Chapter 25 - The Fall from Grace
"This is an outrage! Do you know who I am?!" Richard bellowed, his voice cracking with hysteria as zip-ties bit painfully into his wrists. "I am a chief logistics officer for a major defense supplier! Call my lawyer! Call the CEO of Dayton Precision!"
The lead NCIS agent pulled Richard roughly up from his chair. "Your CEO was arrested forty minutes ago at his private residence. The entire Dayton Precision facility has been seized under the Defense Production Act."
Evelyn was weeping uncontrollably on the kitchen floor, clutching at the legs of an agent's tactical trousers. "There’s been a mistake! My boys are good people! Kevin is an innocent boy! It’s our daughter... our daughter Eleanor is a Navy Commander! Call Commander Whitaker! She’ll tell you this is a misunderstanding! Call our daughter!"
The NCIS agent stopped, looking down at Evelyn with a look of profound, chilling contempt.
"Mrs. Whitaker," the agent said slowly, making sure every word sank into her panicking mind. "It was Commander Eleanor Whitaker's warship that intercepted your shipment off the coast last night. Her crew braved live torpedo fire from your foreign buyers. And it was Commander Whitaker herself who personally verified the serial numbers bearing your husband's and son's signatures."
Evelyn’s eyes widened until they seemed ready to tear at the edges. Her mouth fell open, a silent, choking gasp escaping her throat. "What...? Eleanor... did this?"
"No, ma'am," the agent replied coldly. "Your daughter defended the United States. Your husband and son tried to sell it out. Now step back and keep your hands visible."
Outside, the neighbors in Oakwood poured out onto their manicured lawns, watching in absolute shock as the proud, arrogant Whitaker men were dragged out in handcuffs. Richard's expensive suit was wrinkled, his hair disheveled, while Kevin sobbed openly, unable to look the neighborhood onlookers in the eye.
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The illusion of their untouchable wealth, their unearned arrogance, and their cruel belittling of Eleanor had vanished into the back of a federal transport van.
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