My brother actually laughed at dinner and said, ‘I sold that useless laptop of yours for five hundred bucks. Finally got rid of your junk.’ My cousins cheered him on. Then he added, almost proudly, ‘Already handed it off to the buyer.’ I got up, stepped outside, and called my supervisor. By the time I made the report, the FBI cyber team was already tracking the device…

The Bureau put me in a short-term hotel used for personnel caught in cases that had turned personal. Nothing fancy. Clean bedspread. Blackout curtains. Industrial carpet rough under socks. The ice machine down the hall growled half the night. I lay awake staring at the red alarm-clock digits and replaying Derek’s words.

You were always fine.

It was almost continue reading …