“Yes. The original operation was legitimate. We were trying to protect informants and prevent criminal organizations from discovering their identities.”
“So when did it change?”
“After Caldwell realized the system could be used for something much larger. He began directing money toward politicians and officials who were willing to protect his business interests.”
“And your role?”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I approved the original structure. I believed I could control how it was used. When I discovered what Caldwell was doing, I tried to stop him.”
“But you had already signed the documents.”
“Yes.”
Olivia closed the folder.
“Why didn't you expose him sooner?”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“Because I was afraid. I knew the people involved had enough power to destroy anyone who challenged them. I thought I could collect evidence quietly and find a safe way to release it.”
Eleanor spoke softly.
“And then they took you.”
Daniel nodded.
“I made a terrible mistake by waiting.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Then help us make sure nobody else makes the same mistake.”
Daniel reached for the folder.
“I intend to.”
Before she left, Eleanor gave Olivia another document.
It was a list of names from the original investigation.
One name had been circled.
UNKNOWN FINANCIAL BENEFICIARY — ACCOUNT 001.
“Who is this?” Olivia asked.
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
He seemed uncomfortable.
“Account 001 was the first account created before the public launch of Project Nightfall,” he explained. “It received the original funding.”
“Who owned it?”
“We never found out.”
Olivia examined the document.
“Was it connected to my account?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your account was created much later. But the original account supplied the funds that eventually passed through the entire network.”
“Can we trace it?”
“We tried twenty years ago. Every transfer led to another company, another bank, and another false identity.”
Olivia looked at the list again.
At the bottom was a short handwritten note.
ACCOUNT 001 — ACTIVE.
Her expression changed.
“Active?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“That is why I asked Eleanor to keep this document safe. We never managed to shut down the original account.”
Olivia felt the familiar tension return.
“But we froze the final account.”
“Yes,” Daniel replied. “Unfortunately, the first account is separate.”
“Who controls it?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“I don't know.”
Eleanor leaned forward.
“But someone has accessed it recently. The last recorded transaction occurred two days ago.”
Olivia checked the date.
Two days after Arthur Bennett's arrest.
That meant someone had continued moving money even after the entire Nightfall network had been exposed.
“Whoever controls Account 001 knows the system is compromised,” she said.
Daniel nodded.
“And they may be preparing to destroy the remaining evidence.”
Olivia stood.
“Then we find them.”
That evening, Olivia returned to her apartment.
For the first time in months, the building was quiet. The security detail assigned to protect her waited outside, and the threatening messages had stopped.
She placed her bag on the table and opened her laptop.
The evidence team had sent her a copy of the financial records recovered from the courthouse vault.
She searched for Account 001.
The database returned dozens of references, most of them incomplete.
Then she found a transaction made forty-eight hours earlier.
The money had been transferred to a company registered under a false identity.
But the transaction included a reference number.
Olivia copied it and searched the original archive.
A new document appeared.
It contained a photograph.
The photograph showed a man standing outside a government building.
Olivia enlarged the image.
Her heart began beating faster.
The man was wearing a dark suit and holding a briefcase.
She recognized him.
Not from the Nightfall investigation.
From her own professional life.
It was the man who had interviewed her for her first federal prosecution position.
The man who had recommended her for promotion.
The man who had attended several of her case briefings.
The man who had recently sent her a message congratulating her on exposing Project Nightfall.
Chief Justice Samuel Harrington.
Olivia stared at the screen.
The photograph was accompanied by a short note:
ACCOUNT 001 AUTHORIZATION — PERSONAL APPROVAL REQUIRED.
She immediately called Walker.
He answered after the second ring.
“Olivia?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“Account 001 is still active.”
There was a pause.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. The latest transaction happened two days after Arthur was arrested.”
“Who authorized it?”
Olivia looked at the photograph.
“Chief Justice Harrington.”
Walker was silent.
Then he spoke carefully.
“Don't contact him. Don't send that document to anyone inside the agency.”
“Why?”
“Because if Harrington is involved, we may have another compromised institution.”
Olivia leaned back in her chair.
“Who can we trust?”
“Right now? Very few people.”