I stepped back, my shoulder hitting Damon’s chest as he wrapped an arm around me, pulling me away from the center of the room.

Another man walked into the light, wearing a heavy overcoat over a dark suit.

He had graying hair and sharp, intelligent eyes that scanned the room before resting on Damon.

“Mr. Vale,” the man said, pulling a leather wallet from his pocket to reveal a federal badge. “I am Special Agent Vance. We’ve been tracking Dr. Brooks’s financial transactions for the last six months.”

Damon did not lower his guard, keeping his body positioned between me and the agents.

“You’re outside your jurisdiction, Agent Vance,” Damon said.

“When it comes to the Apex syndicate, my jurisdiction is everywhere,” Vance said, his voice calm. “We’ve been waiting for a break like this. We know about the server in the clinic.”

He looked at me, his eyes dropping to my hand, which was still tucked near my pocket where the recorder was.

“And I believe you have something we need, Mrs. Vale,” he said.

I looked at Damon, whose grip on my shoulder tightened slightly.