Chapter 15 - The Uninvited Visitor
The humiliation at the Dayton Rotary Club should have taught Richard Whitaker that his world of petty dominance was disintegrating. Instead, as wounded narcissists invariably do, his desperation turned into reckless delusion.
Two days before the *Vanguard's* final underway sea trials, I was sitting at my desk in the forward wardroom reviewing operational logistics manifests. My secure desk phone rang with an internal line from the Base Security Operations Center.
"Lieutenant Commander Whitaker, Operations," I answered briskly.
"Ma'am, this is Master-at-Arms First Class Jackson at Gate 2," the security officer said, his tone professional but carrying an undercurrent of barely concealed annoyance. "We have an individual at the visitor processing center demanding an escort to your ship."
I frowned, setting my pen down. "I'm not expecting any visitors, Petty Officer Jackson. Who is it?"
"He identifies himself as Richard Whitaker, claims to be your father, and he has a younger male with him who identifies as Kevin Whitaker. Ma'am, they drove all the way from Ohio and are currently creating a disturbance in the reception lobby."
The air in my lungs went cold for a fraction of a second before turning to molten resolve. "What kind of disturbance?"
"The elder Whitaker is insisting that civilian family members outrank military officers in matters of 'personal emergency.' He told the gate guard that you are withholding funds under false pretenses and that he will not leave until you are ordered off the vessel by your commanding officer to meet him."
May you like
I closed my eyes for three seconds, exhaled slowly, and recalibrated my mind entirely. The girl who used to cower in the Dayton hallway was dead. The woman wearing the gold oak leaf on her collar stood up, adjusted her uniform cover, and strapped on her sidearm holster in accordance with base security protocol.
"Petty Officer Jackson, keep them inside the holding area," I instructed, my voice level and icy as glacial water. "Do not allow them past the turnstiles. I am on my way down to Gate 2 right now."
