Chapter 7: The Evidence She Built Before They Arrived
"Tell me what you need," Marcus said.
"The charity accounts.
The routing records.
The logistics company in Reston." Lisa was already at her desk, pulling up her own system.
"I need all of it packaged and transmitted to three separate recipients in the next sixty seconds."
"I can do that.
Who are the recipients?"
"The financial crimes unit at the FBI field office in DC.
The JAG investigator who contacted me eight months ago about the charity — his name is Colonel Hargrove.
And the editor at the Post who covers military contracting.
Her name is Sandra Osei.
I have her direct email in my contacts — I'm sending it to you now."
"Sixty seconds is tight."
"Fifty-five now."
She heard Marcus typing.
Her mother stood up from behind the desk.
"Lisa.
Those men are not going to ask questions when they come through that door."
"I know that."
"Then why are you still sitting there?"
"Because running solves nothing." Lisa looked up.
"They came here to stop something from being released.
If it's already released, there's nothing left to stop."
Ryan stepped forward.
"If they decide the release itself is the problem — "
"Then they make it worse for themselves.
Every journalist, every investigator, every federal contact I have gets a follow-up call from Marcus explaining that I was interfered with." She looked at Ryan steadily.
"I've been building this company for twelve years.
I know how to protect information.
I should have been protecting myself the same way from the start."
The elevator tone sounded at the end of the corridor.
Marcus said, "Transmitted.
All three.
Delivery confirmed."
Lisa closed her laptop.
She stood up, walked around the desk, and positioned herself in the center of the office, facing the glass wall and the corridor beyond it.
Two men appeared at the far end.
Dark jackets.
No visible identification.
They walked with the particular purposefulness of people who had been told exactly where to go and had not been told to be subtle about it.
They reached the office door.
The taller one opened it.
He looked at Lisa.
Then at Ryan.
Then at Daniel, who had not gone to the server room and was standing near the window with his arms crossed.
Then he looked at the phone on the desk.
"That call is still active," Lisa said.
"The person on the other end is a licensed investigator with federal contacts and a full record of this conversation.
The documents you were sent here to prevent from being released were transmitted four minutes ago to the FBI, the Judge Advocate General's office, and a journalist at the Washington Post." She paused.
"So I'd like to know what you're planning to do next.
Because I'm genuinely curious."
The two men looked at each other.
The shorter one reached into his jacket.
Ryan moved.
He crossed the room in three steps and caught the man's wrist before the hand cleared the pocket.
The movement was fast and practiced and left no room for argument.
"Don't," Ryan said quietly.
The man went still.
From the pocket, visible now, was not a w\*apon.
It was a phone.
The shorter man said, "We were told to record the conversation and report back."
"To whom?" Lisa said.
He hesitated.
"To whom?" she said again.
"Colonel Hargrove," he said.
The name landed in the room like a stone dropped into still water.
Lisa looked at Marcus's voice on the phone.
"Did you just hear that?"
"I heard it," Marcus said.
"Hargrove is one of your three recipients."
"Yes," Lisa said.
"He is."
May you like
She looked at the two men.
"You should probably call him," she said, "and let him know."
