Chapter 2

Agent Vance pocketed his credentials and said flatly, "Lead the way, Ms. Reed. We need to lock down the scene before they overwrite the server logs."

We headed straight back to the second floor.

When I pushed open the HR office door, Ryan hadn't even left yet.

He sat perched on the edge of Mary's desk, casually spinning a Montblanc pen between his fingers.

Madison stood nearby, checking the red high-level access badge hanging around her neck—the one she had no business wearing.

Seeing me walk in with some nobody in a cheap gray suit behind me, Ryan let out a contemptuous laugh.

"What, took a lap downstairs and scraped up some ambulance chaser off the street?"

Ryan pointed his pen at Vance. "Emma, if you understood how this industry works, you'd know no respectable firm in Washington would touch a case against the Caldwell family."

Madison sighed on cue, putting on her concerned voice.

"Emma, what's a third-rate lawyer going to do? Legal will make sure that data you exported never sees the inside of a courtroom. Why not just take the money and start fresh at some startup in California? Why make this uglier than it needs to be?"

"Ugly?"

I looked at her coldly. "You can't even recite the basic architecture of the core algorithm, but you're wearing a badge that requires the highest federal clearance. You're not worried about things getting ugly. You're worried I'm about to blow up the board deal your two families are brokering."

Madison's face went pale. She bit her lip and said nothing.

"Enough."

Ryan's patience had clearly run out. He grabbed the NDA off the desk and slammed it down.

"Since you brought a 'witness,' fine."

Ryan leaned forward, both hands planted on the desk, looming over me.

"Let's treat this like a pure business transaction. One million. Double your original severance."

He gestured arrogantly at the agreement.

"Sign it, take the money, and disappear from this industry. Or refuse and watch my legal team blacklist you so thoroughly you'll never work in this field again. I'll make sure your background check is so dirty no one will touch you."

Ryan stared me down, waiting for me to fold.

But behind me, Agent Vance finally moved.

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small recording device. With a casual flick, he pressed stop.

The soft beep cut through the suffocating standoff.

"Mr. Caldwell." Vance's voice was flat, emotionless. "One million dollars. Am I correct in understanding that you just openly engaged in witness tampering and obstruction of justice?"

He didn't even glance at the NDA. "For the purpose of concealing a felony violation of Title 18, Section 1001—falsification of federal project data, specifically involving the Aegis project position and clearance approval."

Ryan froze. Then he let out a scornful laugh.

"Impersonating a federal agent? Emma, you hired this hack off a street corner? Let me tell you something—inside this building, everything runs by my rules—"

BANG.

The door slammed open.

Chief Security Officer Miller burst in, sweat beading on his forehead, radio crackling. Two winded security guards stumbled in behind him.

"Mr. Caldwell!" Miller jabbed a finger at Vance. "Front desk reports an unauthorized entry with override access! I'll have this fraud escorted out right now—"

"Escorted out?"

Vance turned his head slowly.

He swept back one side of his suit jacket.

A black Glock holstered at his waist. And beside it, a gleaming gold badge, both catching the cold fluorescent light.

"Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General. Sentinel 257 Task Force."

Vance slapped his credentials down on the desk with a sharp crack. His voice carried absolute administrative authority, crushing the room.

"As of this second, this building is under federal seizure. OIG cyber forensics team has cut external routing." His gaze was razor-sharp. "Anyone touches a keyboard, they'll be charged with destruction of federal evidence."

The office went dead silent.

Miller, who'd been shouting a second ago, looked like someone had grabbed him by the throat. His radio hit the carpet with a dull thud. His legs buckled, and he sagged against the doorframe.

HR Director Mary jerked back from her desk as if electrocuted, hands raised in front of her chest. "I—I didn't know anything. I was just following orders."

And Ryan's arrogance evaporated completely. The expensive pen slipped from his stiff fingers and rolled across the desk.

He stared at the gold badge—the one that represented the full weight of federal power. His Adam's apple bobbed. His face had gone white.

In the dead silence, he managed to rasp out one sentence:

"I... I need to call my lawyer."

Vance didn't even blink.

He reached out with two fingers, pressed them against the NDA, and slowly pushed it back across the desk toward Ryan.

"Be my guest."

The agent straightened his tie, his tone calm but laced with crushing finality.

"And tell your lawyer to have that million ready. You're going to need it for bail over the next twenty years."