“You’ve had your little moment of authority, but this is crossing a line.”

I looked at my mother, feeling a dull ache in my chest that I quickly pushed aside.

“I am not apologizing, Mother,” I said.

“And I am not stopping.”

I reached down to my briefcase, which sat on the floor beside my chair.

I unzipped the main compartment, my hand finding the second folder I had brought with me.

This folder was thicker, bound with a heavy blue clip that bore the seal of the state forensic laboratory.

Andrew saw the folder, and his eyes widened.

He knew exactly what was inside it.

He knew that the documents General Vance was currently reading were only the beginning.

The General looked up from the table, his eyes moving from the paperwork to me, then to Andrew, and finally to his own phone, which had just started to vibrate.

The General looked down at his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen.

The caller ID displayed a single name: Marcus.

He let the call go to voicemail, his face hardening as he set the device face-down on the polished mahogany table.