Ryker looked at me, then back at Owen.

“I’m going to look inside, Owen,” Ryker said. “I won’t hurt him.”

He pulled a small pocketknife from his trousers and slid the blade through the dark nylon threads.

The seam popped open.

A small puff of gray stuffing spilled out onto the white duvet.

Ryker reached his fingers deep into the bear’s belly.

His fingers clicked against something hard.

He pulled his hand out, holding a small metal object.

It was a rugged, military-grade USB flash drive, cased in thick black aluminum.

A tiny red LED light on the side of the drive blinked once, then went dark.

“What is it?” I asked, stepping closer.

“An encrypted drive,” Ryker said, his voice grim. “Hardware-locked. The kind they use for high-security databases.”

He turned the drive over, finding a small serial number etched into the metal.

“Your father hid this,” Ryker said to Owen.

Owen didn’t answer, but he reached out for his bear.

Ryker gently pushed the stuffing back inside the toy and handed it back to the boy.

“Thank you, Owen,” Ryker said. “You did a good job keeping it safe.”