The woman in the business suit looked directly at Blake.
“Captain Warren?”
He straightened.
“Ma’am.”
“Why is our guest standing in the doorway covered in lunch?”
Blake glanced at Victoria.
“There was an access concern.”
The senior chief’s eyes narrowed.
“Access? She is on the command visitor list.”
“She presented questionable paperwork.”
Victoria opened her palm.
The protocol officer recognized the fragments immediately.
“That’s the original invitation. I signed the routing sheet myself.”
Blake’s jaw tightened.
The woman in the suit stepped closer.
“Captain, you were assigned the visitor brief yesterday. Ms. Kane’s name, photograph, and arrival window were in it.”
A deeper silence filled the dining hall.
Victoria looked at Blake.
So did Daniel.
The captain’s face changed.
Not surprise.
Exposure.
“I reviewed multiple names,” he said.
“You acknowledged the brief at 1804,” the woman replied. “And you were listed as secondary escort if protocol was delayed.”
Victoria finally understood the strange certainty she had seen in his face.
He had not necessarily recognized her the instant she entered.
But once he saw the invitation, he knew exactly what mistake he had made.
Then he tore the evidence because admitting it in front of the room would have cost him control.
The senior chief looked at the paper.
“Captain, did you destroy her invitation after reading it?”
