"I believe people are capable of anything under the right pressure." I meet his eyes across the analysis table, let him see the ice in mine. "I believe betrayal is always a possibility, even from people you think you know—people who vanished without a trace when I needed them most."
Recognition flashes across his expression, guilt settling into the lines around his eyes.
Good. He should carry that. He should feel it every time we're in the same room.
"Sarah—"
"We're not doing this." Each word is sharp and precise. "We're investigating a leak. Everything else belongs outside this room."
He nods once, controlled.
We return to the analysis, but something's shifted in the atmosphere. It's colder, more brittle. We're operating in a minefield where one wrong word will detonate everything we're trying to keep compartmentalized.
Communication logs for both potential sources appear on my screens. I start building timelines that correlate their contact with Committee activity. Micah cross-references with his intelligence on Webb's operations, identifying patterns that suggest information flow.
Rodriguez is more concerning. His financial situation has deteriorated significantly over recent months. His medical billsare mounting, his mortgage payments are late. It's the kind of pressure that makes federal contacts vulnerable to Committee recruitment.
But his communication patterns show none of the regular contact frequency you'd expect from active intelligence sharing. There are no suspicious gaps that might indicate in-person meetings or covert channels.
"Rodriguez is struggling financially but the pattern's wrong," Micah says, voicing what the data shows. "If he was selling intelligence regularly, we'd see more frequent contact or evidence of compensation. His bank records show declining balance, not unexplained deposits."
"Unless the Committee's paying him in cash or offshore accounts we can't trace."
"Possible. But Webb's methodical. He'd want documentation, leverage to ensure continued cooperation. Cash transactions leave him vulnerable if the source decides to stop cooperating."
We move to Victoria's files and the data gets more complicated. She contacts multiple intelligence sources, brokers information across networks, maintains relationships with people who have their own agendas and allegiances.
"Victoria's network is extensive." The contact map I built overnight spreads across the display, showing her connections spreading across federal agencies, private intelligence firms, international brokers. "She interfaces with dozens of sources monthly. Any one of them could be Committee-connected without her knowledge."
"Or with her knowledge if she's playing a deeper game."
"You think she'd risk it? Webb killed her brother."
Micah studies the network map with an intensity I remember from DC when he was tracking Committee financial flows through shell corporations and offshore accounts. "Webb'sorganization is different now than it was before Morrison died. More aggressive. More willing to take risks Morrison would have avoided. If Webb made Victoria an offer that served her interests beyond just revenge?—"
"She might take it." I finish the thought. Old patterns resurface despite everything between us—thinking in parallel, following logical threads to conclusions neither of us wants to reach.
"Victoria's smart enough to play both sides if she thought she could control the outcome," Micah says quietly. "Revenge is satisfying but it doesn't pay bills or build power. If Webb offered her something beyond just money—information, leverage, access to networks she couldn't penetrate otherwise—she might calculate the risk is worth the potential gain."
My stomach tightens. He's right.
Victoria operates on ruthless pragmatism wrapped in personal vendetta. She hates Webb enough to bleed his organization dry with intelligence leaks, but she's also practical enough to recognize when cooperation might serve her larger goals.
"We need to verify her recent contact with Committee-adjacent sources." I start building a query to trace communication patterns through her network. "Cross-reference with Committee operational activity, see if intelligence flow correlates with missions or strategic decisions."
"I can map Committee operations against timeline," Micah says, files already open. "Identify when they had knowledge they shouldn't have, work backward to potential intelligence sources."
We're working together now with the fluid coordination we had in DC, building analysis from multiple angles that converge on truth whether we like what it reveals or not. My fingers fly across the keyboard, accessing signals intelligence andcommunication metadata. His tablet screen reflects operational timelines and network diagrams that show Committee structure with frightening precision.
Minutes blur into hours. Data accumulates. Patterns emerge.
Rodriguez remains possible but increasingly unlikely. Financial pressure is real but evidence of Committee contact is circumstantial at best. There's no smoking gun, no clear pattern of information exchange.
Victoria's network is the problem. She has multiple connections to sources that interface with Committee-adjacent organizations, communication spikes that correspond with Echo Ridge operations, intelligence requests that could be routine or could be reconnaissance.
"We can't prove Victoria's compromised based on this analysis." Frustration edges into my voice despite my best efforts to maintain clinical detachment. "Her network is too complex, too many legitimate reasons for contact with sources that might also connect to the Committee."
"We need more data," Micah agrees. "Direct observation, communication intercepts that show intent rather than just pattern."
