Chapter 13 - The Call That Came Five Years Late
Hugh called the next morning.
“Elena, I owe you an apology.”
She remained silent.
“For what happened at the reception,” he continued. “For turning away when Marin tore your blouse. For allowing people to believe things about your service that I knew were not true.”
“Why didn't you say this before?”
“Because I thought silence would make things easier.”
“For whom?”
“For me, perhaps.”
Hugh admitted that he had been angry when Elena's military career ended. He had spent his life believing discipline could prevent disaster, and her injuries had confronted him with something he couldn't control.
Instead of admitting his fear, he had withdrawn.
“I was ashamed,” he said.
“Of me?”
“Of myself.”
Elena looked at the old photograph of herself in uniform.
“You made me believe I had done something wrong.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell Daniel he could use my name?”
“No. But I discussed your engineering background with him when he first described his company.”
“Did you report the document when you saw it?”
“No. I thought it could be resolved privately.”
Elena sighed.
“That is exactly the problem, Dad. You keep choosing privacy over the truth.”
Hugh promised to provide the investigators with every document Daniel had shown him.
Elena accepted the promise without offering forgiveness.
That afternoon, Commander Bennett confirmed that the company's submission contained an electronic approval marker that appeared to be associated with a contractor rather than Elena's personal account.
The origin had not yet been established.
Elena saved the new information in her notebook.
A few minutes later, her phone displayed a message from Samuel Ortiz.
Commander Alden, I've heard about the reception. I think we should talk about the Resolute. There is something in the original incident record that never made sense to me.
Elena replied immediately.
May you like
They arranged to meet the following morning.
For the first time in five years, she felt that the events surrounding the fire might finally be examined without her family controlling the narrative.
