Deputy Director Samuel Price was waiting when Victoria arrived.<\/p>\n
He stood behind the glass wall of his office, wearing shirtsleeves and reading from a tablet as though the previous twenty-four hours had involved nothing more serious than overdue paperwork.<\/p>\n
Victoria entered alone.<\/p>\n
That was deliberate.<\/p>\n
Elena remained several blocks away with a federal team that knew only enough to act if Victoria sent the agreed signal.<\/p>\n
Thomas's evidence was no longer with her.<\/p>\n
Neither was the original Polaroid.<\/p>\n
Price looked up.<\/p>\n
"Close the door."<\/p>\n
Victoria did.<\/p>\n
He studied her face.<\/p>\n
"You look exhausted."<\/p>\n
"Long night."<\/p>\n
"I heard."<\/p>\n
"From whom?"<\/p>\n
Price gave her a careful smile.<\/p>\n
"News travels."<\/p>\n
"Apparently."<\/p>\n
He gestured toward the chair.<\/p>\n
Victoria sat.<\/p>\n
"Commissioner Voss is in critical condition," Price said.<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"One officer is cooperating."<\/p>\n
"Dalton."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"And Daniel Cross was recovered."<\/p>\n
Price's eyes sharpened slightly.<\/p>\n
"Correct."<\/p>\n
Victoria noted that.<\/p>\n
Daniel's location had not been circulated.<\/p>\n
Price should not have known he was in secure custody unless someone briefed him through restricted channels.<\/p>\n
"Where is Daniel?" he asked.<\/p>\n
Victoria shrugged.<\/p>\n
"Medical."<\/p>\n
"Which facility?"<\/p>\n
"Don't know."<\/p>\n
Price leaned back.<\/p>\n
"That's unlike you."<\/p>\n
"What is?"<\/p>\n
"Not knowing."<\/p>\n
Victoria smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
"I've learned humility."<\/p>\n
He did not smile.<\/p>\n
"What did Cross tell you?"<\/p>\n
"Very little."<\/p>\n
"About Meridian?"<\/p>\n
Victoria let half a second pass.<\/p>\n
Price saw it.<\/p>\n
"Interesting word," she said.<\/p>\n
"What word?"<\/p>\n
"Meridian."<\/p>\n
Price folded his hands.<\/p>\n
"Voss mentioned it."<\/p>\n
"Did he?"<\/p>\n
"Before the shooting."<\/p>\n
"You spoke with him?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Then who told you?"<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Victoria gave him an easy way out.<\/p>\n
"Captain Morris?"<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
Price's relief was almost invisible.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Victoria knew Elena had told him nothing.<\/p>\n
She shifted in her chair.<\/p>\n
"Voss claimed there are people above him."<\/p>\n
Price sighed.<\/p>\n
"Victoria, men facing prison say many things."<\/p>\n
"He wasn't facing prison when he said it."<\/p>\n
"No?"<\/p>\n
"He was bleeding out."<\/p>\n
"All the more reason not to treat it as reliable."<\/p>\n
Victoria studied him.<\/p>\n
Twenty-one years ago, her father had photographed this man beside Voss.<\/p>\n
Now Price was explaining why Victoria should disregard Voss's dying words.<\/p>\n
"Maybe you're right."<\/p>\n
Price relaxed.<\/p>\n
"That's why I wanted you here."<\/p>\n
"To tell me to stop?"<\/p>\n
"To tell you to slow down."<\/p>\n
"Difference?"<\/p>\n
"A significant one."<\/p>\n
He stood and walked around the desk.<\/p>\n
"You're an excellent investigator. One of the best I've supervised."<\/p>\n
Victoria waited.<\/p>\n
Praise before manipulation.<\/p>\n
Classic.<\/p>\n
"But you're too close now."<\/p>\n
"Because they handcuffed me?"<\/p>\n
"Because you were targeted."<\/p>\n
"They also targeted Daniel."<\/p>\n
"Exactly."<\/p>\n
Price sat on the edge of the desk.<\/p>\n
"I want you removed from the active investigation."<\/p>\n
Victoria lowered her eyes as if disappointed.<\/p>\n
"Effective when?"<\/p>\n
"Immediately."<\/p>\n
"And the files?"<\/p>\n
"Transferred to me."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Victoria looked up.<\/p>\n
"All twenty-seven cases?"<\/p>\n
"Everything."<\/p>\n
"Why you?"<\/p>\n
"Because I supervise the unit."<\/p>\n
"You could assign another investigator."<\/p>\n
"I could."<\/p>\n
"But you're not."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Price smiled.<\/p>\n
"I think this requires senior control."<\/p>\n
Victoria nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
"I'll bring the physical files."<\/p>\n
"Today."<\/p>\n
"I don't keep them here."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
The words came out before Price could stop them.<\/p>\n
Victoria let silence settle.<\/p>\n
He realized the mistake.<\/p>\n
"Meaning?"<\/p>\n
"You said you know I don't keep them here."<\/p>\n
Price recovered quickly.<\/p>\n
"Your office inventory reflects no secured evidence boxes."<\/p>\n
Reasonable.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
Victoria nodded.<\/p>\n
"They're at an off-site locker."<\/p>\n
Price's expression remained neutral.<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"I'll collect them."<\/p>\n
"I'd prefer to send security with you."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"For your protection."<\/p>\n
Victoria smiled.<\/p>\n
"You really are concerned."<\/p>\n
"I am."<\/p>\n
She stood.<\/p>\n
"Give me an hour."<\/p>\n
Price walked behind his desk.<\/p>\n
"Victoria."<\/p>\n
She stopped at the door.<\/p>\n
"Your father doing well?"<\/p>\n
Her hand remained on the handle.<\/p>\n
Slowly she turned.<\/p>\n
Price's face was calm.<\/p>\n
Too calm.<\/p>\n
"I haven't mentioned my father."<\/p>\n
"No?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
He tilted his head.<\/p>\n
"Maybe I remembered you saying something."<\/p>\n
"Recently?"<\/p>\n
"I don't recall."<\/p>\n
Victoria looked at him.<\/p>\n
"He's fine."<\/p>\n
"Good."<\/p>\n
She left.<\/p>\n
The moment the elevator doors closed, she sent Elena one word.<\/p>\n
CONFIRMED.<\/p>\n
Price knew.<\/p>\n
That was no longer suspicion.<\/p>\n
They had just trapped him in his own knowledge.<\/p>\n
Victoria did not go to a real evidence locker.<\/p>\n
Instead she drove to an abandoned records facility used years earlier by the city.<\/p>\n
Federal agents had prepared it before her arrival.<\/p>\n
A metal storage box sat inside.<\/p>\n
It contained copies.<\/p>\n
Mostly useless ones.<\/p>\n
Enough authentic paperwork to look convincing.<\/p>\n
Hidden cameras covered every entrance.<\/p>\n
Elena met Victoria in the rear room.<\/p>\n
"Price took the bait?"<\/p>\n
"Immediately."<\/p>\n
"Did he ask about Thomas?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Elena swore.<\/p>\n
"Then he knows where you went."<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
"Your father has been moved."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"Safe."<\/p>\n
Victoria nodded.<\/p>\n
She trusted Elena enough not to ask more.<\/p>\n
They waited.<\/p>\n
Thirty-eight minutes later, a black SUV stopped outside.<\/p>\n
Victoria watched through a monitor.<\/p>\n
Two men exited.<\/p>\n
Neither was Price.<\/p>\n
One wore a dark jacket.<\/p>\n
The other carried a hard case.<\/p>\n
Elena looked at Victoria.<\/p>\n
"Recognize them?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"They're not city police."<\/p>\n
The men entered using a key.<\/p>\n
That surprised both women.<\/p>\n
"Someone still has building access," Elena said.<\/p>\n
Victoria watched them approach the storage room.<\/p>\n
One man used a scanner on the door.<\/p>\n
The other spoke into an earpiece.<\/p>\n
"No visible tail."<\/p>\n
Elena gave Victoria a questioning look.<\/p>\n
Victoria shook her head.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
The men opened the room.<\/p>\n
They found the box.<\/p>\n
The first man photographed every file before touching anything.<\/p>\n
Professional.<\/p>\n
The second inspected the corners.<\/p>\n
Then he removed a small electronic device from his case.<\/p>\n
Victoria frowned.<\/p>\n
"That's not for copying records."<\/p>\n
Elena leaned closer.<\/p>\n
"Incendiary?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Victoria recognized the shape.<\/p>\n
"Signal jammer."<\/p>\n
The monitor flickered.<\/p>\n
"Move," Elena ordered.<\/p>\n
Agents entered from both sides.<\/p>\n
"Federal officers! Hands up!"<\/p>\n
The first man raised his hands.<\/p>\n
The second did not.<\/p>\n
He threw something toward the box.<\/p>\n
Victoria saw a flash.<\/p>\n
"Down!"<\/p>\n
A sharp explosion filled the room.<\/p>\n
Smoke rolled through the hallway.<\/p>\n
The box caught fire.<\/p>\n
Agents tackled the men.<\/p>\n
Sprinklers activated.<\/p>\n
Water poured from the ceiling.<\/p>\n
Elena looked at Victoria.<\/p>\n
"They came to destroy it."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"But why photograph it first?"<\/p>\n
Victoria stared at the burning copies.<\/p>\n
"To verify what I had collected."<\/p>\n
One of the detained men started shouting.<\/p>\n
"I want counsel!"<\/p>\n
The other remained silent.<\/p>\n
Victoria approached him after agents secured his hands.<\/p>\n
"Who sent you?"<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
"You know."<\/p>\n
"Price?"<\/p>\n
No reaction.<\/p>\n
"Meridian?"<\/p>\n
His smile widened.<\/p>\n
Victoria crouched.<\/p>\n
"What were you verifying?"<\/p>\n
The man looked directly at her.<\/p>\n
"Whether Hale had it."<\/p>\n
Victoria's pulse tightened.<\/p>\n
"Which Hale?"<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
She repeated, "Which Hale?"<\/p>\n
The man looked toward the burning records.<\/p>\n
Then back to her.<\/p>\n
"Your father kept something that doesn't belong to him."<\/p>\n
Victoria stood.<\/p>\n
Elena heard every word.<\/p>\n
"So Price wants Thomas's evidence."<\/p>\n
Victoria nodded.<\/p>\n
But something still felt wrong.<\/p>\n
Meridian had spent twenty-one years without recovering it.<\/p>\n
Why act now?<\/p>\n
Unless Thomas's evidence contained something neither Victoria nor Thomas understood.<\/p>\n
Her phone rang.<\/p>\n
Thomas.<\/p>\n
Victoria answered.<\/p>\n
"Dad?"<\/p>\n
His voice was strained.<\/p>\n
"Victoria, there's something I forgot."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"The photograph."<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved to Elena.<\/p>\n
"What about it?"<\/p>\n
"The people in it."<\/p>\n
"We identified Price and Voss."<\/p>\n
"Not all of them."<\/p>\n
"Who else?"<\/p>\n
Thomas hesitated.<\/p>\n
"There was a woman."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Her name was Evelyn Mercer."<\/p>\n
Victoria felt cold.<\/p>\n
Mercer.<\/p>\n
"Any relation to Claire?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"What did Evelyn do?"<\/p>\n
"She worked in the mayor's office."<\/p>\n
"Why is that important?"<\/p>\n
"Because Robert Keene called her the founder."<\/p>\n
Victoria gripped the phone.<\/p>\n
"The founder of what?"<\/p>\n
"He never gave it a name."<\/p>\n
Thomas breathed shakily.<\/p>\n
"But after Keene died, Evelyn Mercer disappeared."<\/p>\n
Victoria closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Claire Mercer.<\/p>\n
Evelyn Mercer.<\/p>\n
Not coincidence.<\/p>\n
"Dad, where is the original photograph?"<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
"In the evidence envelope."<\/p>\n
Victoria's eyes opened.<\/p>\n
"No. Elena moved the evidence."<\/p>\n
Thomas went silent.<\/p>\n
"Moved where?"<\/p>\n
Victoria turned toward Elena.<\/p>\n
Elena had already gone pale.<\/p>\n
"I sent it to the secure federal archive."<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"Before we came here."<\/p>\n
Victoria's stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
The captured man began laughing behind them.<\/p>\n
Both women turned.<\/p>\n
He had heard enough.<\/p>\n
Victoria crossed the room.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
The man smiled through blood on his lip.<\/p>\n
"You still think we came for the box."<\/p>\n
Victoria stared at him.<\/p>\n
His smile widened.<\/p>\n
"We needed you away from the archive."<\/p>\n
Elena reached for her radio.<\/p>\n
At the same instant, every light in the building went out.<\/p>\n
The emergency system failed to activate.<\/p>\n
Complete darkness swallowed them.<\/p>\n
Victoria heard the captured man whisper from the floor.<\/p>\n
"Now they have the photograph."<\/p>\n
Deputy Director Samuel Price was waiting when Victoria arrived. He stood behind the glass wall of his office, wearing shirtsleeves and reading from a tablet as though the previous twenty-four … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2785,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2769\/revisions\/2785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}