It was a live video feed from a camera inside the carriage house.

In the small, grainy frame, I saw a gloved hand lifting a weathered wooden floorboard in the corner of the tack room.

Beneath the board was a heavy metal lockbox, its surface covered in a layer of dust.

But what caught my eye was not the box itself.

It was the small, blinking blue light attached to the side of the metal casing.

A light that was flashing faster with every passing second.

I tapped the screen, zooming in on the blue light.

It was a wireless transmitter linked to a thermite charge.

If that light went solid, the evidence inside the lockbox would turn to ash in seconds.

I stepped closer to General Vance, keeping my eyes on the wet stone steps.

“Sir, we have a active thermal device in the carriage house,” I said.

Vance did not turn his head, but his jaw tightened.

“Handler,” Vance said, his voice low. “Secure the perimeter of the secondary structure.”

“Understood, sir,” I replied.

Across the driveway, two tactical officers in black gear detached themselves from the main group.