The soldiers who died in the ambush hadn’t been victims of bad luck.

They had been bait, sent into the valley to justify the increased security spending.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

This was bigger than a corrupt colonel and his mistress.

This involved a multi-billion-dollar corporation with lobbyist ties on Capitol Hill.

I copied the files to an encrypted partition on my hard drive.

I ejected the physical key and pocketed it, my hands cold.

My phone buzzed on the wooden table, the vibration loud against the oak.

The screen showed an internal military exchange number.

I hesitated, then swiped to answer.

“Eleanor,” General Albright’s voice came through the line.

He sounded incredibly tired, his usual booming tone replaced by a raspy whisper.

“Sir,” I said. “I’m in the basement archives.”

“Stay there,” he said. “I’m coming to you.”

“I found it, General,” I said. “I know why Cole did it. It was Apex Horizon.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

“Does the file mention the committee?” Albright asked quietly.