Three years earlier, Lieutenant Michael Reed had served under Admiral Hayes.
Michael was brilliant.
Quiet.
And obsessed with details nobody else noticed.
One night, he called Sarah.
I found something in the logistics reports.
Sarah remembered laughing.
What kind of something?
Something that could end careers.
Michael told her that fuel contracts had been manipulated through private companies linked to senior naval personnel.
He refused to name anyone over the phone.
Meet me tomorrow morning.
Sarah agreed.
Michael never arrived.
By sunrise, command announced that he had left his post without authorization.
Two days later, his apartment was empty.
His records were sealed.
Sarah spent years believing he had run.
Until she noticed something in an evidence photograph from his apartment.
A bottle of rare bourbon.
The same brand now sitting on the gala table.
Sarah looked toward Daniel.
He noticed.
Something wrong?
She answered quietly.
Maybe.
Then she saw Admiral Hayes watching them from across the room.
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