Chapter 7 - THE TRAITOR’S WEBGrant didn't look at Claire. He didn't look at Admiral Vance. He looked directly at me, his eyes wide with a terrifying, desperate panic.
"Natalie..." he stuttered, his hands shaking so violently that he had to grip the edge of the conference table. "I... I was protecting us. I was securing our financial future..."
"Protecting us?" I said softly, leaning forward. "By selling military intelligence data gathered beneath my father's land to foreign shipping entities?"
"It wasn't intelligence data!" Grant yelled, losing control completely. "It was civil traffic monitoring! It was commercial routing data! Foreign logistics fleets were paying millions for real-time traffic updates in international waters! Nobody was harmed! It was just data!"
"It was treason, Commander," Admiral Vance roared, slamming his heavy fist onto the table so hard that the coffee cups rattled. "You used a civilian foundation created by a honorable family to cover up an illegal corporate espionage ring operating right beneath our naval command!"
The Admiral turned to the NCIS investigator. "Take Commander Brooks into custody immediately. Strip him of his sidearm, his credentials, and place him under pre-trial confinement in the brig."
Two armed Shore Patrol officers stepped into the room immediately.
"Wait! Admiral, wait!" Claire shouted, standing up so fast her chair tumbled backward onto the carpet. "I didn't know about the Panama accounts! Grant told me those funds were legitimate consulting fees! I was just providing the software! I didn't know he was routing raw Apex signal data out of the country!"
"Ms. Dawson," the NCIS investigator said calmly, standing up and pulling out a set of steel handcuffs. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit federal fraud, unauthorized access to classified military infrastructure, and violation of the Defense Production Act. You have the right to remain silent."
"Grant! You lied to me!" Claire screamed as the cold steel clicked around her wrists. "You told me your wife was just a stupid socialite who wouldn't notice the money! You told me she was weak!"
Grant didn't say a word. As the Shore Patrol officers pulled him up from his chair and forced his arms behind his back, he looked at me one last time.
"Natalie... please," he choked out, tears finally breaking through his pale, defeated face. "Think about Ethan. If I go to federal prison... what will people say about Ethan’s father?"
I stood up slowly, smoothing the front of my jacket. I looked him dead in the eye, feeling nothing but a profound, cold pity.
"Ethan’s father died the moment he locked his son outside that gate, Grant," I said clearly. "The man standing in front of me now... is just a traitor waiting for his sentence."
As the officers marched Grant and Claire out of the conference room in handcuffs, Admiral Vance stood up and walked around the table toward Owen and me.
He extended a hand to my brother, then turned to me, offering a deep, respectful bow of his head.
"Mrs. Brooks," Admiral Vance said quietly. "On behalf of the United States Navy, I offer my deepest apologies for the disgraceful actions of an officer under my command. Your father, Thomas Bennett, was a great man. He built a partnership based on trust, honor, and service."
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"My father built something that survives traitors, Admiral," I replied, shaking his hand firmly. "The Bennett Foundation will cooperate fully with your investigation. But as of today, Project Apex on our private land is officially decommissioned."
"Understood," Vance said solemnly. "We will begin the military asset removal immediately."
