Jake stood still for a moment, then set the phone down on the counter.

“You aren’t really going to give him the drive,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

“No,” Jake said.

He walked over to the table and picked up his secure military cell phone, the one Major Hayes had provided.

He dialed a number from memory and put it to his ear.

“Major Hayes,” Jake said when the call connected. “Logan just called. He wants to trade the house and the custody petition for the backup drive.”

He listened for a moment, his eyes scanning the dark yard outside our window.

“I agreed to meet him at the development site at one in the morning,” Jake continued. “I told him I’d bring the drive.”

I could hear the faint, rapid sound of Major Hayes’s voice through the earpiece.

“I need you to record the conversation, Jake,” she was saying. “If we can get him on tape admitting to the forgery and the extortion, we don’t just have a civil case anymore. We have a federal conspiracy.”