“Chief Deputy Lucas Warren.”
“Where is he?”
Jared’s face went pale.
“He left an hour before you got here.”
Ortiz immediately opened the door.
“Find Warren.”
Agents moved.
Sarah returned to Jared.
“Anything else?”
He scrolled.
Photographs of handwritten ledgers.
Initials.
Amounts.
Dates.
Then one image stopped Sarah.
E.S. — 40K — TRANSFER SOUTH
“E.S.?”
Jared shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Sarah did.
At least she feared she did.
Everett Shaw.
Retired Army colonel.
Former logistics-security commander.
Now senior consultant for Atlas Meridian Freight.
Sarah had met him repeatedly at defense-industry briefings.
He had access.
Knowledge.
Contractor relationships.
And, most importantly, familiarity with the exact shipping routes involved.
Sarah stood.
Reed saw her face through the glass.
“What?”
She showed him the photograph.
He stopped breathing for half a second.
“No.”
“Maybe.”
“Sarah.”
“Maybe.”
Reed looked at the initials.
“You think Everett?”
“I think we check before we decide.”
Reed nodded.
Evidence before assumption.
The lesson seemed determined to repeat itself.
Everett Shaw was supposed to be in Washington.
He was not.
His assistant claimed he had left his office early for a private appointment.
His phone stopped transmitting at 4:52.
Twenty minutes after federal vehicles arrived in Oak Haven.
Too coincidental.
Sarah called Atlas Meridian’s security director.
“When did Shaw last access your logistics network?”
A pause.
“Today.”
“Time?”
“Four thirty-eight.”
“What files?”
Another pause.
“General, these are corporate—”
“Do not finish that sentence.”
The man complied.
Keyboard sounds.
Then:
“He accessed Oak Haven route archives.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Preserve everything.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She called Reed.
“He knows.”
“About the raid?”
“Yes.”
“Location?”
“Unknown.”
“We'll find him.”
Sarah looked toward Ryker.
“Not if Ryker warned him.”
Reed followed her gaze.
“Did he?”
“Let's ask.”
Ryker’s lawyer arrived before questioning.
Mason Clark.
Atlanta criminal-defense attorney.
A five-hundred-dollar suit and the exhausted expression of someone who understood his client had made several extremely expensive decisions before calling him.
Clark listened to a summary.
Then asked for privacy.
Twenty minutes later, he emerged.
“My client is willing to answer limited questions under a proffer.”
Ortiz smiled.
“Already?”
Clark did not.
“Your military case changed the discussion.”