Sterling put on a pair of reading glasses and began to flip through the pages.

The room was silent except for the rustle of the paper and the low hum of a generator outside.

I watched Sterling’s face transition from professional calm to pale disbelief.

“Richard?” Patricia prompted, her voice rising. “Well?”

Sterling closed the folder slowly.

He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Where did they find the server?” Sterling asked.

“In the study upstairs,” I said. “Directly connected to the Aegis database.”

Sterling looked at Patricia, then at Grant.

“Patricia,” he said, his voice dropping an octave. “We need to step into the library.”

“No,” she said, her chin rising. “We speak here. Tell them how quickly this will be dismissed.”

“It won’t be dismissed, Patricia,” Sterling said.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “You’re the best corporate defense attorney in the state. Fix this.”

“This isn’t a corporate dispute,” Sterling said. “This is espionage.”

He set his briefcase down on a mahogany side table.

“The warrant lists the transfer of proprietary military software to foreign state actors,” he said.