Chapter 13 - The Leak Inside the Investigation
Celeste’s accusation poisoned the room immediately.
Rachel heard it.
So did Daniel.
So did two federal agents and a body-camera system recording everything.
“Do not respond,” Rachel said.
Celeste smiled as medics carried her away.
She had spent her life creating doubt between allies.
Even in custody, she continued.
The Meridian plant yielded more evidence than any of us expected.
Hard drives were hidden beneath electrical panels.
Paper ledgers were sealed inside machine housings.
A locked office contained photographs and recordings involving dozens of public officials.
But several critical files had been destroyed minutes before agents entered.
Someone had remotely initiated the purge.
According to system logs, the command came from a federal network.
That did not prove Rachel sent it.
It proved someone with federal access had.
The Justice Department removed Rachel from direct control of the investigation pending review.
She surrendered her devices without argument.
Daniel hated the decision.
“They’re isolating the one prosecutor who acted quickly.”
“Or protecting the case,” I said.
“You believe Celeste?”
“I believe there was a leak.”
“So does Rachel.”
Rachel met us before leaving the command post.
She looked exhausted but composed.
“Do not contact me outside formal channels,” she said.
“Do you know who did it?” I asked.
“No.”
“Who knew the warrant timing?”
“My supervisor. The field-office director. Two magistrate staff members. The technical team. Daniel.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re including me?”
“I’m including everyone.”
She looked at me.
“Celeste benefits if we accuse one another without evidence.”
“Thomas said the system survived because everyone believed someone else was more powerful.”
“Then don’t help it survive.”
Rachel left.
Emily was taken to a hospital under armed guard.
Her injuries from the kidnapping were minor compared with what might have happened, but she remained under observation.
I sat beside her while she slept.
For the first time since Charlotte, the room was quiet.
No Prescott relatives in the doorway.
No false police officer.
No man with a syringe.
Just the soft rhythm of medical equipment and my daughter breathing.
I realized I had been counting each breath.
A habit from nights after she was born.
Thomas used to tease me.
“She’s not going to forget,” he said once.
“Forget what?”
“How to breathe.”
But people could forget how to feel safe.
Emily woke near dawn.
“Did we win?”
“Part of it.”
“That means no.”
“It means they’re in custody.”
“Margaret?”
“Detained.”
“Ethan?”
“Detained.”
“Brandon?”
“Detained.”
“Celeste?”
“Under guard after surgery.”
She closed her eyes.
“Then why do you still look like we’re losing?”
“Because someone inside the investigation warned them.”
“Rachel?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t think it was her.”
“Why?”
“She looked angry when the evidence started purging. Not afraid. Ethan always looked afraid when his lies were about to be exposed.”
It was not a scientific method.
But Emily had become an expert in small expressions.
Naomi entered with coffee and legal updates.
Margaret had refused to answer questions.
Brandon demanded immunity in exchange for evidence against Celeste.
Graham Pike claimed attorney-client privilege over nearly everything.
Ethan had asked to speak with Emily.
“No,” I said.
Naomi looked at Emily.
“The decision is hers.”
Emily stared at the ceiling.
“What does he want?”
“He says he knows who leaked the warrant.”
“Then he can tell federal investigators.”
“He says he’ll speak only to you.”
“It’s manipulation,” I said.
“Probably,” Naomi replied. “It may also contain information.”
Emily sat up carefully.
“I’ll see him.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Mom.”
“He kidnapped you less than twelve hours ago.”
“And now he’s terrified.”
“That makes him more dangerous.”
“It also makes him useful.”
“You are not an investigator.”
“No. I’m the person he still thinks he owns.”
The words silenced me.
Emily continued.
“He expects me to forgive him if he cries correctly. He expects me to save him from his mother. Let him expect it.”
I wanted to refuse.
But protecting Emily by controlling her choices had begun to resemble another cage.
The meeting occurred inside a federal interview facility.
A barrier separated them.
Agents watched through glass.
Emily wore a recording device openly.
Ethan’s arm was in a cast.
His face carried bruises from the plant.
When he saw her, tears appeared.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re scared.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I never wanted it to go this far.”
“When did you want it to stop?”
“What?”
“The first time you grabbed me? The first time your mother drugged me? When Brandon pushed me into the dresser? At the hospital? In the factory?”
“I made mistakes.”
“You made decisions.”
He began crying harder.
Emily waited.
Eventually, he understood she would not comfort him.
“I know who warned Celeste,” he said.
“Tell the agents.”
“I need protection.”
“You need consequences.”
“She’ll kill me.”
“Celeste is under guard.”
“Not Celeste.”
Emily leaned forward slightly.
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Margaret, Ethan claimed, had built a secondary network separate from Celeste’s.
For years, Margaret resented taking orders.
She recruited Graham Pike, Senator Weller, hospital executives, and law-enforcement officials.
She intended to remove Celeste and control Lantern herself.
The warrant leak came from Margaret’s contact inside the FBI field office.
“Name,” Emily said.
“I don’t know.”
“You said you knew.”
“I know the code name. Monarch.”
“Who used it?”
“Mother and Graham.”
“How did they communicate?”
“Through a charity scheduling system.”
“Which charity?”
“The Prescott Foundation’s domestic-violence initiative.”
Emily’s face became still.
Margaret had used a charity for abused women to coordinate crimes that protected abusers.
Ethan continued.
“There’s a gala tomorrow night. It was supposed to announce a new shelter. Mother hid accounts inside the donor platform. Monarch will try to access it because the arrests froze the other channels.”
“Why would the gala continue?”
“The foundation board says canceling would look like an admission.”
“Your family has been arrested.”
“The foundation says the criminal allegations involve individuals, not its mission.”
Even catastrophe had a public-relations strategy.
“What do you want from me?” Emily asked.
“Tell them I cooperated.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“Celeste ordered it.”
“You drove the car.”
“I saved you in the plant.”
“You opened a door after bringing me there.”
Ethan pressed his hands against the barrier.
“I love you.”
Emily looked at him for a long time.
“No,” she said. “You loved being the person who decided whether I felt safe.”
She stood.
“Emily, wait.”
She walked away.
Agents confirmed the charity platform contained encrypted communication channels.
Rachel, still removed from the case, had no access to the operation.
A new prosecutor named Martin Cole assumed control.
He was courteous.
Too courteous.
He proposed canceling the gala and seizing the servers quietly.
Daniel disagreed.
“Monarch won’t log in if the event is canceled.”
“We cannot expose civilians to risk.”
“You can secure the building.”
“We do not run operations based on statements from an abusive spouse seeking leniency.”
Emily spoke from the end of the table.
“He’s telling the truth about the platform.”
Cole looked at her.
“How can you know?”
“Because Margaret checked the gala schedule every night. She never attended planning meetings, but she always knew when donor records changed.”
The foundation refused to cancel the event.
Publicly, they announced the gala would proceed “in honor of survivors who should not be overshadowed by unproven accusations.”
The hypocrisy drew national attention.
Hundreds of donors withdrew.
But many powerful guests still planned to attend.
Emily made a decision.
She would attend too.
Naomi objected.
I objected.
Federal agents objected.
Emily remained firm.
“The foundation used my face in campaigns for years. I’m still listed as honorary ambassador. My invitation hasn’t been revoked.”
“You were kidnapped yesterday,” I said.
“And tomorrow Margaret’s hidden network may erase everything.”
“You don’t have to prove courage every hour.”
“I’m not proving anything. I’m finishing what Dad left us.”
The gala became a controlled operation.
Agents would monitor the donor platform.
Emily would appear publicly, forcing Monarch to decide whether to abandon access or risk logging in.
I would remain nearby despite the protective order, which was expected to be dissolved after Ethan’s arrest.
Before the operation, Daniel received a message from an unknown source.
It contained one photograph.
Rachel Kim meeting secretly with Graham Pike six months earlier.
May you like
Beneath it were the words:
MONARCH HAS TWO FACES.
