Patricia had sat on our sofa for three hours, claiming she was organizing her recipes.

She had asked me for our Wi-Fi password, smiling her usual tight, polite smile.

“She used our own internet to set up the framework for the accusation,” I said.

The realization tasted like ash in my mouth.

“And she sent the actual payload from her own living room three days ago,” the officer added.

“That is a federal offense,” Hayes said flatly. “Conspiracy to defame a military officer.”

“It was just a family matter,” Daniel whispered.

He took a step toward me, reaching out a hand, but stopped when General Hayes shifted his stance.

“This stopped being a family matter when you forged official documents,” Hayes told him.

The officer’s tablet chimed again, louder this time.

The blue light from the screen reflected in the officer’s glasses as he read the new data.

“Sir, we have bypassed the encryption on the sending device’s cloud backup,” the officer said.

“What did you find?” Hayes asked.

“There are several draft folders,” the officer said.

“Read them,” I said.