“These are defense files,” he said, his voice flat. “Naval encryption codes.”

“I’ve never seen them before,” I said. “I didn’t even have clearance for that sector.”

“I know,” he said.

He set the phone on the mahogany desk.

“But whoever put this together made sure it looks like you did.”

“It’s Marcus,” I said, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of my neck.

“He has connections in Washington,” I added. “He knows how to manipulate federal databases.”

Damiano walked to the window, looking out over the rain-slicked city streets below.

“He couldn’t have bypassed my internal firewalls alone,” Damiano said.

I watched the tension in his broad shoulders.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“To link this to my servers, someone had to give him access from the inside,” Damiano said.

He turned around, his face shadowed by the dim light of the office.

“Someone in my own circle is helping him.”

The realization made the room feel suddenly smaller.

“Who?” I asked.

“Silvio,” Damiano said simply. “And his faction.”

He walked back to the desk and picked up the ring from where I had dropped it.