Chapter 4 - The Sister’s Burden
I walked out of the command conference room leaving two armed Master-at-Arms standing guard outside the doors.
The bright Southern California sunshine hit my eyes like a physical blow as I stepped onto the concrete apron of the airfield.
The smell of salt spray off San Diego Bay mixed with the acrid fumes of burning jet exhaust from the runway across the bay.
My cell phone buzzed violently in my pocket the instant the signal bypassed the building’s jamming perimeter.
I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID.
Maya.
I took three long, steadying breaths before pressing the green button and raising the phone to my ear.
“Evie?” Maya’s voice was thin, brittle, and edged with the kind of chronic exhaustion that coffee could never fix.
“I’m here, Maya,” I said, keeping my tone as gentle as warm water.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Leo had another nightmare last night.”
“He dreamed that Jonah came back to the house, but his hands were made of seafoam, and every time Leo tried to hug him, he just melted into the carpet.”
I stopped walking on the tarmac, closing my eyes against the stabbing pain in my chest.
“Maya, listen to me carefully,” I said.
“Are you at the house in Coronado?”
“Yes,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly.
“Why?”
“There are black SUVs driving down our cul-de-sac.”
“They just pulled into the driveway of Admiral Harlan’s house across the canal.”
“What is happening, Evie?”
“Are they doing another tactical exercise?”
I looked across the glittering bay toward the luxury waterfront homes of the Coronado Cays.
Knox Harlan had lived three doors down from my sister for seven years.
He had attended the barbecue in Maya’s backyard the day after Jonah was promoted to Commander.
He had brought a bottle of vintage scotch, hugged Maya by the shoulders, and told her that her husband was the future of naval aviation.
All while signing the logistics authorization that put fraudulent parts in her husband’s gearbox.
“It’s over, Maya,” I said softly.
There was a long, terrifying silence on the other end of the line.
I could hear the faint sound of cartoons playing on the living room television in the background.
I could hear the gentle clink of a spoon stirring cereal.
“What do you mean it’s over?” Maya whispered, her breath hitching in her throat.
“Jonah’s crash wasn't an accident,” I told her, knowing that the truth was going to tear open scars that had barely begun to close.
“The maintenance logs were falsified.”
“Knox Harlan was running a procurement ring with contractors out of Singapore and San Diego.”
“Jonah found out, and they silenced him by forcing him to fly an aircraft they knew wasn't safe.”
A strangled, animalistic sob broke from Maya’s throat.
It was a sound that had been locked inside her chest for two grueling years of unanswered questions and redacted government reports.
“Knox?” she choked out.
“Knox came to the memorial service, Evie.”
“He held Leo.”
“He helped me fill out the pension paperwork when the Navy delayed the benefits check.”
“He did that to keep you quiet, Maya,” I said, my teeth grinding together so hard my jaw ached.
“He kept you close so he could monitor what you knew and who you talked to.”
“He thought if he played the grieving mentor, you would never look past the official cover story.”
“Oh God,” Maya wept, the phone shaking in her grip.
“Oh, dear God, Jonah was right.”
I froze on the tarmac.
The jet noise from the departing F/A-18s seemed to vanish into a hollow void.
“What did you say?” I asked, my heart suddenly slamming against my ribs like a trip-hammer.
“What do you mean Jonah was right?”
“The night before he deployed to Guam,” Maya sobbed, her voice breaking into ragged gasps.
“He gave me a key.”
“A small brass key to a safe-deposit box at the Navy Federal branch in Point Loma.”
“He told me never to open it unless someone from the Pentagon showed up asking about contract discrepancies.”
“Why didn't you tell me this two years ago, Maya?” I demanded, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.
“Because he made me swear on Leo’s life!” she cried out.
“He said if anyone found out about the key before the evidence was ready, they wouldn't just kill him.”
“He said they would come for the children.”
My blood turned to ice in my veins.
I turned around and looked at the black government sedans idling near the front gate of the Amphibious Base.
Senator Sterling hadn't just arrived in San Diego to collect seventeen million dollars from Knox Harlan.
He had arrived because his private security teams had traced Jonah’s financial disclosures to that exact bank branch in Point Loma.
“Maya,” I commanded, my voice snapping back into operational authority.
“Take Leo and Clara right now.”
“Do not pack clothes.”
“Do not look out the window.”
“Go out the back door, take the boat slip through the marina canal, and do not stop until you reach the Coast Guard station at North Island.”
“Evie, what’s going on?” she cried, panic rising in her throat.
May you like
“They know about the key, Maya,” I said, breaking into a dead sprint toward my government vehicle.
“And they’re already on your street.”
