Four of the most powerful people in Washington were watching me on screen. Four of them heard the muffled countdown through the walls. Four of them saw the color drain from my face before I set my jaw.

I took a slow breath, reached for my webcam, and turned the lens toward the reinforced door of my office.

I tapped a few keys, patching the audio from my hallway cameras into the secure Senate channel.

“Gentlemen,” I said, steady despite the tremor in my hands. “I apologize for the interruption, but my ex-husband appears to be attempting an unsanctioned military raid on my residence to seize the very data we were discussing.

Please keep the feed recording.”

BOOM.