Chapter 310

After Matthew dropped Reese off at her apartment, he headed straight to BlackOak. With solid evidence in hand showing Leslie had stolen Blade’s data and worked with foreign operatives, it was only a matter of time before she was arrested. Matthew needed to meet up with the agents from the National Security Bureau and help them piece together exactly how Leslie pulled off her scheme using their Trojan horse trap.
Back at her apartment, Reese had just finished making dinner when there was a sudden knock on her door. She figured it was Matthew coming back to talk, so she opened up without a second thought. Instead, she found several agents standing in the hallway. Reese froze, caught completely off guard.
“Ms. Meyer,” the lead agent said, holding out his badge, “you are suspected of illegally transmitting classified national medical data overseas. We need you to come with us for questioning.”
He flashed his credentials before turning his tablet toward her. The screen showed a transmission log with her personal computer’s IP address, evidence that pointed straight at her.
Reese glanced at the badge, her heart sinking as she realized this was legit. It had to be Leslie setting her up. Not only had Leslie stolen the Blade data, she’d pinned the crime on Reese just to ruin her.
“There’s something wrong with this record,” Reese said, forcing herself to stay calm as she looked over the faces of the agents. None of them were familiar- they weren’t the team handling Leslie’s case. “That’s my IP, but I never sent out any secret files. Someone must have forged this or hacked my network.”
She quickly pulled her Blade project badge out of her bag on the shoe rack. “I’m with the Blade research team. Foreign organizations have been targeting us, and my colleagues and I have been fighting back. I would never do anything like this. Please, you have to believe me.”
The agents checked her ID and exchanged uneasy glances. “Ms. Meyer, we’re just following up on a report. We don’t have details about your project. The evidence we have has already been verified-the timing and data signature match what was intercepted abroad.”
The lead agent stepped closer, voice polite but leaving no room for argument. “We need you to come with us and cooperate with the investigation.”
Reese frowned. “Can I at least let my coworker know? We have a project handoff tonight.” She had to find some way to warn Matthew.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Meyer,” the agent said, not budging. “Please don’t make this harder on yourself.”
Reese swallowed her nerves and took a long breath. She knew how the agents worked-resisting was pointless. “Alright. Let me just
ange real quick.”
to
The agents nodded, so she hurried to her bedroom. Grabbing a pen, she scribbled a message on a sticky
note, then, careful to avoid beinmet
seen stuck it to the fridge. Pulling on her coat, she headed to the door
Before leaving, she nudged the doormat out of place with her foot—a signal to Matthew. They’d planned to celebrate Leslie’s takedown tonight. Hopefully, he’d notice something was off, use his key to get in, and find her note.
The agents gave her a once-over, but Reese kept her face calm and unreadable.
Satisfied, they surrounded her and escorted her to the elevator. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ͟.net
Meanwhile, down in the parking garage, a few plain black sedans sat parked near Reese’s building entrance. Tara’s hired paparazzi had their cameras pointed at the elevator lobby, waiting for something big.
“Those people looked pretty official,” one whispered. “You think they’re with that
Ratcliff family Ms. Ramos mentioned?”