Page 407 of Black Reign

“Perhaps.”

Senior turns.

“Do you have something useful to contribute?”

I sip my tea.

“Yes.”

“Then contribute.”

“I've tried.”

His eyes narrow.

“You suggested we ignore the access logs.”

“Yes.”

“Which is absurd.”

“No. Looking for the intruder in access logs is absurd.”

“This system exists to record access.”

“This system exists to lie.”

Silence.

Xavier's mouth shifts.

His father looks irritated.

Good.

I stand.

“The person Papa was tracking wasn't breaking the window every night. He was already living inside the house.”

Senior folds his arms.

“Metaphors are not analysis.”

I put my tea down.

“You want technical?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. You're hunting login events. Stop.”

I move closer to the screens.

“If this person was embedded in security, he didn't need to repeatedly authenticate like an outsider. He had a credential trusted at the root level.”

Xavier turns toward me now.

Finally.