Marcus picked it up carefully using gloves.
"Is this what he was bringing you?"
"Possibly."
"Do you know what's on it?"
"No."
The investigator placed it inside an evidence bag.
"We'll get it examined."
Emily walked toward the window.
From there, she could see the parking lot.
The blue pickup had been parked directly beneath a security camera.
She pointed toward it.
"That camera should have captured the driver."
Laura checked the recording system.
"Let's hope the footage hasn't been deleted."
They spent the next forty minutes securing the building.
The computer system had been partially wiped.
Several surveillance files were missing.
But one camera still contained footage from earlier that afternoon.
The recording showed Bell entering the building at 2:13 p.m.
At 2:16 p.m., a man in a dark jacket entered through the side door.
At 2:19 p.m., Brooks's cruiser appeared in the parking lot.
At 2:22 p.m., Emily left the building.
At 2:24 p.m., Bell disappeared from the camera's field of view.
At 2:26 p.m., the blue pickup exited through the rear gate.
Laura paused the footage.
"Can you enhance the driver's face?"
The technician nodded.
"We'll try."
Emily watched the screen.
The man behind the wheel wore a baseball cap.
But when the truck turned toward the gate, sunlight briefly illuminated his face.
Emily leaned closer.
She recognized him.
"That's not Voss."
Marcus looked at her.
"Who is it?"
"Lieutenant Robert Hayes."
Nobody spoke.
The name seemed to hang in the room.
Marcus stared at the frozen image.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"How well do you know him?"
"I've reviewed dozens of his photographs and personnel records."
Laura enlarged the image.
The man's face became clearer.
It was unmistakably Hayes.
Marcus exhaled slowly.
"Then we have a problem."
Emily shook her head.
"No. We have a witness who has been taken by someone we already suspected of being involved."
Marcus turned toward her.
"Emily, we don't know that Bell was taken against his will."
"He told me to leave."
"That doesn't establish what happened afterward."
"I know."
Marcus studied her.
"Don't let your instincts get ahead of the evidence."
She nodded.
But something about the footage bothered her.
Hayes had not been scheduled to work that afternoon.
His name appeared on the duty roster as being off-site at a training conference.
If he had been at the storage facility, someone had falsified his attendance record.
And if he had personally removed Bell, he had probably known about the federal investigation before the local department was officially notified.
Emily turned toward Laura.
"Can we check the conference attendance records?"
Laura nodded.
"Already requested."
Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
"Reed."
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression hardened.
"Repeat that."
Another pause.
"Who authorized it?"
He looked at Emily.
"Understood. Don't release anything. I'm coming back."
He ended the call.
"What happened?" Laura asked.
"Westbridge Police Headquarters just received an order to place Officer Brooks on administrative leave and secure his patrol equipment."
Emily frowned.
"From whom?"
"Chief Wallace."
"Why?"
"Apparently, the chief received a complaint about an officer assaulting a federal investigator."
Emily looked at Brooks through the window.
"That's fast."
Marcus nodded.
"Too fast."
He turned toward Laura.
"Find out who contacted the chief."
Laura checked her phone.
"There's something else. The chief requested a meeting with federal command."
Marcus looked unimpressed.
"Of course he did."
Emily glanced at the time.
3:42 p.m.
She had expected the investigation to take weeks, perhaps months, before the department's leadership became directly involved.
Instead, within ninety minutes, an undercover investigator had been arrested, a lieutenant had disappeared from a crime scene, and the police chief was already attempting to control the narrative.
The situation was moving much faster than expected.
Marcus walked toward the door.
"Emily, you're coming with us."
"Where?"
"Headquarters."
She looked back at the evidence room.
"What about Bell?"
"We'll find him."
"And Hayes?"
"He's our priority."
Emily hesitated.
"Marcus, I think Brooks knows more than he's admitting."
Marcus nodded.
"I agree."
"Don't let him talk to anyone from his department."
"We won't."
They returned to the police cruiser.
Brooks was no longer standing beside it.
Laura had placed him in the back seat of a separate vehicle while the federal team completed its preliminary documentation.
He sat silently, staring through the window.
When Emily walked past, he looked up.
Their eyes met.
He spoke through the glass.
"You don't know what you're getting into."
Emily stopped.
She leaned slightly toward the window.
"Then tell me."
Brooks shook his head.
"You think this is about a few missing cars? It's bigger than that."
"How much bigger?"
He looked toward Marcus.
Then back at her.
"You're not the only one who has a badge."
Emily straightened.
"What does that mean?"
Brooks didn't answer.
Laura opened the door.
"That's enough."
She closed it.
Emily remained still for a moment.
Then she walked toward the SUV.
The journey to headquarters took twenty-five minutes.
During the drive, Marcus reviewed the preliminary evidence while Laura coordinated with the federal command office.
Emily sat in the rear seat, looking out at the passing buildings.
Her mind kept returning to Brooks's final statement.
You're not the only one who has a badge.
It could have been a threat.
It could have been an attempt to intimidate her.
Or it could have been a warning.
At 4:17 p.m., they arrived at the Westbridge Police Department.
The building was a two-story brick structure with a large American flag outside the main entrance. Several patrol vehicles were parked along the curb.
The department had approximately 140 sworn officers.
It served a population of nearly 90,000 people.