I walked down the steps, the deputies following close behind me until I reached my vehicle.

“Do not return to this property, ma’am,” Deputy Garrison said, holding the driver’s side door of my SUV open for me.

I climbed inside, started the ignition, and drove down the long, winding driveway without looking back in the rearview mirror.

The gate closed behind me with a heavy, metallic clang that I felt in my teeth.

I pulled over onto the shoulder of the dark country road a mile away from the estate.

My hands were cold, and my pulse was fast, but my mind was clear.

I took the small black USB drive from my pocket—the one containing the encrypted files Dr. Reeves had risked his career to give me.

I also had Emily’s diary, its leather cover worn and stained, sitting on the passenger seat beside me.

I knew then that the local police in Charlotte were useless to me; Margaret’s influence ran too deep in this county.

Even the military chain of command was being manipulated by Senator Crane’s office to silence me.