Chapter 12
The SUV slowed down, turning off the main highway and onto a narrow, industrial access road lined with rusted shipping containers and weathered cranes.
The smell of salt water and diesel fuel grew heavier as they approached a dilapidated dockside warehouse bearing a faded sign: STERLING MARITIME SALVAGE.
The building was dark except for a single halogen work light flickering above a side entrance.
The driver cut the engine, and the vehicle glided silently to a halt beside a rusted chain-link fence.
"He’s inside," Martha said, pushing her door open and stepping out into the light rain.
Victoria followed her closely, pulling her light silk camisole tighter against the chilly coastal wind.
The warehouse door creaked open on rusted hinges, revealing a cavernous interior filled with stacked crates, old sonar equipment, and the skeletal frame of a decommissioned diving bell.
Standing beside a folding table illuminated by a single desk lamp was an old man in a faded navy parka.
His face was deeply weathered, and his left hand was tucked inside his coat pocket.
He looked up as they entered, his eyes darting nervously toward the shadows.
"You shouldn't have brought her here, Martha," the old man said, his voice raspy and strained.
"The Vance family lawyers are already moving to slap injunctions on every dock from here to Maine."
Martha stepped forward, her expression unyielding.
"Let them try, Captain Miller," Martha said.
"The public already has the tribunal files.
Now she needs the physical evidence."
Captain Miller hesitated, then reached onto the folding table and slid a heavy, waterproof metal briefcase across the scarred wooden surface.
It landed with a dull thud right in front of Victoria.
"What is this?" Victoria asked, her breath catching in her throat.
"The original black-box audio recording from the sub’s command deck," Miller said quietly.
"The one Admiral Sterling ordered me to destroy thirty years ago."
May you like
Victoria stared at the metal latches of the briefcase.
Her fingers hovered over the clasps, trembling slightly.
