When Daniel needed advice, he called Thomas.
When Olivia was sick, Thomas drove her to the hospital.
He was not simply their uncle.
He was the closest thing they had to another father.
Now Deputy Chief Brooks was telling Daniel that Thomas knew something about his father's death.
Daniel refused to believe it.
He called his uncle.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Finally, he sent a message.
Uncle Thomas, we need to talk. I know about the original investigation.
An hour later, Thomas replied.
Come to the old family house. Alone.
Daniel showed the message to Rachel.
"Absolutely not," she said.
"I need to hear what he has to say."
"Possibly," Rachel said.
"Then why is his name on the list?"
"Because we don't know whether he stayed loyal."
Ryan stood.
"We need to find him."
Olivia called Thomas immediately.
No answer.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
Then she sent a message.
Uncle Thomas, I need to speak with you. It's about Dad.
Five minutes later, her phone rang.
Thomas.
Olivia answered.
"Uncle?"
His voice sounded strange.
"Where are you?"
"With Rachel and Ryan."
"Don't tell anyone else."
Olivia frowned.
"What?"
"I need to see you."
"Why?"
A pause.
Then he said, "Because your father left something with me."
Olivia's heart began to race.
"What?"
"The original file."
Rachel motioned for Olivia to put the phone on speaker.
Thomas continued.
"I kept it for twelve years. I thought the investigation was over. But when Daniel started asking questions, I knew the past was coming back."
Olivia looked at Rachel.
"Where are you?"
"At home."
"Stay there. We're coming."
Thomas's voice suddenly became urgent.
"No. Listen to me. Don't come here."
"Why?"
"Someone has been watching my house."
A loud noise interrupted him.
Olivia stood.
"Uncle?"
The line crackled.
Then Thomas whispered.
"They know I still have it."
The call ended.
Ryan immediately grabbed his jacket.
"We need to get there."
Rachel stopped him.
"Wait. If someone is watching the house, we can't walk into a trap."
"Then what do we do?"
Rachel called the investigators who had secured Warehouse 17.
She requested immediate assistance.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Thomas's house.
The front door was open.
The living room had been turned upside down.
A broken lamp lay on the floor.
Several drawers had been emptied.
But there was no sign of Thomas.
Olivia rushed into the kitchen.
"Uncle Thomas!"
No answer.
Ryan checked the back door.
It was unlocked.
Then Marcus noticed something on the floor.
A small envelope.
It had Olivia's name written on it.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her father standing beside a younger Lieutenant Hayes.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
Your father did not die in an accident.
Olivia's hands trembled.
Another piece of paper was folded behind the photograph.
It contained an address.
And a final message.
IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FATHER, FIND THE MAN WHO SIGNED THE ORIGINAL DEATH REPORT.
Rachel read the name beneath the message.
It belonged to a retired detective.
A man named Robert Collins.
But there was something else.
The date on the original report was twelve years old.
And the signature belonged to Richard Hayes.
At 7:15 the following morning, Daniel Carter finally left the police station.
He had spent almost thirty-six hours in custody.
His release was not an admission that the department had made a mistake.
It was the result of an emergency legal order after investigators discovered inconsistencies in the arrest report and evidence suggesting that his detention had been improperly arranged.
Daniel stepped outside.
The morning air was cold.
For a moment, he simply stood on the sidewalk, breathing.
Then he saw Olivia.
She ran toward him.
"Daniel!"
He barely had time to open his arms before she embraced him.
She held him tightly, as if letting go might make him disappear again.
"I thought I was going to lose you," she whispered.
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I'm here."
She pulled away and examined his face.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm okay."
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
Daniel smiled weakly.
"I'll try."
Then he noticed Ryan standing beside Rachel.
"What happened?"
Ryan stepped forward.
"We found something."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
"Your father's name."
Daniel froze.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
"My father?"
Rachel handed him the photograph.
It showed James Carter standing beside Lieutenant Hayes.
Daniel stared at it.
He had seen photographs of his father many times.
But he had never seen this one.
"Where did you find this?"
"Warehouse 17," Rachel explained.
"Michael stored several recordings there."
Daniel looked toward Olivia.
"Did you listen to them?"
She nodded.
"All of them."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel, Dad was investigating the same people Michael was investigating."
Daniel felt as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
His father had died when he was twenty.
The family had been told that it was a tragic vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver.
For years, Daniel had accepted that explanation.
Now he was being told that his father's death might have been connected to the same corruption that had killed Michael Reed.
Ryan spoke quietly.
"We need to talk somewhere private."
They drove to Rachel's office.
Once everyone was seated, Daniel explained what he knew about Michael's evidence.
Three weeks earlier, Michael had given him a memory card.
Daniel had hidden it inside an old radio in his apartment.
He had not listened to the entire recording because Michael had told him to wait until he could find a trustworthy investigator.
Rachel asked, "Do you still have it?"
Daniel nodded.
"Unless someone has found it."
Olivia looked worried.
"We need to check."
Daniel looked at Ryan.
"Can you help?"
Ryan nodded.
They drove to Daniel's apartment under the supervision of the independent investigators.
The building appeared normal.
But when Daniel opened his front door, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
The living room had been searched.
His drawers were open.
Books were scattered across the floor.
The old radio was missing.
Daniel rushed toward the bedroom.
"Where is it?"
He searched beneath the bed.
Nothing.
He checked the closet.
Nothing.
Then Olivia noticed a small object near the window.
A broken piece of plastic.
She picked it up.
It belonged to the back panel of the radio.
Daniel stared at it.
"Someone took it."
Ryan examined the apartment.
"Whoever searched this place knew exactly what they were looking for."
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"Did you tell anyone where you hid the card?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Only Michael knew."
Then he remembered something.
"Wait."
He walked toward the kitchen.
Inside an old drawer was a small notebook.
He opened it and removed a folded piece of paper.
It contained a series of numbers.
Olivia frowned.
"What is that?"
"Michael gave me this before he died."
"Why didn't you mention it?"
"I thought it was a storage code."
Ryan studied the numbers.
"They might be coordinates."
Marcus entered them into his computer.
A map appeared.
The location was an old parking structure near the city center.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
"That's where Michael used to meet me."
They arrived twenty minutes later.
The parking structure was nearly empty.
On the third level, Daniel found a small metal locker hidden behind a concrete pillar.
The combination worked.
Inside was a black envelope.
It contained a USB drive and a printed photograph.