Chapter 5 - The Team Comes HomeBy the following morning, Crosswind had assembled in a secure briefing room.
Five people sat around the table with Colonel Hale. Sergeant Malik Grant, our technical specialist, had already begun reviewing the recovered files. Staff Sergeant Owen Price handled protective planning and operational logistics. Lieutenant Mara Bennett coordinated with our intelligence partners.
They were not a group of people who talked unnecessarily.
That was why I trusted them.
Hale displayed three photographs.
Ryan Cole.
Morgan Vale.
And a man none of us had expected to see.
Adrian Voss, the founder of Voss Meridian, a defense logistics company that had received several government contracts.
Voss's company had been under investigation for months because sensitive transport information had appeared in unauthorized hands. At first, the breach looked like a technical failure. Then the pattern pointed toward someone with access to internal schedules and financial records.
Cole Strategic had handled compliance work for one of Voss Meridian's subcontractors.
Morgan had processed payments through several small consulting firms.
The connections were suspicious, but suspicion was not enough to prove they were part of the same criminal operation.
Now the assault recording had given investigators something concrete.
“Federal agents are obtaining warrants for the relevant accounts and addresses,” Hale explained. “Our team will support the investigation within our authorized role. We are not here to conduct a private military operation against domestic civilians.”
Grant brought up a timeline.
“Ryan's company received three payments from shell entities associated with Voss Meridian. The first was six weeks ago. The second came four days before the assault. The third was scheduled for tomorrow.”
“Amount?” I asked.
“Just under two million dollars in total.”
Price frowned.
“That's not ordinary consulting income.”
“No,” Grant replied. “And the payment descriptions don't match the services listed on the invoices.”
Hale turned to me.
“Nia, if the black drive is connected to the data breach, your daughter's testimony could help us establish how it reached Cole.”
“Then let's recover it.”
“We will. Carefully.”
A federal agent joined the briefing through video.
Special Agent Torres explained that investigators had obtained temporary protective measures for Elise, along with warrants related to the assault investigation. Hospital security had been notified that Ryan and Morgan were not to access her room.
For the first time, I felt that the situation was moving in a direction I could control.
Then Torres received a message.
She read it silently.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
“Someone attempted to access Elise's medical record overnight using a physician's credentials.”
“Did it succeed?”
“Partially. The user opened her discharge summary and viewed her room number.”
Grant looked up.
“From the hospital network?”
“Yes.”
“Then the attacker may have had access to the hospital system.”
Price immediately began coordinating additional security with the hospital.
Torres continued.
“The login originated from a device registered to a private security company that provides services to several facilities in the area. We're tracking the account now.”
I felt the old familiar pressure settle into my chest.
Our investigation overseas had taught me one hard truth: when someone knew where you were and what you were protecting, the danger could arrive wearing a friendly face.
We moved to the hospital under an agreed protection arrangement, coordinating with law enforcement and hospital security.
Two officers stood outside Elise's room. A second nurse had been assigned to her care, and the hospital had restricted access to her electronic records.
Everything appeared secure.
Then I noticed a man standing near the elevator.
He wore blue scrubs and carried a clipboard. His posture was casual, but his eyes moved repeatedly toward Elise's room.
I watched him for several seconds.
He noticed me looking.
Then he turned and walked away.
I followed only as far as the public corridor, where a hospital security officer joined me. The man was gone by the time we reached the elevator.
“Did you recognize him?” the officer asked.
“No.”
I returned to Elise's room.
She was awake, watching the door.
“Mom?”
“Everything okay?”
“Someone called me last night.”
“Who?”
“They said they were from the hospital. They asked me to confirm my date of birth and whether I'd saved any videos on my phone.”
I felt a cold weight settle in my stomach.
“What did you tell them?”
“I hung up.”
“Good.”
She swallowed.
“Mom, there's something I haven't told the police.”
I sat beside her.
“Tell me now.”
“When Ryan was looking for the drive, he said it was more than enough to destroy him. He said if the wrong people found it, everyone connected to Voss Meridian would come after us.”
“Did he say why?”
She nodded.
“He said Dad had taken something that didn't belong to him.”
Before I could ask another question, Grant called my phone.
His voice was unusually tight.
“We recovered another fragment from the suspicious device. It contains a list of planned targets.”
“Send it.”
A file appeared on my screen.
There were seven names.
My name was first.
Elise's was second.
Daniel Carter's was third, followed by four people I recognized from the investigation into Voss Meridian.
Daniel had been dead for four years.
I read the list again.
Then I saw the timestamp beside his name.
TARGET STATUS: UNRESOLVED.
The file had been created less than two months ago.
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Someone was still treating my dead husband as a problem that needed to be solved.
And my daughter might have stumbled onto the reason why.
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