Chapter 6
By sunrise, the Resolute no longer belonged to Kane.
That was how it felt.
Not official.
Not clean.
But true.
The emergency water was released first.
Cases moved up from Deck Four under armed supervision.
Sailors drank in silence.
Some cried.
Wills sat on the flight deck with an IV in his arm and a bottle of water held against his chest like treasure.
When he saw me, he tried to stand.
I pointed at him.
“Don’t you dare.”
He smiled weakly.
“Yes, Petty Officer.”
Kane was locked in medical custody with a gunshot wound and two guards who did not blink.
Pike and Dane were confined separately.
Graves gave his statement for seven hours.
So did Ortiz.
So did Captain Ruiz.
So did I.
NCIS agents arrived by helicopter before noon.
They took Deck Four apart piece by piece.
The second room held enough evidence to crush careers across three branches and six private contractors.
Shipping manifests.
Death reports.
Hidden cameras.
Encrypted payments.
Blackmail files.
My missing packet was there too.
Opened.
Marked.
But not destroyed.
Kane had wanted to know what I had.
He had waited too long to burn it.
Agent Cross handed it back to me in an evidence sleeve.
“You did good, Mercer.”
I stared at my brother’s name on the label.
“No. I did late.”
Cross’s expression softened.
“Late still counts when the truth arrives.”
I wanted to believe that.
The hardest call was to my mother.
Satellite connection.
Delay.
Static.
Then her voice.
“Hannah?”
I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles hurt.
“Mom.”
She knew before I said it.
Mothers always know when grief is about to enter a room again.
“It’s Eli,” I said.
Silence.
Then a breath.
“What did you find?”
“The truth.”
She began to cry.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
A sound like something inside her had been holding its breath for six months and finally broke.
“He didn’t die from heatstroke,” I said.
“I know.”
That stunned me.
“What?”
My mother’s voice shook.
“I knew my son. He would have fought to live.”
I pressed my forehead against the wall.
“I’m sorry it took me this long.”
“No,” she whispered. “You brought him back.”
I closed my eyes.
There was no bringing back.
Not really.
But truth gives the dead a voice when liars take their bodies.
That mattered.
After the call, Captain Ruiz found me near the starboard rail.
The same rail Kane had kicked me over.
The ocean looked impossible calm.
She stood beside me.
“I submitted my resignation from command.”
I looked at her.
“That won’t help Eli.”
“No. But accountability has to start where failure lived.”
I respected that.
I still hated her a little.
Both could be true.
“You froze,” I said.
She nodded.
“I did.”
“People died.”
“I know.”
“Then make your resignation useful. Testify against everyone above you who ignored warnings.”
She looked at me.
Then nodded once.
“I will.”
Kane’s first hearing happened aboard by secure link.
He tried to appear injured and dignified.
The military judge was not impressed.
Charges were read.
Attempted murder.
Murder.
Conspiracy.
Fraud.
Theft.
Assault.
Obstruction.
Endangerment of personnel.
More pending.
Kane pleaded not guilty.
Of course he did.
Men like him believed guilt was something assigned to weaker people.
When the hearing ended, he asked to speak to me.
Cross said no.
I said yes.
Through reinforced glass in medical custody, Kane smiled at me.
“You think you won because I’m in chains.”
I said nothing.
“You still don’t understand the ocean, Mercer. It hides everything eventually.”
I leaned closer.
“Not everything.”
His smile twitched.
“Your brother begged.”
I felt the old rage rise.
Then I saw what he wanted.
My loss of control.
My grief turned into his last weapon.
I smiled.
“Eli warned me you’d try that.”
Kane’s face changed.
I continued.
May you like
“He said cruel men repeat themselves when they run out of power.”
For the first time, Kane had no answer.
