Chapter 6: What Doyle Had Been Carrying
I found Doyle in the aft maintenance corridor at 0714.
He was inspecting a pressure valve that did not need inspecting.
I knew that because I had walked past the same valve the day before and it had a green tag on it dated two days prior.
He was there because he was waiting.
I stopped beside him.
"Hargrove," I said.
Doyle didn't look up from the valve.
"You met him."
"Kane introduced him as DoD resource coordination.
He knew my real name."
"He's been aboard since Honolulu.
Came on with the resupply crew.
No manifest entry." Doyle set his wrench against the housing.
"I've been watching him for six days."
"Why didn't NCIS flag his boarding?"
"Because nobody reported it." He finally looked at me.
"The XO processed his access credentials personally.
Bypassed the standard manifest log."
"The XO is involved."
"The XO is afraid," Doyle said.
"There's a difference.
He's not driving this.
He's just making sure the doors open when they're supposed to."
I leaned against the corridor wall.
The ship hummed around us.
Somewhere two decks below, the climate control on Deck Four was running on its separate circuit.
"What's on Deck Four, Doyle?"
He was quiet for a long moment.
"Medical supplies," he said.
"Diverted from three forward operating bases over fourteen months.
Antibiotics.
Surgical materials.
Blood volume expanders." He paused.
"Enough to supply a small private clinic.
Or enough to sell."
"Who's the buyer?"
"A logistics contractor.
San Diego registered.
Shell company underneath." He picked up the wrench again.
"The same contractor that has been processing Kane's procurement falsifications for two years."
The same contractor named in the packet.
"The packet had the contractor's name," I said.
"Kane took it.
He thinks that removes the connection."
"He took a copy," Doyle said.
I went still.
Doyle reached into the breast pocket of his coveralls and removed a small sealed evidence envelope.
Navy-issue.
The kind used for chain-of-custody documentation.
He held it out.
I took it.
"Fourteen months," he said.
"I've been building that record since before NCIS ever made contact with me.
I gave your handler the summary.
I kept the originals." He looked at me steadily.
"Kane searched your bunk.
He didn't search mine.
He doesn't think of me as a threat."
"Why not?"
"Because I've never raised my voice at him." A pause.
"Men like Kane only watch for the people who push back loudly.
They don't see the ones who've been quietly documenting everything for over a year."
I looked down at the envelope in my hand.
"There's something else," Doyle said.
"The call Kane made after you went over.
I told you it routed through a Pentagon civilian extension."
"Hargrove."
"Yes.
But the call wasn't to report you.
I got content this morning.
My petty officer on the signals board held the frequency long enough." Doyle's voice dropped slightly.
"Kane told Hargrove the packet had been secured.
Hargrove told Kane to move the Deck Four inventory tonight.
Before the Resolute reaches Pearl."
I looked up.
"We dock in Pearl in thirty-one hours," Doyle said.
Thirty-one hours.
After that, the inventory would be off the ship, the chain of custody would be broken, and Hargrove would disappear back into a DoD building where no one would find him without a federal subpoena.
"I need to reach my handler," I said.
"Signals room is monitored," Doyle said.
"Kane had Marsh run a tap on the outgoing lines this morning."
"Then I need another way off this ship's communication grid."
Doyle looked at me for a moment.
Then he said, "Reyes has a personal satellite phone.
Civilian registered.
Not on any ship manifest."
I looked at him.
"He bought it before he deployed," Doyle said.
"His mother is ill.
He didn't want to lose contact." A pause.
"He's a good kid."
"I know," I said.
I tucked the envelope inside my uniform.
May you like
Thirty-one hours.
And somewhere below us, Kane and Hargrove were already planning the move.
