Richard leaned in toward the edge of the monitor, his shadow falling over the bottom of the keyboard.

The tech peeled back two inches of gray plush, exposing a rectangular shape wrapped in black electrical tape.

“Item recovered,” the tech said into his lapel mic.

“High-capacity flash drive, sixteen gigabytes, serial number matches the Department of Defense inventory tag.”

Sarah turned to Richard and took off her glasses to look him straight in the eye.

“That’s the whole chain of evidence, Colonel,” Sarah said.

“He can’t erase it, he can’t deny it, and he can’t ever lay a hand on her again.”