By evening, Bell allowed Ethan and me to speak with William under one condition: the conversation would take place at the NCIS office, with investigators present. William agreed without complaint. That told me either he had nothing to hide or had spent his career becoming extremely good at appearing as though he had nothing to hide.
Margaret did not come.
Ethan asked why.
William said, “Because your mother has endured enough military nonsense for one lifetime.”
That sounded like the father I knew.
It also sounded like a man choosing what his wife did not need to hear.
We sat in a conference room.
William entered without an attorney.
Ruiz immediately looked irritated.
“You should have counsel.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Because I am here voluntarily.”
“That is not protection.”
“No. It is convenience.”
Bell sat opposite him.
Hayes beside Bell.
Ethan and I at one end.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then William looked at me.
“I assume you found the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“With Ellison.”
“Yes.”
“I should have told you.”
“That would have been useful.”
“I know.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Start at the beginning.”
William gave him a look.
“Your tone needs work.”
“My apartment was broken into.”
“Claire’s apartment.”
“I’m there enough.”
“Both of you,” I said.
They stopped.
Good.
William folded his hands.
“Four months ago, Thomas Ellison contacted me.”
“Why?” Bell asked.
“He said he had information relating to Meridian.”
“Why you?”
“Because he believed I had seen portions of the original review.”
“You had.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know that?”
“He assumed it.”
“What did he want?”
“To know whether I remembered the discrepancy surrounding the hold advisory.”
My pulse quickened.
“Did he mention me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He asked whether I knew where Lantern was.”
Ethan looked at me.
William continued.
“I told him I had no idea.”
“Was that true?” Bell asked.
“At the time, yes.”
Four months ago.
Before Ethan introduced me?
No.
Wait.
I had met William months earlier.
I looked at him.
“You knew me then.”
He understood immediately.
“I knew Claire Bennett. I did not know with certainty that you were Lantern.”
“That sounds thin.”
“It was true.”
Bell asked, “Did you suspect?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Ellison?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because his interest concerned me.”
“What specifically?”
“He would not explain why he was asking.”
I looked at William.
“So you met him.”
“Yes.”
“At the marina.”
“Yes.”
“Why there?”
“He chose the location.”
Bell nodded toward the photograph.
“Who took that picture?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Ellison tell you?”
William’s expression changed.
“He said Meridian’s communications record had been altered.”
The words settled heavily.
Bell did not react.
Hayes did.
Only slightly.
I asked, “Altered how?”
“He believed the 21:47 advisory had been inserted into the official sequence after the fact.”
My throat tightened.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It did to him.”
“The advisory happened. I heard it.”
“Yes.”
“So what did he mean inserted?”
“Not invented.”
William leaned back.
“Repositioned.”
I understood.
The communication existed.
The time sequence around it might have been shifted to make it appear responsive to weather deterioration.
Exactly what I had wondered during the interview.
Bell said, “Did Ellison provide evidence?”
“No.”
“Why believe him?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why meet twice?”
I looked up.
“Twice?”
William’s jaw tightened.
Ethan said, “You met him twice?”
“Yes.”
“Where was the second meeting?”
William hesitated.
“My house.”
I stared.
“Margaret?”
“Was away.”
Bell asked, “Date?”
William gave it.
Three months ago.
“Did anyone else attend?”
“No.”
“What did Ellison bring?”
“Copies of old communications logs.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t have them.”
“Why?”
“He took them.”
“Did you copy anything?”
“No.”
Bell’s expression hardened.
“That was careless.”
William met his gaze.
“Yes.”
No defense.
No rank.
Just yes.
That earned him something from Bell.
Not trust.
Respect for the answer.
I asked, “What did the logs show?”
William looked at me.
“Two competing time sequences.”
“One matching the final report?”
“Yes.”
“And the other?”
“Matching your notebook, approximately.”
I went still.
“Approximately?”
“The 21:47 advisory appears before the weather escalation message.”
“By how much?”
“Seventy-three seconds.”
The number landed like a physical thing.
My notes had suggested between forty seconds and two minutes.
Seventy-three.
Specific enough to matter.
Bell asked, “Did Ellison explain where he got the second log?”
“He claimed it came from a local system backup that had not been incorporated into the formal review.”
“Why wasn’t it?”
“He said someone classified it as duplicate data.”
Hayes spoke.
“Who?”
“Mercer.”
There it was.
Stephen Mercer again.
Captain then.
Rear admiral now.
Acquisition.
The man who told me I could discard scratch material.
Bell asked, “Did Ellison claim Mercer deliberately suppressed it?”
“He said Mercer signed the exclusion.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
I appreciated Bell’s discipline.
William continued.
“Ellison believed Mercer knew the alternate sequence existed.”
“Did Ellison say why Mercer cared?”
“Yes.”
Everyone waited.
William looked toward me.
“Because Vance had been investigating a contracting arrangement involving a company tied to Mercer’s brother-in-law.”
Ethan whispered, “Jesus.”
Bell did not move.
“Company?”
William named it.
Hayes wrote it down.
I asked, “Was the procurement program the same one Vance reviewed?”
“Yes.”
“So Ellison thought Mercer wanted Vance dead.”
William shook his head.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“What did he think?”
“That someone wanted Vance delayed.”
“Those are the same thing if he was in the water.”
“No.”
William’s tone became precise.
“Intent matters. Ellison believed whoever interfered with the rescue may not have expected the situation to deteriorate as quickly as it did.”
Bell leaned forward.
“A delay intended for what purpose?”
“To prevent Vance from returning before certain records could be removed.”
The room became silent.
I felt the logic click into place.
Not murder.
Time.
If Vance was missing at sea for hours, maybe presumed lost, someone could exploit the window.
“What records?” I asked.
“Procurement files.”
“Where?”
“On the ship?”
“Partly.”
William’s face tightened.
“He was carrying encrypted material.”
My memory surged.
Vance after rescue.
Bandaged hand.
Angry.
Who ordered you to hold?
Maybe he had known immediately what was at stake.
Bell asked, “Did those records disappear?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Ellison told me.”
“Officially?”
“No.”
Hayes spoke.
“Why would Ellison know?”
“He said he helped reconstruct access logs after Meridian.”
“What did he find?”
“A user credential had accessed Vance’s work area while he was missing.”
“Whose?”
William paused.
“Mercer’s.”
Ethan stared.
Bell said, “And you sat on this for four months?”
William’s jaw hardened.
“I verified what I could.”
“With whom?”
“A former Pentagon colleague.”
The same one he had mentioned.
Bell asked for the name.
This time William gave it.
Vice Admiral Charles Nolan, retired.
Hayes wrote again.
William continued.
“Nolan had access to old acquisition oversight material. He confirmed there had been irregularities around the contractor.”
“Did he confirm Mercer?”
“No.”
“Why not report Ellison immediately?”
“I asked him why he hadn’t.”
“What did he say?”
“That he already had.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“To whom?”
“An inspector general office.”
“And?”
“He never received follow-up.”
Bell’s expression changed.
That mattered.
Hayes asked, “Did he retain proof?”
“He said he had acknowledgment correspondence.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Did you see it?”
“Yes.”
Bell looked almost angry now.
“You repeatedly viewed potential evidence and retained none.”
William’s face remained composed.
“I was trying not to contaminate material I did not own.”
Ruiz muttered, “That is simultaneously admirable and maddening.”
Nobody disagreed.
Ethan looked at his father.
“What about the photo and date in Ellison’s car?”
William frowned.
“I know nothing about it.”
“Three days from now.”
“I heard.”
“Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“Was he supposed to meet you?”
“No.”
Bell watched him closely.
“Did you have any planned contact?”
“No.”
“Any code words?”
“No.”
“Any scheduled document transfer?”
“No.”
William paused.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?” Bell asked.
“He said something during our second meeting.”
“What?”
“If he decided to move forward formally, he would give the file to someone who understood what the date meant.”
“What date?”
“He didn’t say.”
I felt unease crawl up my spine.
“Could it be the anniversary?”
“No.”
Meridian’s anniversary was months away.
Ethan asked, “What else could the date mean?”
William looked at me.
I already knew.
“21:47.”
Bell frowned.
“That’s a time.”
“It’s also numbers.”
I pulled out my phone.
Three days from now.
Date format could be written 2/1/47? No.
Not clean.
William shook his head.
“I don’t think it’s that.”
Hayes asked, “Did Ellison mention any upcoming event?”
William considered.
“He said Mercer was being considered for something.”
“Promotion?”
“No. Appointment.”
Bell looked at Hayes.
“What appointment?”
William answered.
“Chairmanship of a joint acquisition review board.”
“Date?”
Bell began typing.
Seconds later, he stopped.
“Three days from now.”
There it was.
The date in Ellison’s car.
Meridian.
Not a threat.
A deadline.
Ellison intended to expose something before Mercer gained authority over a board that could bury it.
I looked at William.
“Why write your photograph?”
“Maybe he intended to contact me.”
“Maybe.”
Bell’s phone vibrated.
He read the message.
Then looked at Hayes.
“We have movement on Ellison.”
I stood.
“What?”
Bell’s face had gone flat.
“Security footage from Reagan shows him entering the parking garage four days ago.”
“And leaving?”
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
Bell looked at me.
“They found blood in the trunk of his car.”
Ethan swore.
William closed his eyes briefly.
Bell continued.
“Not enough to establish death.”
“Whose blood?”
“Testing pending.”
My stomach tightened.
Then Bell added something worse.
“There was another item in the trunk.”
“What?”
“A storage-unit receipt.”
“Whose name?”
“No name.”
“Where?”
“Alexandria.”
William went still.
I saw it.
Bell saw it too.
“What?”
William looked at him.
“That is where Ellison told me the backup logs were stored.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: Inside Ellison’s Storage Unit Was Proof the Meridian Timeline Had Been Altered, Along With Evidence Someone Had Prepared to Blame William
The Quiet Detail in Ethan’s Family Dinner Invitation That Told Me His Father Had Already Recognized Something I Never Discussed
Part 10 of 16
