“That was a simple mix up. My friend and I were having lunch earlier. We must have picked up the wrong badges.” I’m alarmed at how easily lies are falling from my lips today.
“We know who you are, Ms. Lane. This is the second time you’ve broken into one of our facilities. The last time you accessed our mainframe and stole sensitive information. We want that information back.”
My heartrate speeds up, but I try to keep calm. “If you know all that, then you know your people have been stalking me.”
“Monitoring,” he says. “You’re the one who stole restricted files when you breached the first facility.” He tilts his head. “We must have that proprietary information back.”
“You’re out of luck. Everything on the file was encrypted. Once I discovered I couldn’t access it, I threw it away.”
“That’s not the information we were given by our private investigator.”
“You mean the man you hired to stalk me. He followed me and my daughter across multiple states, broke into my home and literally chased us down the street in the dark of night.”
His expression stays blank, except for a slight twitch near his right eye. “I highly doubt that. He was told to retrieve what you stole, not harass you. If you had handed over the flash drive the first time he asked, there would have been no incident.”
My jaw tightens. “I don’t have it and he never even asked me for anything.”
His tone shifts, sharpening. “Where is it?”
I shrug. “I told you, it’s gone.”
“Gone is not helpful.”
I just stare at him, refusing to say anything.
He shifts forward. “You traveled here today with a man named Rivera. One of your former companions from Kabul. You expect me to believe you actually came for a tour?”
Changing up my tactic, I say, “I came to see if your company was connected to the corruption that’s running rampant in other parts of your organization.”
“Your curiosity always did exceed your caution.”
Something cold twists in my gut. “You knew about me back then?”
“Let’s just say, I’m familiar with the reports concerning you from that time period.” His voice softens a bit. “You arrived in Kabul with a team of reporters. A group of you swarmed REACH, asking inappropriate questions about our business contracts and forced your way into one of our offices. Your group stole information from our database. It’s unclear what you and your team were even trying to investigate. Since you’re the only survivor, you must have the flash drive.”
“We were investigating corruption,” I snap before I can stop myself.
“Alleged corruption,” he shoots back.
“Right. I’m an investigative reporter. It’s what I do. I investigate potential corruption.”
“And look where all that prying into other people’s affairs led you.” He gestures to the guards. “You ended up homeless, hunted, and separated from your family and friends. You haven’t been investigating anything meaningful for the past four years. You should just give the flash drive back and be done with this facet of your life.”
I stare at him coldly, because his words really hit a nerve.
He laces his fingers together. “Tell me where the drive is. Whether or not you could decrypt the information on the drive, it was still the most valuable part of your investigation. It’s unlikely that you simply threw it away one day out of frustration.”
“Well, that’s exactly what happened.”
His voice turns colder. “This level of defiance is unnecessary. Corporate security will be here soon. They specialize in the extraction of sensitive information. Their methods can be unpleasant but persuasive.”
His words worry me, but I try not to show it. “Do you actually think threatening me will get you what you want?”
Hanley studies my face, and something in my expression must give him pause.
“What do you expect to gain from this situation?” he asks. “Is it fortune, fame, glory or is this some vain attempt to get your five minutes in the spotlight?”
Remembering the real reason I started investigating REACH, I sit up straighter and let him have it. “I’m expecting the truth about your company’s corruption to come out. I’m expecting your company to fall apart when law enforcement gets their hands on the proof of their wrongdoing. I’m expecting everything you buried to be uncovered.”
