Chapter 8
The revelation struck the narrow hallway like a physical shockwave. Chloe stumbled backward, her shoulder colliding hard against the wall as her mind raced to process the impossible accusation.
"That's a lie," Chloe whispered, shaking her head frantically in the dark. "Officer Miller wasn't even stationed in this precinct twenty years ago. She transferred in from the city years later!"
"Transfers can be faked when your jacket gets scrubbed clean by internal affairs," Thomas replied smoothly, the sound of his boots shifting as he leaned against the opposite wall. "She was a rookie back then, cutting her teeth on dirty details for the county commissioners. Your father threatened to blow the whistle on the land grab deals involving this entire subdivision. So, they sent a cleanup crew in uniform."
Mark gripped the brass candlestick tighter, his knuckles gleaming white in the faint light. "If what you're saying is true, why show your face tonight? Why not go straight to the state police or the federal prosecutor?"
"Because the federal prosecutor's office is tied into the exact same land syndicate," Thomas snarled, stepping forward until the faint scent of stale tobacco and rain washed over them. "The only leverage left is inside that wall safe. The original audio cassette your father recorded on his desk dictaphone the night he died."
Chloe stared into the darkness toward the louvered closet door. The realization hit her with sickening clarity. Her mother hadn't been trying to destroy the family trust documents; she had been trying to hide the dictaphone before Miller and her patrol units arrived on the scene.
"The safe was already open when I got home," Chloe breathed out, the pieces of the puzzle violently snapping together in her mind. "Mom wasn't trying to steal from us. She was trying to protect that tape from whoever broke in through the back window."
May you like
Before Thomas could respond, the front door—which had been left cracked open—swung wide with a violent crash, flooding the hallway with the blinding, flashing glare of returning emergency lights.
"Freeze! Metropolitan Police!" a booming voice echoed from the front entryway, followed by the heavy, synchronized thud of multiple combat boots rushing up the front steps.
