Chapter 5 - Unraveling the Web
With Richard Harrington in federal custody and NCIS agents securing every corporate server belonging to Harrington Defense Logistics, the glamorous illusion of our family's supremacy evaporated overnight. The following morning, the financial news networks ran wall-to-wall coverage of the raid, broadcasting images of federal agents carting out boxes of fraudulent blueprints, offshore banking records, and bribed procurement contracts.
Celeste and my mother found themselves instantly abandoned by the high-society circle that had fawned over them just hours earlier. Credit cards issued under the corporate umbrella were frozen by federal injunctions. The sprawling Harrington estate in Newport was cordoned off with yellow police tape while forensic accountants audited every square inch of the property.
I spent the morning at the naval base downtown, debriefing with Admiral Reed and the JAG corps regarding the final operational reports of my Cicero-class deployment. The physical pain in my back was a dull, persistent throb, but for the first time in five years, the psychological weight of betrayal was completely gone.
"You've been formally recommended for the Navy Cross, Evelyn," Admiral Reed said, sliding a thick recommendation packet across his metal desk. "Though knowing you, you'd probably rather skip the ceremony and head straight back out to sea."
I looked down at the paperwork, tracing the gold-embossed naval seal with my thumb. "Give me forty-eight hours to ensure the corporate liquidation goes to the families of the sailors we lost during the missile strike, Admiral. After that... point me toward a ship."
"Consider it done, Captain," he smiled, a rare warmth softening his rugged features.
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Later that afternoon, I returned to the Harrington estate—now under federal receivership—to retrieve a few personal items from my old room before checking into quarters at the base.
The heavy iron gates stood wide open, guarded by a single military police officer who nodded respectfully as I walked up the grand stone driveway. The mansion that had once felt like a gilded prison now looked hollow and quiet, its grand facade stripped of its arrogant pretense.
