“Ethan believes what I tell him to believe,” Cassandra said. “He is a sweet boy, but he has no head for business.”

She walked back to the table and tapped the envelope again.

“I manage the risk-assessment division,” she said. “That means when a sub-contractor makes a mistake in Afghanistan, I fix it.”

“A mistake?” I asked, my voice rising. “Three civilians died because your transport carried unauthorized munitions.”

“It was a logistics error,” Cassandra said.

“It was a cover-up,” I said. “And Aaron Vale has the logs to prove it.”

Cassandra’s eyes narrowed slightly, the first sign of tension on her face.

“Aaron Vale is a broken man who spent too much time in the desert,” she said.

“He’s a witness,” I said. “And he’s terrified of your father.”

“He should be terrified of me,” Cassandra said softly.

The coldness in her voice made the hairs on my arms stand up.

I looked at the envelope again, realizing the depth of the trap.

“If I take this money, I become part of the cover-up,” I said.