Chapter 32

The flashing red and blue lights of a dozen federal vehicles illuminated the plaza outside Hale Systems headquarters. heavily armed tactical teams had formed a secure perimeter around the building.

When Cole parked the SUV, four agents immediately surrounded the vehicle, pulling a defeated, silent Elias Thorne from the back seat and shoving him toward a heavily armored transport van.

I helped Celeste out of the car. She looked completely exhausted, shivering in the cold night air, but a faint, genuine smile touched her bruised face.

"You did it," Celeste whispered, looking at the silver briefcase I still carried. "Thomas would be incredibly proud of you."

"He should have destroyed it himself," I said softly, looking at the heavy metal case. "But at least he gave us the tools to finish it."

A black government sedan pulled up, and the regional Director of the FBI stepped out, looking furious and completely overwhelmed by the global crisis we had just triggered. He marched directly toward Cole.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done, Agent?" the Director barked, completely ignoring protocols. "Half of Washington is currently packing their bags for non-extradition countries! The stock market is going to crash tomorrow morning!"

"I did my job, sir," Cole replied calmly, standing his ground. "I neutralized a domestic terrorist organization and secured a high-value hostile. The fallout is for the politicians to manage."

The Director opened his mouth to shout again, but stopped when he saw me standing there with the silver briefcase. He recognized me from the Vale hearings. He knew I had the entire weight of public opinion behind me.

He swallowed his anger, adjusted his coat, and nodded stiffly. "We will need that hardware for evidence."

"No," I said, stepping back. "The hardware belongs to Hale Systems. It’s proprietary technology. You have the data dump. You don't get the Key."

The Director glared, but he didn't push it. He turned and walked away to coordinate the massive manhunt that was about to unfold across the globe.

Hannah walked over, holding two cups of terrible vending-machine coffee she had acquired from the lobby. She handed one to me.

"So," Hannah said, taking a sip and grimacing. "What do we do now?"

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I looked at the glowing Hale Systems logo on the side of the building.

"We go home," I said.