And the way her gaze finds mine and holds for just a beat too long.
"Traci's resting," she says, and her voice gives nothing away. Pure professional reporting. "She gave us everything she could remember about the compound, the routines, the people she saw." Her gaze shifts to the screens. "I take it that’s Simon Graves."
"U.S. Marshal," Cara says. "Decorated veteran. Impeccable record. And almost certainly the Marshal we've been hunting."
Helena absorbs that without visible reaction. Just nods once. "So we're not fighting a criminal organization. We're fighting a federal officer with the full weight of law enforcement resources behind him."
"Which means we can't go through normal channels," I say. "Can't report this to local authorities, can't trust federal agencies. Graves has too many connections, too much influence."
"We build an airtight case first," Cara says. "Then we go over his head. Justice Department, FBI headquarters, maybe even congressional oversight. But we need evidence that's absolutely bulletproof before we move."
"Evidence from a seventeen-year-old trafficking victim who can't speak," Helena points out. "Who'll be torn apart on any witness stand by defense attorneys arguing she's traumatized and unreliable."
"Which is why we need more than Traci's testimony." Cara starts pulling up financial databases, corporate records. "I've got access to the systems now, but that doesn't mean this is simple. Shell corporations are layered deep. Offshore accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland. Money moving through channels designed to be invisible." She pulls up financial traces. "And even with my credentials, pulling certain records on someone at his level triggers oversight reviews. If I'm not careful, I tip him off that we're investigating."
"So you're limited in what you can search," I say.
"I'm limited in what I can search without alerting him," Cara corrects. "There's a difference. I can access the databases, but the moment I start pulling his financials, his case files, his communications—anything that would show the trafficking connection—it creates an audit trail. And Graves has enough allies in the Marshals Service that someone will warn him."
Helena's expression sharpens. "So we're racing the clock. The moment he knows you're building a case, he comes after Traci with everything he's got."
"Exactly." Cara's frustration shows through the professional facade. "I need to build an ironclad case before he realizes what I'm doing. Need financial records, communications intercepts, surveillance footage. Need to connect him directly to the trafficking network in ways that can't be explained away or buried by his political allies."
"What about Rhys?" I ask. "He's got resources, connections."
"Rhys is already helping coordinate the intelligence gathering," Cara says. "But he's in the same position I am—pull the wrong file, trigger the wrong audit, and we alert Graves before we're ready to move."
Finn appears behind Helena in the doorway, and she shifts slightly to let him through. A small movement that brings her closer to me. Near enough that I catch her scent—soap and something else, something that's just her. Near enough to remember how that skin tastes.
Not now.
"Speaking of Rhys," Finn says. "He just sent updated intel. Graves is mobilizing contractors from outside Alaska. Private security firms with plausible deniability and no official connection to the Marshals Service."
"When?" I ask.
"Best estimate, within days." Finn's expression is grim. "He's not coming back with a small team this time. He's coming back with an army."
The weight of it settles over the room. We're facing a federal marshal with decades of connections and resources, who's willing to deploy private military contractors to eliminate a witness and anyone protecting her.
And we're running out of time to stop him.
Helena breaks the silence. "Then we work faster. Cara, what do you need to build the case?"
"Time to dig through the financials without triggering alerts. Communications intercepts that require warrants I can get but take days to process. Surveillance footage from the compound—which we don't have because we don't know where it is." Cara's frustration is clear now. "I have access to the tools, but using them without tipping off Graves requires moving carefully. And careful takes time we don't have."
"What about physical evidence?" Helena asks. "If we knew where the compound was, could we get proof from there?"
"Maybe. But Traci was unconscious when they transported her. All she knows is it's in the mountains, remote, possibly in Alaska but she's not certain." Cara pulls up a property search. "I've identified several properties owned by shell corporations that might be connected to Graves but raiding them requires federal warrants. Which means involving more people. Which means more chances for someone to warn Graves."
"So we're stuck," Finn says.
"We're racing against time," Cara corrects. "I can build the case, but it'll take weeks to do it properly. And if the contractors are coming back in days?—"
"We don't have weeks," I finish.
Silence settles. The tactical problem is laid bare. Cara can build a case that brings down Graves, but it requires time we don't have. Meanwhile, threats are mobilizing against a position we can barely defend.
"How defensible is this compound?" Helena asks, watching me. Assessing. Reading body language the way I read terrain and threat vectors.
