“You think Hayes is your ally?” Richard asked, a faint smile touching his lips. “He’s already setting up the fall guy. Or in this case, the fall girl.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Ask yourself why you were suddenly recalled from your post,” Richard said. “Ask yourself why your transfer paperwork went through so quickly.”

My heart did a slow, heavy roll in my chest.

“My transfer was routine,” I said.

“Nothing is routine when it comes to the Vanguard shipments,” Richard said.

He reached into his inner pocket.

I brought the gun up, aligning it with his forehead. “Hands where I can see them.”

He slowly pulled out a leather cigar case, then replaced it.

“I have no desire to hurt you, Natalie,” he said. “But you are out of your depth.”

I risked a half-second glance at my phone screen, which was resting face-up on the desk.

The lock screen had lit up with a preview of the text message from an unknown number.

It was a string of characters: *VANGUARD_MANIFEST_ACTIVE.*

Beneath it was a single PDF attachment preview.