Arthur set the phone down on the glass desk.

“We must leave immediately,” he said.

“Where?” I asked, looking up at him.

“The safe house uptown,” he said. “We cannot stay here. If he has initiated the leak, federal agents will be at this building within the hour.”

I stood up, my knees slightly weak as the gravity of the situation hit me.

“What about the ledger?” I asked.

“Copy it,” Arthur said.

He reached into his inner jacket pocket and handed me a small, metallic flash drive.

“I need the raw database files. The untampered versions.”

I plugged the drive into the side of the laptop.

The progress bar appeared, ticking upward slowly.

*10%… 15%… 20%…*

The wait was agonizing, the small green bar moving with agonizing slowness.

I looked at the high glass window.

The rain was hitting the glass in heavy sheets now, blurring the lights of the city below into smears of yellow and red.

“He is going to get away with it,” I whispered.

“No,” Arthur said.

He stood close to me, his presence solid and grounding in the dark room.