I walked down the hallway toward my secure office, the heels of my boots echoing off the polished floors.

A young captain holding a clipboard stepped out of the command center.

“Ma’am, the report on the security sweep is ready,” he said.

“Put it on my desk, Captain,” I said.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

I unlocked the heavy door of my office and turned on the lights.

The desk was clear, save for a secure laptop and a small framed photograph of my mother.

I sat down in the leather chair and opened the laptop.

I needed to review the security logs myself.

If Daniel had tried to access my personal files, he would have triggered a red flag in the system.

I logged into the secure portal and opened the activity monitor.

My eyes scanned the login attempts from the past forty-eight hours.

There was a failed attempt from an unrecognized IP address in Lakewood at nine o’clock tonight.

He had tried to use my old password.

A cold smile touched my lips.

He was desperate, and desperate men made mistakes.