The storage room door was heavy, with a keypad and a mechanical lock. Investigators had already documented the exterior and obtained authorization to enter.
An agent opened the door.
Inside, the room contained shelves of office supplies, several sealed boxes, and a metal chair positioned against the wall.
A man sat on the floor beside the chair.
His hands were bound in front of him, and his face was bruised. He looked exhausted, but when the light reached him, he raised his head.
Jack recognized him from the photographs.
Daniel Foster.
JACK MORGAN: "Daniel? My name is Jack Morgan. We're federal agents. You're safe now."
Foster stared at him for several seconds, apparently unsure whether to believe what he was hearing.
DANIEL FOSTER: "Are you really FBI?"
JACK MORGAN: "Yes. We're here to get you out."
Laura knelt beside him while another agent cut the restraints. A medical team had been waiting outside and was called in immediately.
Foster's hands trembled as he tried to stand.
DANIEL FOSTER: "I thought they were going to kill me."
JACK MORGAN: "Who brought you here?"
Foster swallowed and looked toward the open door.
DANIEL FOSTER: "I don't know all their names. They kept changing vehicles. But I heard them talking about the list."
JACK MORGAN: "What list?"
DANIEL FOSTER: "The people who were supposed to be arrested. They said the department needed to remove the problem before the audit started."
Jack exchanged a glance with Laura.
JACK MORGAN: "Who was organizing it?"
Foster closed his eyes for a moment.
DANIEL FOSTER: "Shaw wasn't the one making the final decisions."
JACK MORGAN: "Who was?"
Foster opened his eyes.
DANIEL FOSTER: "A man named Victor Cross."
The name meant nothing to Jack at first.
Laura, however, looked sharply at the recovered documents on the desk.
LAURA BENNETT: "Victor Cross? The Meridian Logistics executive?"
Foster nodded weakly.
DANIEL FOSTER: "He controlled the money. He had people inside the department, and they made sure the right cases went away. Shaw handled the police side, but Cross decided who needed to be silenced."
Jack felt the investigation shift again.
The deputy commissioner might have helped protect the operation, but the network appeared to extend into private business and political influence.
JACK MORGAN: "Why were they targeting you?"
DANIEL FOSTER: "I found records showing that evidence was being moved between cases. Some packets were logged under one person's name and later appeared in another person's arrest report. I told my supervisor. A week later, my access was suspended."
JACK MORGAN: "And then you disappeared."
DANIEL FOSTER: "They said I had stolen confidential records. They threatened to charge me unless I signed a statement saying the discrepancies were mistakes."
Jack listened carefully.
DANIEL FOSTER: "I refused. After that, I started receiving messages. They knew where my sister lived. They knew where my daughter went to school. I thought if I stayed quiet, they would leave my family alone."
Laura's expression softened.
LAURA BENNETT: "Do you have copies of the records?"
Foster nodded toward the office.
DANIEL FOSTER: "Some are on the computer. The rest are in a backup drive hidden in a locked cabinet. I don't know whether they've found it."
Jack turned toward the evidence team.
JACK MORGAN: "Secure the cabinet and document everything. We need forensic copies of every drive before anyone accesses the files."
The agents moved quickly.
As the medical team escorted Foster toward the exit, he stopped and looked at Jack.
DANIEL FOSTER: "There was another thing."
JACK MORGAN: "What?"
Foster hesitated.
DANIEL FOSTER: "They knew you were coming."
Jack felt a cold tension settle across his shoulders.
JACK MORGAN: "Who knew?"
DANIEL FOSTER: "Cross. He mentioned a federal agent who would be walking through Westbridge. He said the man would look ordinary, and that Reed would recognize him."
Jack remained silent.
The message that had directed Daniel to find him had not been a random instruction. Someone had anticipated his movements and arranged for an officer to approach him under false pretenses.
JACK MORGAN: "Did Cross know my name?"
DANIEL FOSTER: "I don't know. I heard them say that the operation had to be stopped before the agent reached the evidence office."
Jack looked at Laura.
The evidence office was the location where Daniel Foster had worked before his disappearance. It was also where several of the suspicious transfers had been recorded.
Someone had been attempting to protect those records.