Chapter 5 - The Trap
The Federal Building in downtown Norfolk was a fortress of granite, glass, and armed guards.
By the time I arrived at 0900 hours, news of the scandal had already broken across military and defense news outlets. Headlines were flashing on smartphones and TV monitors in the lobby: VANGUARD MARINE EXECUTIVES ARRESTED IN NAVY DEFECTIVE PARTS INVESTIGATION.
Special Agent Miller, a tall, sharp-eyed woman in a tailored dark suit, met me near the elevators and escorted me to a high-security conference room on the fifth floor.
"Thank you for coming so quickly, Commander," Agent Miller said, opening a thick folder on the table. "Your observations last night at the fundraiser saved the Navy years of litigation and potentially prevented a disaster at sea. Vanguard Marine was forty-eight hours away from signing a fifty-million-dollar contract to supply critical valve systems for six new amphibious assault ships."
"What did you find?" I asked, sitting down.
Agent Miller pulled out several technical schematics and high-resolution photographs of manufacturing plants. "Precisely what you suspected. Richard Vance and his primary business partner, a civilian defense contractor named Gregory Vance—his uncle—were falsifying metallurgy reports. They were using low-grade, recycled industrial steel for high-pressure safety valves, pocketing the $12 million difference in production costs."
I felt a cold rage settle in my stomach. "They were going to put those valves on ships carrying thousands of young Marines and sailors."
"Yes," Agent Miller said darkly. "And here is where it gets worse. We seized internal emails from Vanguard’s servers early this morning. Five years ago, when you were the Chief Engineer on the USS Pegasus, Vanguard Marine was a secondary subcontractor providing replacement seals for Auxiliary Machinery Room Two."
My breath caught in my throat. I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the table. "What did you say?"
"The steam line explosion on the Pegasus," Agent Miller revealed, looking me straight in the eye, "wasn't just a random manufacturing defect. Vanguard Marine knew those seals were prone to high-temperature degradation. They covered up internal warning reports from their own testing engineers and pushed the parts onto your ship anyway."
The room seemed to spin.
The nightmare that had destroyed my health, scarred my body, ended my military career, and haunted my dreams for five years... was caused by the very company my brother-in-law was now trying to run.
"Does Richard know this?" I whispered, my voice shaking with fury.
"Richard Vance joined the company three years ago," Agent Miller explained. "We don't believe he was involved in the original Pegasus cover-up, but he did discover the falsified documents six months ago. Instead of reporting it to the authorities, he used the information to blackmail his uncle into giving him a thirty percent stake in the business."
Before I could process the sheer disgust washing over me, the conference room door opened. Another NCIS agent stepped in, looking tense.
"Agent Miller, we have a problem downstairs," the agent said. "Marin Alden-Vance is in the lobby. She’s causing a massive disturbance, demanding to see Commander Alden. She claims she has documents to turn over, but she’s refusing to speak to anyone except her sister."
Agent Miller looked at me. "Do you want us to remove her?"
I stood up, adjusting the lapels of my jacket—the jacket Admiral Carrow had let me borrow, which I still wore with pride.
"No," I said, my jaw locked. "I'll go down and talk to her."
I rode the elevator down to the main lobby. The space was bright, filled with security scanners, marshals, and news reporters gathered outside the glass doors.
In the center of the lobby, looking frantic, her hair unkempt and her expensive red gown from the night before replaced by wrinkled jeans and a oversized coat, was Marin.
When she saw me step off the elevator, she rushed past a security guard toward me.
"Maya! Maya, thank God!" Marin cried out, reaching for my arms.
I stepped back instantly, putting two feet of cold distance between us. "Don't touch me, Marin."
Marin stopped, her eyes wild, mascara smudged beneath her eyes. "Maya, you have to help us! You have to talk to the Admiral! They arrested Richard! They came into our house at six in the morning with guns, Maya! They took his computers, his phones, everything! They're saying he could go to federal prison for twenty years!"
"He belongs in prison, Marin," I said, my voice ice-cold.
Marin gasped, looking at me as if I had stabbed her. "How can you say that?! He’s your brother-in-law! He’s my husband! We have a family! You're doing this out of revenge, aren't you?! Because of what happened at the party last night!"
"I'm doing this because your husband knowingly put defective parts on Navy ships!" I yelled, stepping closer to her, my voice echoing through the granite lobby. "Do you know what caused the explosion on the Pegasus, Marin?! Do you have any idea why my back is covered in melted flesh?!"
Marin shrunk back, trembling. "What... what are you talking about?"
"Vanguard Marine," I spat out the name like poison. "Your husband's company. They manufactured the fake, substandard seals that blew open in my engine room five years ago! They caused the fire that almost burned me alive! They caused the pain I've lived with every single day of my life!"
Marin stood completely frozen. The color drained entirely from her face. "No... no, Richard wouldn't... he didn't know..."
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"He knew!" I shouted. "He found out six months ago and used it to get rich! He traded my blood, and the lives of every sailor in the fleet, for a bigger house and a fancy car!"
Marin staggered backward, hitting the marble pillar behind her. The reality of what her husband had done—and what she had defended—finally crashed down on her with brutal, crushing force.
