She pulled up the correlation data. "For at least two years. Maybe longer." Sarah pulled up more data. "And look at this—a payment to an FBI account two days before I was assigned to Montana."
That stopped him cold. "They bought your death."
"Or tried to." She met his eyes. "We need those names, Griff. This is bigger than Tank now. This is treason at the highest levels."
He was quiet for a long moment, studying the data. "This Arlington facility. Tell me what you know about it."
"It's a data backup site. Server farms, mostly. I've been there maybe a dozen times over two years, but only during business hours." Sarah pulled up what she could remember. "Badge access at the main entrance, sign-in at the security desk. They'd escort me to the research terminal room—never the actual server rooms."
"So you don't have access to where we need to go."
"No. And even if I did..." She paused, the reality hitting her. "By now the Chechens know I escaped. Whoever sent them knows I'm not dead. My clearance is probably flagged across every federal facility."
"Definitely flagged." Griff pulled up a map of Arlington on his tablet. "Using your credentials would trigger every alarm they have."
Her plan crumbled. "So we can't get in."
"I didn't say that." He studied the building's exterior on satellite view. "Federal facilities have patterns. Maintenance schedules, shift changes, contractor access points. Things theFBI doesn't think about because they're focused on keeping out criminals, not professionals."
"You want to break into a federal facility without my access?"
"Your access was never going to work. This was always going to be a hard infiltration." He glanced at her. "The question is whether you're prepared for what that means."
Sarah's stomach tightened. "Which is?"
"If we get caught, we're terrorists as far as the government’s concerned." Griff set down the tablet. "Still want to do this?"
Sarah thought about the accounts, the bribes, the conspiracy that had nearly killed her. Tank's death. All the deaths that would follow if they didn't get those names.Please, Lord,she prayed silently.Give me the strength and the wisdom to pull this off. To see justice done.
Then she squared her shoulders and adjusted her glasses. “One hundred percent.”
“Okay, then.” Griff pulled up a map of Arlington on his tablet. "Federal facilities have patterns. Maintenance schedules, shift changes, contractor access points. Things the FBI doesn't think about because they're focused on keeping out criminals, not professionals."
"We need your team." She couldn’t stop herself.
"No." The word came out sharp enough to cut.
"Griff, this is insane. Two people against a conspiracy this size?"
"You saw the surveillance photos. They're watching my people, waiting for me to make contact." He pulled up the dark web intel on his tablet. "Look at the timestamps. Round-the-clock surveillance on Ronan's house. The Knight Tactical hangar. Even tracking Maya's morning runs."
Sarah studied the images. "This had to cost a fortune. The manpower alone?—"
"Which tells you how badly they want to know when I surface. And now you." Griff's jaw tightened. "The second we reach out, everyone involved dies."
"All the more reason to warn them."
"Warn them of what? That there's danger? They know that. They've known since Tank died." He turned to face her. "The only thing contacting them would accomplish is putting them directly in the crosshairs. If I stay away, whoever’s pulling the strings can only guess who’s after them."
Sarah absorbed this. "So we get the names first. Then you can contact your team with actionable intelligence."
"Exactly. Not paranoid warnings from their AWOL teammate."
"They don't think you're paranoid."
"They think I'm lost in my grief. And maybe I was, for a while." He met her eyes. "But now I have a trail to follow. And I'm not dragging them into it until I know exactly where it leads."
"All the more reason to get those names."
