Chapter 4: The Sergeant’s Dead Sister
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the ambulance idling behind me.
The photograph on my phone showed a woman standing beside a blue door, a white bird painted above her head. The man behind her was almost entirely swallowed by shadow.
Seven words glowed beneath the image.
*Ask Sergeant Collins who killed my sister.*
I looked up.
Collins was watching me.
“What did Lewis say?”” she asked.
“Nothing about this.””
I turned the phone toward her.
The moment she saw the photograph, the color drained from her face.
She took one step backward.
Then another.
“Where did you get that?””
“Someone sent it to my phone.””
“Delete it.””
I stared at her.
“Excuse me?””
“Bennett, delete the photograph. Right now.””
“No.””
Her jaw tightened.
“You have no idea what you're dealing with.””
“Then explain it to me.””
She glanced toward the ambulance, where Emily was still being examined. Noah sat beside her, his small hand wrapped around his mother's fingers.
Collins lowered her voice.
“Not here.””
I followed her around the side of the house, away from the paramedics and the other officers arriving at the scene.
She stood beneath a maple tree, pressing her palms against her hips.
“My sister was named Rebecca,” she said.
“She worked as a forensic accountant for a federal contractor. Six years ago, she was killed in a hit-and-run outside her apartment.””
“Was the driver identified?””
“No.””
“Was the case investigated?””
“For three months. Then it went cold.””
“Why would someone connect her death to this case?””
Collins looked toward the house.
“Because Rebecca was the one who discovered the original witness-protection ledger.””
The words hit me like a physical blow.
“You knew about the ledger?””
“I knew she'd found something. She told me it involved people inside law enforcement. She said she had evidence that protected identities were being sold.””
“And you didn't report it?””
“I tried.””
Her voice cracked on the last word.
“I went to my commanding officer. Two days later, Rebecca was dead. The evidence disappeared from her apartment, and someone sent me a photograph of my daughter leaving school.””
I stared at her.
“You have a daughter?””
“She's twenty-four now. Back then, she was twelve.””
Collins swallowed hard.
“They told me the same thing they told Rebecca. Stay quiet, or someone I loved would pay for my curiosity.””
“So you stopped investigating.””
“I thought I was protecting my family.””
“Did it work?””
She looked away.
“No.””
The silence between us grew heavy.
I thought about Noah running barefoot through the streets. About Emily chained inside a shed. About a detective using his badge to intimidate a child.
“Sergeant,” I said, “if Rebecca found the ledger, she might have known where James hid it.””
Collins nodded slowly.
“That's why someone sent you that photograph. They're trying to make you distrust me.””
“Are they?””
She met my eyes.
“I don't know anymore.””
Before I could respond, my radio crackled.
“Officer Bennett, this is dispatch. We have a situation at your station.””
I pressed the microphone.
“Go ahead.””
“Officer Lewis has been transported to Grant Medical Center for evaluation. Detective Mercer is still missing. Additionally, we've received an order to suspend your access to the Carter case.””
“From whom?””
“Deputy Chief Harris.””
Collins snatched the radio from my hand.
“This is Sergeant Collins. Who authorized the order?””
“Deputy Chief Harris himself.””
“Did he provide a case number?””
A pause.
“No, Sergeant.””
“Then disregard it until the authorization is verified.””
“Sergeant, I'm being told—”
“Verify it.””
She released the button.
I stared at her.
“You just disobeyed a direct order.””
“I asked for verification. There's a difference.””
She handed back the radio.
“Now we need to find the blue door before Mercer does.””
I glanced toward the ambulance.
Emily had begun struggling to sit up again.
When she saw us, she called my name.
“Officer Bennett! You need to look at something.””
I hurried over.
Emily had pulled a folded piece of paper from the lining of her handbag. It was stained with dirt and had been torn along one edge.
“James gave me this before he disappeared,” she explained.
“I hid it because I thought Daniel might search my things.””
I unfolded it.
Inside was a crude map of an industrial block on the east side of Columbus. One building was circled in red.
Midwest Archive Services.
Below it, James had written a short message.
*Unit 214. The bird opens the door. Don't trust the first person who offers help.*
I looked at Collins.
“Does the building have storage units?””
“Not officially. It used to be a records warehouse. The city leased part of it to private contractors.””
Emily grabbed my wrist.
“There is something else.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“James told me that if anyone asked about Rebecca, I had to say I never knew her.””
Collins stiffened.
“Why?””
“Because Rebecca was the person who introduced James to the witness-protection program. She helped him disappear after the corruption case.””
“That isn't possible,” Collins whispered.
“Rebecca was never authorized to arrange witness protection.””
Emily shook her head.
“She wasn't officially authorized.””
She reached into her bag again and produced a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Rebecca standing with James Carter outside a courthouse.
On the back, in Rebecca's handwriting, were the words:
*If anything happens to me, the original stays with the boy.*
I looked at Noah.
He was watching us from the ambulance, his expression solemn.
“The key,” I whispered.
Emily nodded.
“James didn't give Noah a key to a storage unit. He gave him the key to the original ledger.””
Collins stared at the photograph as if the dead had suddenly walked back into her life.
Then a black sedan pulled up beside the ambulance.
A woman in a navy suit stepped out, displaying a federal identification card.
“I'm Special Agent Laura Price,” she announced.
“I've been assigned to take custody of Emily Carter and her son.””
I stepped in front of the ambulance doors.
“By whose request?””
“Deputy Chief Harris.””
“That's not a federal authority.””
She gave me a thin smile.
“Then perhaps you should read the second document.””
She held up a warrant bearing the signature of a federal magistrate.
I examined it.
The names were correct. The case number was real. But the warrant authorized the seizure of evidence, not the removal of a witness.
“This doesn't authorize you to take the child,” I said.
Price's smile vanished.
“Officer Bennett, you are dangerously close to obstructing a federal investigation.””
Collins stepped beside me.
“Then you won't mind telling us why the warrant doesn't match your stated purpose.””
For a moment, Price said nothing.
Then she looked past us toward Noah.
And she whispered something that only I could hear.
“Ask the boy what happened the night his father disappeared.””
My blood ran cold.
May you like
Because before she walked away, she added one final sentence.
“Your witness has been lying to you from the beginning.””
