“Sure.” Fowler eyed a grove of trees near the Potomac River that offered some seclusion. “Why don’t we walk?” He gently guided her off the trail.

“I had a lot of time to think about the case while I was away,” she said.

“You probably aren’t aware of the latest developments,” Fowler said, testing her. “Somebody hijacked one of the Sea Arrow’s propulsion motors on its way to Groton.”

“Yes, I was aware of that. Are there any suspects?”

“No, the FBI hit a wall on the case.”

“I’m not surprised. Tell me, Dan, what do you know about the ADS system?”

“ADS? Isn’t that some sort of crowd-control device that the Army cooked up? I really don’t know much about it.”

“Cooked up is right.” Ann thought back to her first encounter with the device in New Orleans. “Didn’t you tell me you were with the Army Research Lab?”

“Yes, I did a short stint there. Why do you ask?”

“According to their personnel director, you managed the security for the Active Denial System program. In that capacity, you would have had access to all its plans. Perhaps you’d find it interesting to know that the Army is not alone in possessing the technology. As a matter of fact, Edward Bolcke has a unit on one of his ships.”

“What are you driving at, Ann?”

“Dan, how long have you been on Bolcke’s payroll?”

They were almost to the trees. Fowler smiled at Ann. “That’s preposterous. We both know that Tom Cerny at the White House is your likely turncoat. Ann, you really shouldn’t jump into the water if you don’t know how to swim.”

Ann ignored the insult. “Cerny was a good red herring. I bought into him for a while, until I reviewed his detailed security clearance. Despite your allusions, he has had no involvement with any military technologies that have been compromised. He also hasn’t set foot in Central America in over twenty years. He’s clean.”

Fowler said nothing as they reached the edge of the grove.

“On the other hand,” Ann said, “I just discovered that you were a founding partner of SecureTek, the security subcontractor that was later sold to Edward Bolcke.”

“You’re reaching now.”

“Am I? We’ve tracked financial payments that were wired from Bolcke’s company to a bank account in your name here in Washington.” This time she was bluffing, but she was confident that further investigation would prove as much.

Fowler kept walking, guiding her deeper into the trees. After a long pause, he said, “Suppose you’re right. Now what?”

“You’ll be tried for espionage and spend the rest of your life in jail.”

Safely obscured from view, Fowler lunged at Ann, cuffing her around the neck and slamming her against a large red oak.

“No,” Fowler said. “I think it ends here.”