Page 39 of Raven

Accessed: Building Plans – Warehouse District

Accessed: Evidence Photos – Bomb Scene

Accessed: Forensics Analysis Drafts (Unapproved)

Why would Katherine be logging in that early—before the bomb even went off?

I stared at the screen.

The bombing occurred atfive-twelve a.m.That meant she was inside the database nearly an hour and a halfbeforethe explosion, looking at layouts of the very building that would later be reduced to ash and twisted steel.

My stomach dropped.

I clicked into the draft report she’d accessed. It wasn’t even supposed to exist yet. It mentioned bomb components… before those components had even been collected.

My chest tightened. Was this real? Was I being set up?

I copied the logs to a thumb drive from my pocket and shut everything down just as the front door opened.

Footsteps.

I quickly turned from the desk and forced a casual stretch, pretending I was just getting started on shift paperwork.

Katherine walked in, holding a steaming coffee to-go cup, her expression unreadable as always.

“You’re here earlyagain,” she said, almost amused.

“Couldn’t sleep.” I smiled and moved away from the computer, my heart pounding so loud I was sure she could hear it. “I keep thinking about that missing fragment.”

She paused, tilting her head. “Still chasing ghosts?”

“Something like that.”

Her eyes lingered on me a beat too long.

Then she smiled. “Let me know if you find one.”

As she turned toward her desk, I slipped the thumb drive into my jacket pocket.

If I was wrong… I was going to destroy someone’s career.

But if I was right… she was already trying to destroy mine.

21

Raven

By the timewe touched down in Germany to refuel, I was already moving.

While the others hit the showers or stretched out for a few hours of sleep, I called Sean, our team coordinator back home. The second he picked up, I didn’t waste time.

“I need a flight back. Now.”

Sean grunted. “Thought you were scheduled to stay on until the handoff.”

“Can you change it.”

There was a pause on the line. “Raven, what’s going on?”

---