“It shouldn’t matter when I need it, Jeff! I should be able to get to it. I filed the damned thing in our so-called secure lockup. I was supposed to get the German translated. Instead the thing is gone. It’s bullshit. And I don’t think it was an accident. I just got done talking to some poor shit working at AgriMed, a Dr. Juan Gutierrez. He had his apartment broken into, and they tore that place apart. They were looking for something specific. And get this—some ‘FBI guys’ showed up immediately after. And one of them spoke German.”

“What?” Jeff asked.

“I’m telling you, if the cops hadn’t been seconds away, things might not have turned out so well for this poor doctor. Something stinks here.”

Jeff frowned. “You don’t think those were actual FBI agents.”

Nate shook his head. “Based on how they behaved, I’ll bet you a steak dinner they weren’t. They didn’t follow any of the standard protocols. And they fled without a word when the cops arrived. Possibly in a black panel van.”

“Then who do you think they were?”

“German intelligence?”

Jeff grimaced. “I was afraid you’d say that.” He paused. “What was that doctor’s name again?”

“Juan Gutierrez. Why?”

Jeff reached down, opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a file folder. “Remember how I was going to research that DRWN compartment?”

As his supervisor opened the folder, Nate caught sight of a printout. “Oh, thank god! I totally forgot I gave you a copy of that report.” Nate beamed across Jeff’s desk. “So, what did you find out about the compartment?”

Jeff began thumbing through the thick report. “I got no joy out of the security officer. He claimed there was no such compartment, so as far as I’m concerned, the markings on here are bullshit.”

“Well, they’re certainly not public.”

“Of course not. I’m not about to do anything with it. But I did end up reading through this thing, and…”

“You read it? Most of it was in German.”

Jeff cocked an eyebrow. “Both my parents were German. I grew up speaking it.” He flipped another page and his finger landed on a passage. “Aha, here it is. I knew that Gutierrez rang a bell.” He read the report aloud. “Gutierrez has checked in version 3.4, but the algorithm results need more analysis before being deployed.”

Nate felt a moment of surprise. “You think it’s the same Gutierrez?”

Jeff shrugged. “This is the only passage where I remember the name being mentioned. But if it is him, the way I read it, it sounds as though they were monitoring his activity—maybe even stealing what the good doctor was working on. Which would line up with his apartment being ransacked.”