Chapter 3 - The Ledger
I stood holding the statements under the dim desk lamp, the numbers blurring slightly as the weight of what I was looking at settled into my bones. Atlantic Logistics wasn't just a random shipping firm. It was the exact contractor currently under federal investigation by the Navy's financial crimes division—the very investigation I had been leading in Norfolk.
The door creaked open, and Gladys stood in the frame. The sharp, defensive armor she had worn all evening was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating stillness that was far more dangerous.
"You shouldn't have looked in there," she said softly.
"How long?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "How long has Atlantic Logistics been paying your personal account?"
Gladys walked slowly into the room, leaning her hip against the edge of the bookshelf. She didn't look guilty. She looked like a woman who had calculated every possible outcome and decided she had nothing left to lose.
"Since your mother passed away," she said evenly. "Your father’s pension wasn't enough to keep this house, let alone pay for his medical treatments when the VA started dragging their feet. I had to find options."
"Options?" I slammed the folder down onto the desk. "Gladys, Atlantic Logistics is a federal contractor being audited for multi-million-dollar procurement fraud. They don't just hand out checks to retired veterans' wives out of charity. What did my father sign?"
"He didn't sign anything," she shot back, her voice dropping into a sharp hiss. "He was loyal to a fault, Andrea. Just like you. He thought he was doing consulting work for an old Navy buddy who started a private shipping depot down in Savannah. He didn't know where the money was actually coming from until six months ago."
"And when he found out?"
Gladys looked away, her eyes fixing on the windowpane where our reflections ghosted against the dark glass outside. "He wanted to go to the Inspector General. He wanted to clear his name, return every cent, and let the chips fall where they may."
A cold dread crept up the back of my neck. "Is that why you made sure everyone in town thought I was a failure? Was that why you were pushing me out, discrediting me before I even arrived?"
"I needed you distracted," Gladys said, turning back to face me without a shred of apology. "If the Navy thought you were a disgraced washout with a bitter family life back home, they wouldn't look twice at your father's finances. They wouldn't dig into why an old chief petty officer suddenly had a second stream of income."
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my coat pocket. It was a text message from Commander Vance.
We have a problem, Lieutenant. The audit files you left on your secure terminal in Norfolk? They've been accessed from an outside IP address originating right here in your hometown.
May you like
I looked up at Gladys, whose phone was clutched tightly in her hand.
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