WHEN MY DAUGHTER’S MMA BOYFRIEND SENT HER TO THE ER, I WENT STRAIGHT TO HIS GYM. HIS COACH LOOKED AT MY GRAY BEARD AND LAUGHED, “GET OUT OF HERE, GRANDPA, UNLESS YOU WANT TO LEAVE IN A BODY BAG.”
“I called my captain from a landline. Hollis hasn’t been assigned to this case.”
Marcy whispered, “What?”
“He volunteered himself.”
My phone vibrated.
Another unknown message.
Different number.
YOU’RE MAKING THIS DIFFICULT.
Then:
PARKING GARAGE. LEVEL FOUR.
Ruiz looked at the screen.
“Trap.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t go.”
I looked at her.
“He thinks I have the drive.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Marcy whispered, “I do.”
Every person in the room turned.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“I never left it at Dustin’s.”
“Where is it?”
“I mailed it.”
“To whom?”
Marcy looked almost embarrassed.
“You.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“The night I found it. I panicked. I put it in an envelope and mailed it to your old P.O. box.”
I hadn’t checked that box in weeks.
I still kept it because veterans I had trained occasionally sent letters there.
“When?”
“Six days ago.”
Carol whispered, “Daniel…”
If it had arrived—
Then Raymond’s visit made sense.
Hollis’s desperation made sense.
Dustin’s panic made sense.
Everybody believed I had evidence capable of destroying them.
And I hadn’t even known it existed.
Ruiz spoke first.
“Where’s the box?”
“Post office near Ridgeway.”
“When does it open?”
“Six.”
Pierce checked his watch.
“Four hours.”
“No,” Marcy said.
We looked at her.
“I didn’t send it under Dad’s name.”
“Why?”
“I got scared someone might intercept it.”
“What name?”
Marcy looked at Carol.
“Grandma’s.”
Carol frowned.
“My mother?”
Marcy nodded.
Lillian Parker.
D/e/@/d eleven years.
Ruiz gave a small approving nod.
“That might have saved all of you.”
My phone vibrated again.
A photograph appeared.
This one was different.
Detective Hollis.
Standing beside my truck in the hospital parking garage.
Underneath:
LEVEL FOUR.
NOW.
I looked at Ruiz.
“He wants me visible.”
“Then we give him visible.”
“What?”
She pointed at Pierce.
“You still have that ugly department raincoat in your cruiser?”
Pierce blinked.
“Yeah.”
Ruiz looked at me.
“You two are about the same height.”
I understood.
“No.”
“You have a better idea?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I go.”
Carol grabbed my arm.
“Daniel.”
“I’m not going to confront him.”
“Then why?”
“To make him talk.”
Ruiz shook her head.
“You think he’ll confess?”
“No.”
“I think he believes he’s winning.”
She understood.
People reveal more when they believe they control the room.
Ruiz sighed.
“All right.”
She removed a small recording device from her duty equipment.
“Keep this on.”
I clipped it beneath my flannel.
Carol stared at me.
“Please.”
I kissed her forehead.
“I’m coming back.”
Marcy squeezed my hand.
“Dad.”
I looked down.
“I’m sorry I brought this into our family.”
“You didn’t.”
“I found the drive.”
“Exactly.”
She looked confused.
“You found the truth.”
Then I walked out.
Parking garage.
Level four.
Wind rushed through the open concrete sides.
My boots echoed.
Hollis waited beside my truck.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Scar over the left eyebrow.
No uniform.
Plain jacket.
Hands visible.
“Daniel Carter.”
“Detective.”
He smiled.
“You’re harder to manage than your daughter.”
The word manage told me everything I needed to know about him.
“Where’s the drive?”
“Safe.”
“Cute answer.”
“True answer.”
He stepped closer.
“Do you know what’s on it?”
“Enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Enlighten me.”
Hollis laughed.
“You think Raymond is some mastermind?”
“I think Raymond is a cr/i/minal.”
“He is.”
“And you?”
His smile vanished.
“I’m a realist.”
“That what you call it?”
“You served fifteen years around elite units. Don’t act innocent.”
“My job had rules.”
“So does mine.”
“Threatening hospital patients is one of them?”
He stared.
“I never threatened her.”
“You sent the photograph.”
“No.”
That answer came too quickly.
But the surprise in his eyes looked real.
Interesting.
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He studied me.
“Show me the message.”
I didn’t move.
His face changed.
“Daniel, if someone sent you a photograph from inside Marcy’s room, it wasn’t me.”
“But you were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get the drive before Raymond did.”
“You were in Dustin’s apartment.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Dustin stole something he didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t explain my family’s photographs.”
For the first time, Hollis looked genuinely confused.
“What photographs?”
“Evergreen.”
The color disappeared from his face.
That was the reaction I had been waiting for.
“You’ve seen that folder?”
“Marcy did.”
He took one step backward.
“What was inside?”
“Why?”
“What was inside?”
I repeated nothing.
Hollis suddenly looked toward the garage entrance.
Then the stairwell.
His confidence evaporated.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Evergreen isn’t Raymond.”
“Who is it?”
“Not here.”
“Who?”
He walked toward me.
I held my ground.
Hollis spoke barely above a whisper.
“Evergreen is an internal designation.”
“Police?”
He shook his head.
“Federal?”
Another shake.
“Then what?”
He stared at me.
“It belongs to Raymond’s partner.”
“Name.”
Hollis opened his mouth.
A sharp crack echoed through the garage.
Hollis dropped.
For one terrible second I thought he had been sh/o/t.
He hadn’t.
A chunk of concrete exploded from the pillar beside him.
Someone had fired past him.
A warning.
Hollis crawled behind my truck.
