MY SISTER RIPPED MY SHIRT OFF TO HUMILIATE ME IN FRONT OF 100 NAVY OFFICERS—THEN AN ADMIRAL SAW MY SCARS AND SALUTED ME

Vale ordered the exits secured. The club manager objected until the admiral said the words "credible security threat." That ended the discussion.

Chloe grabbed my arm. "Are we in danger because of you?"

I pulled away. "I don't know. Find Mom and go inside."

"Don't give me orders."

"Then don't ask questions you won't let me answer."

Our mother had died eight years earlier. Chloe knew that. We both did. The mistake came from the pressure in my skull; old memories were crossing wires with the present. Chloe's mouth went flat, and for a heartbeat her anger was replaced by grief. Then she covered it with contempt.

"You can't even keep your story straight."

I let the comment pass. In Somalia, I'd learned not every wound deserved a response.

Vale brought me to a private office behind the dining hall. My father followed, clutching his phone.

"I approved a container transfer," Dad said, before the door had closed. "Medical shipments. That's all."

"Who asked?" Vale said.

"Kessler. He said the paperwork was urgent."

"And what did he give you?" I asked.

Dad stared at me. "Nothing."

I remembered Dad teaching me how to tie a bowline when I was ten. He had patiently untangled every knot I'd made and said that a good sailor never left somebody stranded. At thirty-four, I wondered when he'd decided that rule no longer applied to his own daughter.

His phone buzzed. This time he didn't hide it quickly enough. The preview showed a bank transfer confirmation, dated five years earlier, and an amount large enough to buy a house in cash.

I felt something inside me sink quietly to the bottom.

"You sold the route," I said.

"No. I signed an authorization. I didn't know there were people on that road."

Vale moved in front of the door. "Richard, did Kessler pay you?"

Dad's answer was barely audible. "He said it was a consulting fee."

"A consulting fee for what?"

"For not asking questions."

The admission hung between us.

A bang sounded outside. We spun toward the window. A red flare rose beyond the dunes, bright enough to paint the office walls scarlet.

Vale's radio crackled. "Sir, suspect left the building. Heading toward the south service road. There's a woman with him."