Chapter 15
Harrison froze, his hand still resting on the edge of the keyboard. He turned slowly toward the high-definition monitor on the left.
Senator Hayes sat in his home study, wearing a dark suit jacket over an unbuttoned collar. The blue light of his webcam reflected off his forehead, and his expression was entirely devoid of its usual political warmth.
“Commander Vance,” the Senator said, his voice level and dry through the digital connection. “I suggest you tell your men to step out of the hallway.”
Harrison did not answer immediately. He reached down and tapped his signet ring against the desk, his thumb twitching over the metal band.
“Senator,” Harrison said, his voice dropping into its crisp military cadence. “This is an active counter-intelligence recovery. My ex-wife has compromised classified routing logs.”
“Your ex-wife is currently testifying under oath before an emergency session of the Senate Oversight Committee,” Hayes said. “And we are recording this entire entry.”
One of the tactical officers behind Harrison cleared his throat, the sound loud in the small office. The man looked at the ceiling camera, then at his partner, and took a step back toward the ruined foyer.
“The warrant is valid,” Harrison said, though he did not touch the paper again.
“The Inspector General has already suspended it,” Hayes replied. “The Military Police are entering your lobby right now, Commander. I suggest you meet them before they have to use their own tools on your transport vehicles.”
The silence in the room lasted for five seconds. I watched the green indicator light on my terminal, which showed the recording was being saved to three separate off-site backup drives.
Harrison turned his back on the camera and leaned over my desk, his face inches from mine.
“You think you have a shield, Claire,” he whispered. “But shields break.”
“The MPs are in the elevator, Harrison,” I said, looking down at his hand on my desk.
He pulled his hand back, straightened his jacket, and turned toward the door without another word. The three tactical men followed him out, their heavy boots making a dull, rhythmic sound on the hardwood floor of the hallway.
I waited until the outer security door clicked into its broken frame before I let my shoulders drop. On the screen, Senator Hayes rubbed his eyes and sighed.
May you like
“We have what we need for the subpoena, Claire,” Hayes said. “But you need to leave that building. Rachel is waiting for you at her office.”
“I am on my way,” I said, and closed the connection.
