“You okay?”
I nearly laughed.
“Is that what you came to ask?”
“No.”
“Then ask.”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Hayes is blaming me.”
I remained silent.
“He's telling people I acted alone.”
“You did act alone on that mat.”
“That's not what I mean.”
“Then tell me what you mean.”
Briggs moved a little closer.
“When I got here nine years ago, Hayes told me this program was getting soft.”
I kept my face neutral.
“He liked instructors who pushed people. Said discomfort showed character.”
“Did he tell you to harass people?”
“No.”
“To target women?”
“No.”
“To kick my knee?”
His eyes flashed.
“No.”
“Then don't hide behind him.”
His shoulders stiffened.
“I'm not.”
“It sounds like you are.”
He stepped closer.
“I know what I did.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Then say it.”
His jaw shifted.
For several seconds, he couldn't force the words out.
That hesitation told me more than the answer would have.
Finally, he said, “I went too far.”
I stared at him.
“Four days?”
He frowned.
“What?”
“You think we're talking about four days?”
His face tightened.
“Mara Ellis.”
Recognition crossed his expression.
Barely.
But enough.
“You remember her.”
Briggs released a breath.
“She complained.”
“Yes.”
“She had an attitude.”
I actually smiled.
He realized immediately what he had said.
“Listen to yourself.”
“I don't mean—”
“You do.”
I stepped toward him.
“She had an attitude. I had an attitude. Daniels had an attitude. Everybody who resists you somehow has an attitude.”
Briggs looked aside.
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“You think truth fixes this?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“It stops you from lying about it.”
He looked back at me.
I continued.
“Whatever Hayes encouraged, you still made choices. Every day. For years.”
He gave a slow nod.
Then he reached inside his pocket.
My body tensed automatically.
Briggs removed a small USB drive.
I stared at it.
“What is that?”
He held it between his fingers.
“My insurance.”
My pulse shifted.
“Against who?”
A tired, bitter smile touched his face.
“Who do you think?”
I didn't reach for it.
“Why give it to me?”
“Because you're the only person here Hayes is afraid of.”
“No.”
Briggs frowned.
“He isn't afraid of me.”
“Then why does he keep asking what you've told investigators?”
That stopped me.
“What?”
Briggs nodded.
“He's been calling people all day.”
“Who?”
“Instructors. Former cadre. Anybody who might've talked.”
“That's witness interference.”
“I know.”
“Did he call you?”
“Three times.”
“What did he say?”
Briggs extended the USB again.
“Take it.”
This time I did.
He glanced down the hallway.
Then back at me.
“There's a folder called Winter.”
“What is it?”
“You'll understand.”
“Ryan.”
He paused.
It was the first time I had ever called him by his first name.
“What is in the folder?”
He swallowed.
“Something that proves this started before me.”
Then he walked away.
And within hours, we discovered that he was right.
Chapter 4: THE WINTER FILE
I did not connect the USB drive to a government computer.
Instead, I contacted the investigative team.
Twenty minutes later, the drive was sealed, documented, and entered into evidence.
At 0017, a forensic specialist accessed it through an isolated system.
The folder marked WINTER contained forty-three separate files.
At first, most appeared ordinary.