Sally Wilde sat in a small featureless interrogation room deep inside the legendary windowless building. A table attached to a wall and two chairs were the only furnishings. Her right arm was handcuffed to a ring embedded in the nearby wall; its elevated position made her arm ache from the lack of circulation.

I have done it. Father would be proud. I just hope the stories of the government spooks are not real. I hope Nigel and the other engineers got out—

The only door to the room opened. An older man with a thick stack of papers entered. He dropped the bundle on the table. The commotion interrupted Sally’s train of thought.

This guy is trying to scare me. No way my capture has generated that much paper.

The man was dressed in a typical black suit that screamed FBI agent.

“You don’t seem very comfortable,” the agent said, looking at her restraint.

He placed a key in front of her. Sally stared at it for a long moment.

“Go ahead,” he said, “make yourself comfortable. I’ll wait.”

The man watched her every move. After a moment, Sally grabbed the key with her free hand. She almost dropped it, but she straightened it with her mouth, then unlocked the cuff from her right hand. The agent watched the handcuffs dangle on the hook.

“My name is Agent Ralston of the FBI, and I’m here to help you, Sally.”

Yeah, I bet! You want to know where my father is!

“What’s in the stack?” Sally asked.

Agent Ralston placed a pack of cigarettes on the table. Sally was drawn to them like a fish to water.

“Cooperate, and maybe I will let you have a smoke. Heavens knows I need one.”

He took out one of the cigarettes, put it in his mouth, and lit up. He blew the smoke toward the ceiling so it wouldn’t get in her face. Sally realized she was staring at the cigarette. She forced herself to look away and licked her lips.

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“Isn’t it illegal to smoke in government facilities?”

“It would be if we were sitting in one.”

“Wait—isn’t this windowless monstrosity containing a secret surveillance operation?”

Agent Ralston laughed. “Did you father tell you that?”

He’s a Fed—I’m sure he knows all about Daddy!

“Who owns the building, then?” she asked.

“Didn’t you notice the NET logo signs as you snuck in? This building belongs to Northeastern Telecommunications, but there are government agents working within the confines of these walls.”

Sally shifted in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. She hated to admit how much she needed a smoke.

I should have never taken up that filthy habit—another consequence of my sweet sixteen party, I suppose.

Agent Ralston pushed the cigarettes a few inches in her direction.

“I’m a minor child,” she said. “The only evidence you have is trespassing. Soon you will need to let me go.”

“Yes, you are a minor, but at the end of the month you turn eighteen. I’m sure you don’t want to spend it in a cell.”

“I’m not saying anything.”

Sally crossed her arms and gave Ralston a defiant look. His eyes moved to her right arm.

“Interesting tattoo,” Ralston said. “Where did you get it? Those yellow eyes are creepy!”

Sally looked surprised at the sudden change of subject. She examined the tattoo on her forearm as if noticing it for the first time. “Daddy calls me his crimson dragon.”

Agent Ralston took another drag, then used the bottom portion of the table to extinguish it.

“Come on, Sally, you don’t need to protect the group you work for. I can get your sentence reduced to five years from the twenty-to-life you are facing. And, when you get out, you will have a government job waiting for you. Don’t you want to put those hacking skills to good use?”

Sally’s eyes widened. “Twenty years for trespassing?”

“That’s only one of your charges. The district attorney for the southern district wants to charge you with domestic terrorism. That carries a minimum of twenty years without the possibility of parole. I know you want to make the smart choice here.”

“I don’t get it! Why the harsh punishment for trespassing on a non-government facility?”

“Telecommunications companies were reclassified as critical infrastructure more than twenty years ago. We consider an attack on one of these facilities an attack on the United States. I will give you time to think on it.”

Agent Ralston took the handcuffs, cigarettes, and the enormous stack of papers and then headed toward the door.

“Wait!” Sally called.

Agent Ralston turned to face her.

“Aren’t you going to cuff me again?”

“That won’t be necessary,” he replied, “we have eyes on you. Just think of all the good you can do.”

He paused for emphasis, then left.