Chapter 6 - THE BOARDROOM SIEGE
The glass-and-steel skyscraper housing the corporate offices of Vale Maritime Systems overlooked the Elizabeth River.
At 1000 hours on Thursday, Richard Vale convened an emergency meeting of his board of directors. Sitting around the mahogany table were seven senior investors, all desperate, angry, and demanding answers about the frozen DOD contracts and the tanking stock value.
"Gentlemen, please!" Richard pleaded, standing at the head of the table, his tie slightly loose, dark circles under his eyes. "The media stories are a temporary setback! My daughter had a personal disagreement with her fiancé, and the Navy is simply conducting a routine administrative audit. Once we clarify the paperwork, Vance Defense will re-engage—"
The heavy double doors of the boardroom slammed open.
Two federal agents in dark blue jackets marked NCIS stepped into the room, followed by Commander David Chen and myself.
Richard froze, his paper folder dropping onto the table. "Evelyn? What is the meaning of this? You can't bring military personnel into a private corporate meeting!"
"Mr. Richard Vale," Agent Miller announced, presenting a federal search warrant bearing the seal of the United States District Court. "We are executing a warrant for all financial ledgers, procurement records, and correspondence related to Apex Maritime Supply."
Gasps echoed around the boardroom table.
"Apex?" one of the lead directors shouted, turning to Richard. "Richard, what is she talking about? What is Apex?"
Richard turned pale as death. He reached for his phone, but Agent Miller stepped forward and calmly moved the phone out of his reach.
I walked to the front of the room, holding a sleek black flash drive. I plugged it into the main media console at the podium, and the large wall monitors lit up with schematics, wire transfer logs, and metallurgical failure analysis reports.
"For three years," I addressed the board, ignoring my father entirely, "Vale Maritime Systems has been purchasing critical naval valves through Apex Supply—a company owned secretly by Richard Vale. He purchased uncertified steel parts from overseas foundries for pennies on the dollar, forged the quality control stamps, and sold them to the Navy at marine-grade prices."
"That's a lie!" Richard screamed, his face contorting with rage as he pointed a trembling finger at me. "She’s doing this because I didn't want her at the wedding! She’s vengeful! She’s unhinged!"
"The metallurgical signature on the valve that blew on the USS Monsoor matches the inventory receipts found in your Portsmouth warehouse two hours ago, Richard," Commander Chen said coldly. "Your former head of quality assurance is already at the federal building signing a confession."
The lead director stood up, turned to Richard with utter disgust, and picked up his briefcase. "You didn't just ruin this company, Richard. You committed treason against our own military."
One by one, the directors stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Richard Vale standing alone amidst federal agents who began placing evidence bags over his servers and files.
Richard collapsed into his leather armchair, staring up at me with hollow, broken eyes.
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"Evelyn..." he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm your father..."
"My father died years ago, Richard," I said softly, looking down at him without a single drop of hatred—only cold, absolute finality. "You're just a vendor who failed inspection."
