Chapter 15
“Hey, Digi, thanks for getting back to me so fast.” The Friday morning call lifted Evan’s spirits, and he was already sailing high after making love to Genevieve twice the night before. “Tell me you have good news.”
“Good news, bad news, it’s all the same. Depends on how you take it.”
Evan’s inbox pinged with a new email from the tech guru on the phone. “Did you find who she was dating last summer?”
“Yes.” Digital Defender hesitated. “He’s one of yours.”
Evan sat back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He didn’t want to ask the question but needed to know its answer. “Did he know she was pregnant?”
“No.” Digi didn’t hesitate. “It gets a little complicated, as you’ll see in the transcript, I just sent you. It looks like he shipped out at the end of summer and ditched his phone but didn’t let your daughter know. He never got the messages from her.”
Evan checked the clock on his desk. Commander Dennis was due in one minute, no doubt already waiting in the outer office.
“I’ll take a look after this next meeting. I truly appreciate your help.” Evan was so tempted to make his Team 1 commanding officer wait, but when he was at work, his personal problems came last.
“Anytime, Captain Hubbard. I’m here for you and your men.” The Digital Defender ended the call.
Evan’s administrative assistant buzzed the second the light went out.
Commander Dennis came into the office with a lieutenant right behind him.
“Men, sit.” Evan gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.
The commander sat down immediately but the lieutenant stared at the pictures of Kylie and Ian that Marta Merkel had made for him. The young man seemed a little tentative, but many junior officers were uncomfortable in the presence of a captain. He’d get over it. He finally sat down.
The lieutenant’s eyes met Evan’s and his world shook. He knew those unique green and gold eyes. He looked into them at every feeding and changing.
Is that why he was staring at the photos? Could this lieutenant be Ian’s father? A flash of panic zipped through Evan. Would this young man take their grandson away from them?
Why hadn’t he been there for Kylie? Then he remembered what Digi said—the man hadn’t known she’d been pregnant.
Was he married? Maybe that’s why she hadn’t ever introduced him to Genevieve.
A quick glance at the young man’s left hand showed no indication of a ring, now or in the past. But that didn’t mean anything.
Most married SEALs didn’t wear a wedding ring.
It could get caught on too many things and might rip off a finger.
Forcing himself to compartmentalize, Evan asked, “What did you find?”
“Unfortunately, a lot.” Commander Dennis handed Evan a folder. “I’m going to turn this briefing over to Lieutenant Chaney since he and his platoon did all the work.”
“First, sir, it was an honor to be selected for this mission. I’m personally sickened by what we discovered and revolted that SEALs are involved.” Lieutenant Chaney went through the information clearly and concisely.
They had names and verified addresses with pictures of the SEALs and the foreign girls entering and leaving their apartments. The recorded testimony from several of the young women would go a long way toward convictions.
This was going to make the kind of statement Evan needed. It also meant he had a lot of work to get done before his speech on Monday.
Evan stood, indicating it was the end of the meeting. “You’ve done an excellent job. I’m very pleased by what you were able to accomplish in just a few days. Do you and your men want to be in on the arrests?”
“Absolutely, sir.” Lieutenant Chaney said as he stood.
“Lieutenant, may I have a word in private?” Evan asked, hiding his nerves. When Commander Dennis turned and raised an eyebrow Evan tilted his head toward the door. “Commander, I’ll explain later.”
When the door closed behind the Team 1 commanding officer, Evan grabbed the pictures of his daughter and his grandson. At that moment, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know if the young man in front of him was Ian’s father.
“When you came in, you stared at my daughter’s picture. It’s the same one that was at the memorial service. Did you know my daughter?” Evan watched the young man’s every move, looking for a lie.
“Sir, I was Officer of the Day and was unable to attend the service. My condolences, sir.” He then stared at the picture. “I had no idea Kylie,” His voice broke on his daughter’s name. He swallowed hard before he choked out, “had passed away.”
“So, you knew my daughter?”
“Yes, sir. We dated up until the week I left for Iraq.” The lieutenant held Evan’s gaze. That took a lot of inner strength.
“Did you know she was pregnant?” Although Digi said the lieutenant didn’t know, she might have gotten ahold of him some other way. Evan kicked himself for not sending Digi Kylie’s computer.
“No, sir.” The lieutenant’s gaze dropped to the picture of her holding her newborn baby.
Evan held up a picture of Ian. “This is very possibly your son.”
Lieutenant Chaney stared at the picture and Evan thrust it at him. The young man accepted the picture and blinked several times. “Sir, if you wish for me to take a DNA test, I will.”
“I’d like that. I believe every man needs to get to know his children. I don’t know what happened between you and my daughter, but at one time she must’ve been… special…to you.”
“She was.” Then he quickly added, “Sir.”
“This is our grandson. My ex-wife and I currently share custody of him.” Evan let out a deep breath.
“I fucked up with Kylie and her mother. I should’ve fought harder to stay as a West Coast SEAL but when I got offered a command on the East Coast, I jumped at the chance without ever talking it over with my wife.
She ended up staying here in Coronado and so did my daughter.
I only saw Kylie on my designated holidays.
It wasn’t enough. I should have done better. ”
Evan walked around his desk to get a better look at the young man. “I want you to think seriously about what kind of relationship you want with your son. I advise that you talk to some of the other married men with children. Not to be rude, but I have to know, are you married?”
The young man looked up in shock. “No, sir. Sir, I haven’t even dated since Kylie.”
Evan held out his hand for the picture. “I’ll call you and let you know when and how to take the paternity test.”
As soon as the young man left, Evan slumped down in the visitor chair.
Kylie had picked a good man. Her young SEAL was going places.
Evan could see a lot of himself in Lieutenant Chaney.
He was worried sick about what the young man would decide to do.
Evan would be disappointed in him if he didn’t choose to raise his son.
He’d also be heartbroken if he took Ian away from them.
He was quite sure what the DNA test was going to show.
Although Evan wished he could take off a few hours to update Genevieve, the rest of his day was slammed.
Investigation files in his hand, Evan walked into the vice admiral’s office. “Should we include the rear admiral in this briefing?”
“No. I want as few people as possible to know about this. The more people who know a secret, the less of a secret it becomes.” Vice Admiral Maddox stood. “Let’s take this meeting over to the JAG office. Nobody’s going to think twice about alphabet agencies walking in there.”
Half an hour later, a man and a woman in civilian clothes entered the conference room.
The woman with short dark hair pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck held out her hand to Captain Dupree.
“Special Agent in Charge Kameron Hood. Call me Kam. This is my partner, Jeremy Sanderson. I head up the task force for human trafficking in San Diego area. What do you have?”
After shaking hands, Coronado’s Judge gestured to seats across from Evan and Vice Admiral Maddox, next to the two base attorneys feverishly taking notes. Commander Webber, who was in charge of military police on base, stood.
“This is a waste of time and resources,” Commander Webber said for the third time. “This is a civilian problem, not ours. We have no business being involved.” He pointed to the new arrivals. “This is their problem, not ours.”
The woman listened to the complaining MP commander, shuffled through a thick folder she’d extracted from her briefcase.
She jumped up, slapping a picture onto the table for the judge to see.
“Is this the reason you want us to take down Miss Nami’s operation without involvement from anybody on this base?
” Her grin was evil. “We’ve been investigating that house for months.
” She hammered short unpainted nails at the picture of a naked man on a bed with two women.
Their faces were hidden but his was in plain sight and completely recognizable.
“We also have you entering and exiting the house on multiple occasions.”
“Sit down.” Captain Dupree ordered then crossed muscular arms over his chest. “Commander Webber, what I’m seeing is irrefutable evidence that you are a regular customer.
Are you passing Miss Nami information on troop movements?
Are you telling her when SEAL platoons and troops return to this base?
Or when the fleet is expected next? When individual ships are headed to port? ”
The JAG judge stood. “If I find out you ever shared a single piece of classified information with Miss Nami or any of the girls who work for her, you will be tried for treason.”
The MP commander reached for his weapon. Evan leaped out of his seat and took him down, pinning his face to the floor, sending his weapon skittering away. Someone dangled a set of handcuffs in his face and Evan cuffed the commander.
Evan yanked the commander to a standing position in front of the judge who started mirandizing him.
“I fucking know my rights.” His venomous words seemed to stink up the air in the enclosed room.
“Good, and I’m sure you know the sentence for each of these.
” Captain Dupree listed all the UCMJ violations dealing with human trafficking.
“I promise that we’re going to find several other things to charge you with.
You’ve been a dirty cop running things on this base far too long.
And by the way, I don’t know how you are going to explain this to your sweet wife. ”
Because they didn’t want anyone on base to know that they’d already started arresting people, Vice Admiral Maddox called one of his friends across the bay.
He was perp-walked out of the room and through a rarely used side door, destined for the brig aboard one of the ships docked across the water from Coronado.
No one would be able to find him until after all the arrests were made.
The judge called in the deputy commanding officer for MPs.
Once the officer stood in from of him, the judge said, “Commander Webber has been relieved of duty. You are now in charge of the base military police. Monday, minutes before Captain Hubbard’s speech, we’ll be arresting nearly a dozen SEALs and support sailors.
You might want to look deeply into your ranks.
Commander Webber was dirty, and we have proof.
There had to be others who knew what he was doing and said nothing. ”
“Sir, I brought proof of wrongdoing to the base commander and was told to mind my own business. Commander Webber believed he was protected by the rear admiral.”
Vice Admiral Maddox leaned forward. “Lieutenant Commander, how many stars do you see on this collar?”
Embarrassed, the man answered, “Three.”
“And how many stars does the base commander wear on his collar?” The vice admiral barely restrained his temper.
“One, sir.”
“Look around this room. There’s a reason the base commander isn’t here.” Vice Admiral Maddox redirected everyone’s attention to the agents from Homeland Security. “What do you have to contribute, agents?”
“We’ve had Miss Nami’s establishment under surveillance for months.
” SAIC Hood distributed the task force’s findings as they pertained to the women, focusing on those currently living with sailors and SEALs.
“While you handle the men on base, the women will be rounded up. We’ve been told their passports are kept in a safe on the first floor.
Our warrant includes having all safes opened.
” She grimaced. “We also know they have been reusing passports. Unfortunately, we don’t have an accurate count of the women involved. ”
A few more names were added to the list for base arrests and timetables were established.
When Evan left for the day, he felt confident about Monday. It was Saturday morning that was going to tear him apart.
He’d made arrangements for the DNA test.