Chapter 4 - THE SECOND WOMAN
Agent Reed traced the remote login to Dr. Evan Sloan.
The psychologist who had never evaluated Olivia.
NCIS agents arrested him outside a private clinic in Norfolk.
Inside his office, they found draft assessments for six military spouses.
Every assessment used the same language.
Emotionally unstable.
Dependent on children.
Prone to retaliatory accusations.
All six spouses were married to officers facing misconduct complaints.
Sloan had built a business turning abused wives into unreliable witnesses.
Andrew was not his only client.
Serena had introduced them.
For the first time, Olivia understood Serena was more than a mistress.
She was an architect.
Serena’s consulting company did not merely steal contracts. It identified vulnerable officers, offered financial solutions, introduced private investigators, and built personal leverage.
Andrew believed he was using Serena.
Serena had been using everyone.
When investigators confronted her with Sloan’s arrest, she asked for a deal.
Her attorney arranged a proffer.
Olivia did not attend, but Reed later explained what Serena revealed.
The affair began eighteen months earlier.
Andrew complained that Olivia’s family controlled his life.
Serena told him power belonged to whoever controlled the story.
She helped him design the divorce strategy.
She found the investigator.
She recommended Sloan.
She created the shell companies.
Then she began recording Andrew.
Every confession.
Every threat.
Every promise.
“Why?” Olivia asked.
“Insurance,” Reed said.
Serena had planned to take the money and leave the country if the investigation tightened.
Andrew was never meant to join her.
He was meant to absorb the blame.
But there was one problem.
The encrypted archive containing Serena’s recordings had disappeared.
Sloan tried to erase Ethan’s tablet because it contained a synchronization key.
Someone had copied the archive before the arrest.
Olivia thought of Andrew.
“He doesn’t have access.”
“Not officially.”
That afternoon, Olivia received a package with no return address.
Inside was a photograph of Ethan leaving school.
Taken that morning.
On the back, one sentence was written in black ink.
WITHDRAW YOUR STATEMENT OR THE NEXT PHOTO WILL BE CLOSER.
Rachel called police.
The school went into emergency lockdown.
Marcus hired private security.
Olivia stood in her kitchen holding the photograph while fear moved through her body like ice.
Andrew had always known Ethan was the one thing she would not risk.
The threat could have come from him.
From Serena.
From Sloan.
From someone inside the fraud network.
Her phone rang.
Blocked number.
She answered.
Andrew’s voice came through.
“You’ve made this much bigger than it needed to be.”
“How are you calling me?”
“Listen carefully. Tell Reed the gate was a marital argument. Tell the court Harris overreacted. We can still contain this.”
“You threatened Ethan.”
“I would never hurt my son.”
“You planned to use him.”
“I planned to protect him from your family.”
Olivia recorded every word.
Andrew continued.
“Marcus is not helping you. He’s protecting Hale Maritime. When this reaches trial, he’ll sacrifice you first.”
“Is that what Serena told you?”
Silence.
Then Andrew laughed.
“You think Serena is the problem?”
“Who sent the photograph?”
“You have forty-eight hours.”
The line went dead.
Reed traced the call to a secure military phone inside the detention facility.
Andrew should not have had access.
Someone in uniform had given it to him.
Rear Admiral Mercer ordered an internal security investigation.
Within hours, two guards were suspended.
But neither admitted helping Andrew.
That night, security cameras around Olivia’s home failed for six minutes.
When the feed returned, a black envelope sat on the front porch.
Inside was a flash drive.
One video file.
Olivia opened it with Reed and Rachel present.
Serena appeared on screen, seated in the waterfront condominium.
“If you are watching this,” she said, “Andrew has blamed me, Sloan has failed, and the people above us are trying to erase the rest.”
She looked directly into the camera.
May you like
“Commander Whitaker is not the highest-ranking officer involved.”
Then she named Rear Admiral Thomas Mercer.
