Chapter 7 #3
"I've identified several potential sources.
" Sarah pulls up her own analysis on the display, replacing my surveillance images with communication logs and pattern analysis.
"Victoria Cross is the most concerning. She's our primary intelligence broker, has extensive knowledge of our operations, and despite her hatred of the Committee, she's pragmatic enough to sell information if the price is right. "
The analysis is thorough and detailed. Exactly what Sarah excels at—finding patterns in data that other analysts miss and building cases that hold up under the most aggressive scrutiny.
She's traced communication timing, cross-referenced with Committee activity, identified suspicious requests for information that seemed routine at the time but look like intelligence gathering in retrospect.
"Federal contacts are next," she continues, pulling up another set of files. "We've cultivated relationships with burned operators who have their own grudges against the system. Any one of them could have been flipped. The Committee has resources for blackmail, threats, promises of reinstatement."
Kane studies the data with the intensity he applies to mission planning. "Tommy's running deep forensic analysis on the communication logs. We should have preliminary results within hours."
He pauses, considering the implications. "But if this is ongoing compromise, we need to restructure how we interface with external assets. New compartmentalization protocols. Different communication channels."
"Sarah and I can implement that together," I say, finally acknowledging what we've all been carefully not stating directly.
"The leak is in signals intelligence. It requires someone with Sarah's NSA background and my knowledge of Committee networks to trace the flow without alerting whoever's feeding them information. "
Silence fills the conference room. The atmosphere is heavy, charged with implications that have nothing to do with security and everything to do with two years of silence and grief and anger that hasn't been addressed.
Sarah finally looks at me. I see her fury barely contained beneath controlled distance. "Then we work it together." Each word is sharp enough to draw blood. "All business. You know Committee networks. I know signals. We cross-reference and find whoever's selling us out."
"Roger."
"And the history we have," she continues, each word precise and deliberate, "stays separate from this investigation. We're professionals. We do the job. We don't let emotions compromise what needs to happen."
She's drawing lines, establishing boundaries. Making it clear that working together means nothing beyond two operatives doing their jobs despite the history between them.
I can live with that. Have to live with that, because she's right. The mission comes first. Finding the leak before it gets someone killed comes first. Everything else is secondary.
"Copy that," I say.
Kane watches this exchange with an expression that says he's not entirely convinced we can maintain distance, but he's willing to let us try.
"Sarah's been running the preliminary investigation solo.
She has a list of potential sources and suspicious communication patterns.
You'll work together to trace the intelligence flow, identify the leak, and determine if this is intentional betrayal or unwitting compromise. "
He stands, signaling the briefing is complete. "Tommy will provide technical support and forensic analysis. I'll coordinate with our external contacts to verify their security protocols without alerting anyone that we're investigating. You two focus on finding the leak."
Kane heads for the door, then pauses with his hand on the frame. "Sarah's right. History stays separate from this investigation. You're both professionals. Act like it."
He leaves us alone in the conference room. Sarah and I, sitting across from each other with years of silence and a compromised intelligence network between us.
She closes her tablet and stands. "We start tomorrow morning. Oh-six-hundred. My workspace. Bring everything you have on Committee communication networks and intelligence gathering methods. We'll cross-reference with my analysis and start building a profile of whoever's feeding them information."
"Roger."
She's halfway to the door when she stops. She won't turn around, just stands there with her back to me, tension radiating through her posture.
"I read your message," she says quietly. "Trust no one outside the team. Good advice. I'm following it."
Then she walks out, leaving me alone in the conference room with the weight of everything unsaid hanging in the air like smoke.
I gather my equipment and head for my quarters.
Tomorrow morning I'll be working in close proximity with a woman who hates me for reasons I understand and accept.
The investigation will force us into situations where distance becomes impossible and the past we're both trying to ignore demands acknowledgment.
The Committee files are waiting on my tablet. The contact's face. Reeve's intelligence. Webb's network spreading like cancer through channels we thought were secure.
They identified Sarah as exploitable, found personal complications they think they can leverage against Echo Ridge.
Whoever's feeding intelligence to Webb thinks they're protected. Anonymous. Safe behind encryption and dead drops.
They made Sarah the target.
That was their first mistake. I'm going to make sure it's their last one, and that starts tomorrow at oh-six-hundred.