Chapter 14 - AN UNEXPECTED INTRUSION
Back at the Sterling Global headquarters, the floor-to-ceiling monitors in the operations center began flashing amber alerts.
I stood beside Arthur as our lead cybersecurity technician pulled up shipping telematics from the Gulf of Mexico.
"We have an anomaly at Terminal Nine, Ms. Sterling," the technician reported.
"Four container freighters are refusing to dock under the standard maritime inspection protocols."
"Whose authority are they claiming?" I demanded, crossing my arms.
"A holding company registered as Apex Maritime," Arthur replied, reading from a tablet.
"Julian signed a thirty-year deep-water berthing lease with them thirty-six months ago."
"Apex Maritime is a known front for Jonathan Cross," I said, my jaw tightening.
"My father banned Cross from our shipping lanes twenty years ago for trafficking illicit materials."
"Julian bypassed our compliance firewall by utilizing a non-disclosed subsidiary," Arthur noted gravely.
"The harbor master has received direct orders from Cross’s legal team threatening federal injunctions if we board those ships."
"Julian thought he was clever," I remarked, watching the GPS coordinates pulse against the digital map.
"He assumed that by burying this liability, it would either stay hidden or explode in my face if I ever ousted him."
"What are your orders, Ms. Sterling?" Arthur inquired.
"Do we contact the Coast Guard?"
"Not yet," I replied firmly.
"If we bring federal agents onto the docks immediately, Cross will claim plausible deniability and dump the cargo in the harbor."
"I want our private security team to seal Terminal Nine completely from the landward side."
"No trucks move out, and no personnel enter without my personal biometric authorization."
"And what about Mr. Cross?" Arthur asked.
May you like
"He will reach out to me soon enough," I answered quietly.
"And when he does, he will learn that I am not Julian Vance."
