Chapter 11 - THE ADMIRAL'S SIGNATURE
Rear Admiral Elise Rowan read the distress transcript twice.
Then she picked up her secure phone. "Get me Vice Admiral Hart. Right now."
"Ma'am, Admiral Kessler has already filed an objection to the preservation order. He says this is an internal readiness matter."
"A woman was kicked into the sea," Rowan said. "It became a criminal matter when her captain sailed away."
At a Coast Guard clinic, NCIS Commander Lauren Pierce placed a glass of water beside Mara.
"The doctors want you here overnight," Pierce said.
"I will stay. That doesn't mean I'm stepping out of the case."
"Nobody asked you to." Pierce opened a folder. "Your card shows a bridge override entered the minute the Mercy Bell sent its distress call. The copy isn't enough to establish who gave the order."
"That's why I needed the original logs."
"And that's why somebody tried to kill you."
Mara stared at the water. "My brother sent me a voicemail before he drowned. He said the Navy ship saw them. The first inquiry called it unreliable."
Pierce's expression softened. "We're going to listen again."
Rowan arrived less than an hour later with a signed operational directive from Hart. A second Navy vessel had been ordered to meet the Resolute. An independent team would secure the records. Kessler was barred from contacting its witnesses.
"He won't follow that last part," Mara said.
"Then he'll give us one more piece of evidence," Rowan answered.
Her phone vibrated. She read a report and went utterly still.
"What?" Pierce asked.
Rowan lifted her eyes. "Kessler has ordered the Resolute's emergency communications shut down."
May you like
Mara pushed aside her blanket. "Naomi's aboard that ship. So is the original recorder."
"And neither will be there much longer," Rowan said, "if Ward reaches the naval exercise area before our escort does."
