Chapter 15

Washington D.C.

Taylor sat on the couch in the living room, watching as Whitaker gently rocked their six-month-old daughter, Grace, in her arms. The infant was fast asleep, pacifier bobbing rhythmically as she breathed.

Whitaker smiled down at the baby, brushing a finger over her soft cheek, “She’s so peaceful like this. Hard to believe that just an hour ago, she was screaming up a storm.”

“Tell me about it,” Taylor said wryly, leaning back against the cushions. “She’s got some lungs on her, that’s for sure.”

Before he could say anything else, Whitaker’s phone started ringing, buzzing loudly on the coffee table across from her. Taylor dove for it, answering before the sound of the phone could wake up the baby.

Seeing it was Joe Solomon, he turned the volume down and put it on speaker.

“Whitaker?” Solomon said when no one responded right away.

“I’m here, Joe,” Whitaker said. “Taylor’s with me.”

“I wanted to give you an update on the case. We’ve identified the DOD insider as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Sustainment, Frank Weston. It’s a big title, and he was a major player in all aspects of the DOD acquisition process, which gave him access to pretty much everything in our arsenal. The DOD has been conducting both a financial audit on him and a complete audit of that department, and we’re starting to see evidence that he’s been stealing and selling technology and weapons for years, including some classified stuff. Millions of dollars worth of materials walked out of the door because of him, and we don’t have any idea yet where most of it went.”