“And we are bypassing the local jurisdiction entirely,” Ryker said.

He inserted a black flash drive into the terminal.

“If we send this to the state police, it gets deleted,” I said. “We need the federal prosecutor. I have a contact at the Eastern District.”

“Name?” Ryker asked.

“Assistant U.S. Attorney Miller,” I said. “We worked a corporate fraud case together last year. He’s clean. And he hates corrupt local cops.”

Ryker nodded. He opened a secure, encrypted email client.

“Draft the message,” Ryker said, sliding the keyboard toward me. “Keep it brief. Attach the decrypted ledgers and the bank routing numbers.”

My hands were shaking as I sat in his leather chair.

The flashing lights outside seemed to grow brighter.

A loud metallic grinding sound echoed from the front of the estate.

“They’re through the gate,” Ryker said, looking out the narrow window.

I focused on the screen.

*To: AUSA Miller,* I typed. *Urgent. Evidence of systemic public corruption and child endangerment involving Cook County officials and the Steel estate.*

I dragged the heavy, decrypted PDF files into the attachment field.