Frank Dalton was ordered to surrender his department credentials.
Richard Palmer was taken in for questioning.
And Mayor Hartley was served with a subpoena.
Officer Miller watched from the corridor.
He saw Daniel enter the building.
For a moment, he remembered the public terminal.
The shouting.
The briefcase on the floor.
The hand gripping Daniel's arm.
He approached cautiously.
“Deputy Director Hayes.”
Daniel stopped.
Miller lowered his eyes.
“I owe you an apology.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You owe one to every person you treated that way.”
Miller nodded.
“I know.”
Commander Brooks approached with a document.
“Sir, we've recovered the original complaint files. The review board can now reopen every case.”
Daniel accepted the document.
“How many?”
“Two hundred and sixteen.”
Daniel looked at the list.
Two hundred and sixteen people had been ignored, threatened, or falsely accused.
He closed the folder.
“Then we start with the first name.”
As he walked toward the conference room, a young officer approached him.
“Sir?”
Daniel turned.
The officer held out a small envelope.
“We found this in Lieutenant Cole's office. It was addressed to you.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed the public terminal, taken from a security camera angle.
On the back was a handwritten message:
YOU REMOVED THE PEOPLE WE COULD SEE. YOU HAVEN'T FOUND THE PEOPLE WHO GAVE THE ORDERS.
Daniel looked at Commander Brooks.
“Who delivered this?”
“Nobody knows.”
He examined the photograph again.
At the far end of the terminal, barely visible in the background, stood a man in a dark suit.
The man was watching Daniel.
Daniel recognized him.
It was Deputy Governor Charles Whitaker.
The same official who had publicly praised the police department during the previous year's reform campaign.
Daniel slowly folded the photograph.
“Commander, this investigation isn't over.”
Brooks nodded.
“What do we do now?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“We find out why the deputy governor was watching that terminal.”
His phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message appeared:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE FIRST OFFICER ALONE.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then he typed a reply.
I'M JUST GETTING STARTED.
END OF PART ONE — THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
THE OFFICER HUMILIATED THE WRONG MAN… THEN HIS ENTIRE COMMAND STAFF ARRIVED
Part Two — The Conspiracy Above the Law
CHAPTER 21 — THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR'S SECRET
Deputy Governor Charles Whitaker had spent thirty years building a reputation as a public servant.
He appeared at charity events, attended police graduations, and delivered speeches about accountability.
To the public, he was a reformer.
To Daniel Hayes, he was now a person of interest.
Daniel stood in the oversight office with Monica Reed and Commander Elena Brooks.
“Whitaker was at the terminal before the confrontation,” Monica explained. “The security footage shows him watching the entire incident from the opposite entrance.”
“Did he approach Miller?”
“No. But he spoke to someone immediately afterward.”
“Who?”
Monica enlarged the image.
A man in a gray suit stood beside Whitaker.
Daniel recognized him from the recovered documents.
Adrian Cole, a private security consultant and former government administrator.
Daniel frowned.
“Why would the deputy governor meet a private consultant inside a transportation terminal?”
Commander Brooks folded her arms.
“Maybe it wasn't a meeting. Maybe it was a warning.”
Daniel studied the photograph.
“Find out what Cole was doing there.”
Monica nodded.
Then Daniel received an email from an unknown sender.
It contained one sentence:
Whitaker did not order the operation. He inherited it.
Below it was an address.
And a time.
11:30 p.m.
CHAPTER 22 — THE ABANDONED GOVERNMENT BUILDING
The address led to an abandoned administrative building near the old waterfront.
Daniel arrived with Monica and two federal investigators.
The building had been closed for almost a decade.
Inside, dust covered the furniture. Old government signs remained on the walls.
A single office light was on.
Daniel entered.
A man sat behind the desk.
He was in his late sixties, with white hair and a deep scar across his left cheek.