"Good."
Then they heard pounding.
Naomi screamed.
Ethan stood.
"Stay inside."
"Agent Carter—"
"I'll be there."
Rachel grabbed his arm.
"You can't go alone."
"I'm not."
Within minutes, three vehicles left the command center.
When they arrived, the street was dark.
Naomi's front door was damaged.
But nobody was inside.
Ethan entered.
The house had been searched.
Drawers open.
Furniture overturned.
But one thing remained untouched.
The folder Naomi had given Ethan.
It was sitting on the kitchen table.
Ethan approached slowly.
There was a note beside it.
He picked it up.
Three words.
YOU WERE WARNED.
Rachel looked at him.
"That's a threat."
Ethan nodded.
"No."
He turned the paper over.
On the back was an address.
A warehouse.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
It was the same warehouse he had surveilled months earlier.
The place where his entire investigation had begun.
Rachel stared at the address.
"Trap?"
"Probably."
"Then why are you smiling?"
Ethan looked at her.
"Because they just made their biggest mistake."
"What?"
"They told me where they are."
The warehouse stood near the river.
No lights.
No vehicles.
No visible security.
Too quiet.
Ethan knew immediately that something was wrong.
He stood beside the federal tactical team.
Rachel checked her weapon.
"You ready?"
Ethan nodded.
"Let's go."
The doors opened.
Inside were dozens of filing cabinets.
Computers.
Hard drives.
Boxes.
Property records.
Photographs.
It was the operation's archive.
Every homeowner.
Every payment.
Every threat.
Every foreclosure.
Everything.
An agent whispered:
"Jesus."
Ethan walked toward the nearest table.
A folder had his name on it.
He opened it.
His photograph.
His house.
His daily schedule.
His car.
His work routine.
Everything.
Rachel looked over his shoulder.
"They knew who you were."
Ethan nodded.
"For how long?"
"At least two months."
Rachel's expression darkened.
"Then why did they let you keep investigating?"
Ethan looked around.
"Because they thought they could scare me away."
A sound came from the far end of the warehouse.
Clapping.
Slow.
Deliberate.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Victor Hale.
Older now.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Calm expression.
He smiled.
"Agent Carter."
Ethan stared at him.
"Victor."
"You've been very persistent."
"You've been very careless."
Victor laughed.
"Careless?"
"You left the records."
"I wanted you to find them."
Ethan paused.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted you here."
The warehouse doors slammed shut.
Agents raised their weapons.
Victor didn't move.
"You have no idea how many people are involved."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Tell me."
Victor smiled.
"Governments."
"Law firms."
"Developers."
"Politicians."
"Police."
"Judges."
"And homeowners."
Ethan shook his head.
"You're lying."
"No."
Victor looked at him.
"People don't want justice."
"They want convenience."
"They want their property values high."
"They want someone else to suffer so they can feel safe."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"So you exploited them."
"I gave them what they wanted."
"By destroying families?"
Victor shrugged.
"Collateral."
Ethan stepped closer.
"You're done."
Victor smiled.
"Am I?"
Suddenly, every light in the warehouse turned on.
Cameras activated.
A dozen screens displayed footage from Willow Creek.
Ethan's house.
Naomi's house.
The pool.
Victoria.
Mason.
The bat.
Everything.
Victor pointed to the screens.
"You think this is an investigation."
He smiled.
"It's a test."
Ethan looked at him.
"For what?"
"To see how much the government is willing to protect one homeowner."
Ethan stared.
Victor continued.
"You thought your badge made you powerful."
He shook his head.
"Your badge is the reason you're vulnerable."
Then a gunshot echoed.
The warehouse lights shattered.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Agents shouted.
Ethan dropped to the floor.
Rachel yelled:
"Down!"
Another shot.
Then silence.
Ethan reached for his radio.
"All units hold."
Nothing.