“The morning accounting reports just cleared the registry in Alexandria, Richmond, and Cincinnati, Daniel,” Thomas said softly, his deep, steady voice filled with an un-shakeable, eighty-year peace that filled the quiet morning:
“The lines are straight.”
“The channels are clear.”
“The foundation stands upon solid stone.”
“The books are balanced down to the absolute last cent.”
I set my coffee mug down on the chestnut table.
Admiral Mercer walked to my side, setting the brass transit down on the wood with a soft, steady clink:
“Arthur’s line holds true, Daniel,” the Admiral said softly.
Running up from the garden terrace along the shoreline trail, his broad shoulders square, his hand-welted leather field boots stepping onto the cedar decking with that clean, athletic cadence of an honest naval officer whose spirit is whole, proud, and free…
Came Captain Garrett Stone.
My executive chief of staff who had assisted in securing the Cincinnati command vault and Washington continuity perimeters fourteen months ago. He wore clean work fatigues, carrying a newly polished mahogany shadow box containing Arthur Mercer Senior’s original, hand-stitched geodetic survey notebooks and the corporate seal of the newly nationalized Atlantic intelligence transport division. In his eyes burned the honest, untroubled devotion of an officer who had stood by his Commander through fourteen months of shadow watch.
Garrett walked straight to my chair, setting the shadow box on the chestnut table with a proud, confident click.
He leaned down, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pressing his warm cheek against mine:
“Chancellor?” Garrett whispered into the morning breeze:
“The bluffs are quiet.”
“The Indian Hill porch insult was answered forever.”
“The estate is ours.”
“And Sophie is walking in the orchard.”
Walking up from the cedar orchard along the ridge path, dressed in clean denim overalls and sturdy leather boots, her chestnut hair bouncing in the morning sun, her cheeks rosy with vibrant, blossoming health, her deep hazel eyes dancing with an unyielding, beautiful, eternal joy…
