PART 3
Brandon followed us into the operations room.
“General, I can explain.”
I didn't look up.
“Then explain.”
He stepped closer.
“The inventory system was undergoing maintenance.
There were administrative errors.”
“Three separate errors?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Different dates?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Different equipment?”
Brandon hesitated.
“Yes.”
I finally looked at him.
“That's not an explanation.”
His jaw tightened.
“I didn't personally alter anything.”
That sentence caught my attention.
Not “The records are correct.”
Not “Nothing is missing.”
Not even “I'll investigate.”
I didn't personally alter anything.
I turned toward Captain Reynolds.
“Secure the records.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Restrict access to the relevant systems.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Preserve every access log from the last twelve months.”
Captain Reynolds nodded.
Brandon stepped forward.
“General, you're making this bigger than it is.”
I stared at him.
“Do not tell me what it is.”
The room became silent.
“I will determine what it is.”
His shoulders dropped.
For the first time in our lives, Brandon couldn't hide behind Dad.
He couldn't hide behind jokes.
And he couldn't hide behind his reputation as the family hero.
But then something unexpected happened.
The admiral received a message.
He read it twice.
Then he looked at me.
“General Owens, there's another issue.”
“What issue?”
“The discrepancy you found isn't isolated to this ship.”
My stomach tightened.
“How many?”
“Four vessels.”
Captain Reynolds looked stunned.
“Four?”
The admiral nodded.
“Different commands.
Same type of record discrepancy.”
I looked at Brandon.
He was staring at the floor.
“Does my brother have access to those systems?”
The admiral didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
“His credentials appear in the access history.”
Brandon's head snapped up.
“What?”
The admiral handed the tablet to me.
I read the entries.
Brandon's credentials had been used on three of the four systems.
But there was something strange.
The timestamps showed access at hours when Brandon had been physically aboard his own ship.
Impossible.
Unless someone else had his credentials.
I looked at him.
“Who knows your password?”
“Nobody.”
“Who has access to your authentication token?”
“Nobody.”
“Then why are your credentials appearing on three other vessels?”
“I don't know.”
For once, I believed him.
That didn't make him innocent.
It made the situation more dangerous.
Someone was using my brother's identity.
And they had chosen him for a reason.
Then Captain Reynolds quietly spoke.
“General, there's one more thing.”
“What?”
He placed a sealed folder on the table.
“This was found in Senior Chief Owens's locker this morning.”
Brandon went completely still.
I opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of me.
Taken outside my hotel.
The date was yesterday.
On the back, someone had written:
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
I looked at Brandon.
He looked terrified.
And for the first time in thirty years, my little brother wasn't the person I was investigating.
He might have been the person someone was trying to destroy.
