Chapter 5 - The Eight Months Someone Had Been Watching My Screen

Natalie did not remember leaving the storage facility.

She remembered details afterward: the squeak of Brianna's wet shoes, the smell of burned coffee in the lobby, the investigator sealing the laptop bag a second time.

But the moment itself fractured.

Eight months.

For eight months, remote-access software had been installed on the computer she used for academy work.

Her first instinct was professional.

What data had been exposed?

Her second was personal.

What else had Denise watched?

Emails to instructors. Drafts of speeches. Banking information. Messages to classmates. Private notes Natalie wrote when she was too tired to speak to anyone.

Her life had become a window she had not known was open.

The academy moved quickly.

By midnight, Natalie sat in a secure interview room with two investigators and a technical specialist. The specialist explained that the remote tool had been configured to start invisibly, capture file directories, and allow off-site login.

"Was it sophisticated?" Natalie asked.

"No."

That somehow felt worse.

"It was commercial software. Easy to obtain. Whoever installed it had physical access to your machine."

"Can you tell what they opened?"

"We're rebuilding the logs."

The investigator across from her folded his hands.

"Captain Reed, we need you to think carefully. Did Mrs. Denise Reed ever have legitimate reason to access your laptop?"

"No."

"Did you share passwords?"

"No."

"Could she have observed you entering them?"

"Possibly."

"Any reason she'd be interested in Aegis Field?"

Natalie almost said no.

Then she remembered a dinner four months earlier.

Denise had asked whether Natalie's project could become "one of those military contracts worth millions."

Natalie had laughed it off.

Now she repeated the conversation.

The investigator wrote it down.

"Any defense industry connections?"

"Not that I know of."

Brianna did.

She called Natalie at 1:17 a.m.

Natalie stepped into the hallway to answer.

"I remembered something."

Brianna's voice shook.

"What?"

"Mom has been seeing someone from a company."

"What company?"

"I don't know. She said they sponsor veteran charities. She wanted me to meet their media director."

"Brianna."

"I know. I should know the name."

Natalie pressed two fingers to her forehead.

"Search your messages."

A minute passed.

Then Brianna said, "Halcyon Dynamics."

Natalie knew the name.

A private contractor had recently competed for a logistics modernization pilot. Their proposal had lost.

To a test plan based partly on Aegis Field architecture.

Natalie's chest tightened.

"Do not message anyone from that company."

"I won't."

"Screenshot everything you already have. Don't edit. Don't delete."

For once, Brianna obeyed without argument.

The next morning, investigators confirmed Denise had exchanged messages with a Halcyon consultant named Evan Kessler.

Nothing yet proved she sent him protected material.

But she had asked questions.

How valuable is early access to a government test framework?

Can independent consultants receive referral fees?

What if information is not technically classified?

Natalie read the printed excerpts in silence.

Richard sat beside his lawyer three chairs away.

He looked twenty years older than he had at graduation.

"I didn't know about this," he said.

The investigator did not respond.

Richard turned to Natalie.

"I swear."

Natalie studied him.

"Did you know she was accessing my computer?"

"No."

"Did you know she opened my mail?"

Silence.

That was the difference.

He wanted absolution for the largest betrayal while refusing to name the smaller ones that had made it possible.

Natalie looked back at the investigator.

"What about the trust folder?"

"We recovered it."

Her heart lurched.

"Can I see it?"

"After it's documented."

"Was anything removed?"

"Several pages appear missing."

Richard stared at the table.

Natalie noticed.

"Which pages?"

The investigator looked at him too.

"Accounting statements."

Richard shut his eyes.

Natalie felt the truth approaching before anyone said it.

"What happened to my mother's trust?"

His lawyer touched his sleeve.

Richard ignored the warning.

"Your mother left money."

"How much?"

"Two hundred and forty thousand dollars."

The number meant nothing for one second.

Then it meant everything.

Tuition.

Housing.

Books.

Transportation.

Every time Denise had told Natalie there was no money.

Every extra duty shift she had taken.

Every meal she had skipped because she refused to ask for help.

"Where is it?"

Richard's voice broke.

"Mostly gone."

Natalie did not move.

The investigator leaned forward.

"Mr. Reed, you should consult counsel before continuing."

Richard looked at his daughter.

"I used some after your mother died. The mortgage was behind. There were medical bills."

"How much?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

His lawyer spoke sharply. "Richard."

He ignored him.

"About seventy thousand."

Natalie stared.

"And the rest?"

Richard said nothing.

A memory rose.

Brianna's private school tuition.

Denise's kitchen renovation.

Family trips Natalie had been told she could not join because she "had obligations."

The car Brianna received at sixteen.

Natalie's voice came out flat.

"You let me believe there was nothing."

"I was going to replace it."

"When?"

He had no answer.

The door opened.

The technical specialist entered with a folder.

"We finished the first access timeline."

The investigator took it.

His eyes moved down the page.

Then he looked at Natalie.

"The remote software accessed the Aegis Field directory nine times."

Natalie swallowed.

"Downloaded?"

"Three files were copied."

Her hands went cold.

"Sent where?"

"One destination was external."

Richard whispered, "Oh God."

The specialist continued.

"We also found something else. The first unauthorized access happened eight months ago."

Natalie waited.

"The same day Captain Reed received notice that her research had been nominated for national review."

Natalie looked at Richard.

He was staring at the table.

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Then the specialist placed one more sheet in front of them.

"The notification email was opened from the Reed home network six hours before Captain Reed ever read it."