Page 133 of Broken Oath

The hidden compartment sat beneath the engine room.

Fathom found it by comparing the ship’s construction plans to its internal measurements. A six-foot gap existed between two bulkheads where no space should have been.

Cobra opened the false wall without destroying the evidence.

Mostly.

Rook stepped into the compartment.

Then stopped.

Rows of sealed boxes filled the room.

Financial records.

Personnel files.

Photographs.

Shipping manifests.

Encrypted drives.

Years of evidence.

Years of corruption.

Years of buried secrets.

The room felt less like storage and more like a confession.

A metal desk stood alone in the center.

Something about it felt intentional.

As though someone wanted the compartment found.

Then Rook saw the photograph.

His breath caught.

Nine men stood together.

Alive.

Laughing.

Three years earlier.

Hammer.

Ghost.

Viking.

Tex.

Ridge.