“I purged the physical drives twenty minutes ago.”

“The cooling fans are still running because the system is wiping the sectors.”

I looked past her through the glass partition of the server room.

The small LED lights on the server racks were flashing a solid, angry red.

Usually, they were a steady, calm blue.

“Carter doesn’t have the clearance for a hard purge,” I said.

“He doesn’t,” Sloane agreed.

“But I do.”

“I’ve been the administrator of this network for three weeks, Evelyn.”

“While you were in the hospital, your husband was very cooperative.”

“He signed the administrative transfer forms.”

“And I initiated the new security protocols.”

I felt a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck.

“Lydia will have an injunction by morning,” I said.

“This is corporate theft.”

“It’s a federal crime.”

Sloane laughed, a soft, dry sound.

“Good luck proving it,” she said.

“By morning, the drives will be blank.”

“The physical backup tapes are already in the trunk of my car.”

She tapped the enter key on the keyboard.

The progress bar hit ninety-eight percent.