I lowered the phone and looked at Captain Hayes.

“She has them,” I said.

“And she’s not going to give them up easily.”

Hayes rubbed his jaw, his eyes thoughtful.

“She’s bluffing about burning them,” Hayes said.

“They are her only leverage.”

“We need to find out where she kept them before she got into that car,” I said.

I looked back toward the glass doors of the ballroom.

The rain was coming down harder now, blurring the lights of the harbor.

A knock came at the office door.

The young Navy lieutenant who had been guarding the perimeter stepped inside.

He looked pale and held a small, clear plastic evidence bag.

“Lieutenant Colonel Rogers,” the lieutenant said.

“One of the security officers found this in the bushes by the exit door.”

“What is it?” I asked.

He held up the bag.

Inside was a small, brass safe-deposit key with a local Richmond bank tag attached to it.

The tag was stained with wet mud.

I stepped forward and took the bag from his hand.

“She dropped it,” I said.