Page 35 of Bride of Vengeance

"Illegal surveillance?"

I lean back against the table, studying her face. "The question isn't how I got the information. It's what you plan to do with it."

She sets down the photograph with careful precision. "You're asking me to use evidence obtained through criminal means to build a federal case."

"I'm asking you to stop a traitor who's been selling witness locations for profit."

"The evidence would be inadmissible in court."

"Evidence obtained illegally by criminals is inadmissible. Evidence obtained by federal agents following legitimate leads is different."

Understanding dawns in her expression. "You want me to recreate your investigation using proper channels."

"I want you to use your analytical mind and federal resources to confirm what I already know." I move to stand beside her, close enough to smell her shampoo. "Harrison has been trafficking federal witnesses for years. Selling some to the criminals they were supposed to escape. Killing others when they become inconvenient."

"That's impossible. The oversight, the protocols---"

"All designed by the same man who's been subverting them." I point to another document. "Harrison helped design the current witness protection system. He knows every safeguard, every check and balance. He's had years to perfect methods of circumventing his own security measures."

She studies the evidence with the focused intensity I've watched her apply to crime scenes and case files. The same expression that made me realize she was different from other federal agents. More thorough. More dedicated. More dangerous to people who profit from corruption.

"This pattern," she says, pointing to a timeline I've constructed. "The disappearances correlate with budget approvals for the witness protection program."

"Harrison gets additional funding for protecting witnesses who are already dead."

"Jesus." She sinks into one of the dining chairs, processing the implications. "How many?"

"At least thirty-seven over five years. Probably more."

Thirty-seven people whose trust in the federal government got them killed. Thirty-seven families who think their loved ones are safe when they're actually dead.

"We need to contact someone. The Attorney General, Internal Affairs, someone with authority to investigate---"

"Who? Harrison has contacts throughout the federal system. Judges, prosecutors, other agents. Some compromised through blackmail, others through bribery. Some who simply trust a respected colleague with twenty-eight years of service."

She looks up at me, and I can see her world shifting again. Everything she believed about federal law enforcement being called into question.

"Then what's the solution?"

"We build an airtight case using evidence that can't be disputed. We find witnesses Harrison can't silence. We expose his network systematically, starting with his weakest links and working our way up."

"That could take months."

"Better than rushing to judgment and watching him disappear into witness protection himself."

She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "You think he has an escape plan?"

"I think Harrison is too smart to build a corruption network without multiple exit strategies. Swiss bank accounts, false identities, probably a private jet fueled and ready for international flight."

The same preparations I made when I started this life fifteen years ago. The same contingencies any intelligent criminal maintains.

"So we work fast."

"We work smart." I pull out a chair beside hers, close enough that our shoulders almost touch when we both lean over the documents. "Starting with pattern analysis."

For the next four hours, we built a case that would make federal prosecutors weep with joy. Mariana's analytical mind combined with my intelligence resources creates a comprehensive picture of corruption that spans multiple states and involves dozens of federal personnel.

She's magnificent when she works. Completely focused, asking sharp questions, making connections I missed. Watching her deconstruct Harrison's network is like watching an artist create a masterpiece.