spoke.
And that silence frightened her more than any answer.
