PART 2 — THE MAN BEHIND THE BADGE
I dropped before the warning finished echoing. A black pickup had struck the rear of Burns’s patrol cruiser, scattering broken taillight fragments across the pavement. Through the driver’s open window, I recognized Deputy Travis Cole, one of the officers we’d been investigating. But Cole wasn’t looking at Burns. He was staring at the black SUV. “She’s federal!” he shouted. “Chief says nobody leaves!”
Burns pulled his pistol. “Everybody on the ground!” Two people emerging from the SUV immediately raised their hands. One was Special Agent Rachel Monroe, my tactical coordinator. The other was a civilian informant named Daniel Price, who had promised to deliver evidence against Police Chief Gary Edwards. Seeing him outside our planned meeting location sent a cold sensation through my stomach.
“Vanessa!” Rachel shouted. “Get behind the barrier!” Burns swung his weapon toward her. “Shut up!” I stepped between them. “Cory, lower your gun.” “Don’t use my first name!” he roared. “You don’t know me!” “I know eleven years of disciplinary complaints. I know the missing cash. And I know what happened to Marcus Bell.”
His expression collapsed. Marcus Bell was a truck driver whose family had reported him missing after a traffic stop six months earlier. Burns staggered backward. “Who told you about him?” I asked. “Nobody,” I answered. “You just did.”
Cole suddenly lunged from the pickup and grabbed Daniel by the collar. “You were supposed to keep your mouth shut!” Rachel rushed forward, but Cole struck her across the face with his elbow. She stumbled against the SUV. I caught his wrist before he could hit Daniel again and twisted his arm downward. He slammed his shoulder into me, driving us both against the stone wall. Pain flashed through my ribs.
“Get off her!” Evan shouted.
Cole reached for his holster. Before he could draw, Evan tackled him from behind. They crashed onto the pavement. Cole fought viciously, catching Evan across the cheek. Evan pinned his arm while Rachel recovered and secured his wrists.
Burns stood frozen, staring at his rookie partner. “What the hell are you doing, Meyers?” Evan slowly rose, blood at the corner of his mouth. “My job.” He reached inside his uniform collar and pulled out a tiny transmitter. “Special Agent Evan Meyers. FBI Public Corruption Task Force.” Burns stared at the device. “You’ve been wearing a wire?” “For twenty-three days,” Evan replied.
Burns lunged at him, but I intercepted him and forced his arm behind his back. Rachel stepped in and secured his weapon. “Cory Burns,” I said, “you’re being detained pending federal charges.”
Then Daniel shouted from beside the SUV. “You don’t understand! The chief knows about the operation!” Rachel turned toward him. “How?” Daniel held up a bloodstained envelope. “Because somebody in your federal office warned him three days ago!”
My stomach tightened. Three days. Exactly when I’d arrived.
Daniel opened the envelope and showed me a photograph of our confidential operational briefing. Across the bottom was a handwritten instruction: Hart must not leave Harland Falls.
“Where did you get this?” I demanded.
“Chief Edwards’s desk. He keeps copies of everything.”
Evan glanced toward Burns. “Who gave Edwards the briefing?”
Burns’s mouth curled into a strange smile. “You really think this ends with me?”
Rachel’s phone rang. She answered, listened, then went white. “Vanessa, our team at the precinct just lost contact. Someone locked down the building.”
A burst of radio static came from Cole’s fallen shoulder microphone. Then a familiar male voice spoke.
“Burns, if you can hear me, bring Hart to the station. If you can’t, the witnesses in holding don’t survive the next ten minutes.”
It was Chief Gary Edwards.
Daniel grabbed my sleeve. “My sister’s inside that station.”
I stared at the radio. Then another voice came through, weak and terrified.
“Vanessa? Please. He says he knows where your family lives.”
It was my younger brother, Michael.
PART 3 — THE LAST DAY OF HIS CAREER
“Michael?” I snatched the radio from the pavement. “Michael, listen to me. Stay calm.” His breathing crackled through the speaker. “Vanessa, they came to my apartment. They said you were in trouble.” Chief Edwards interrupted. “Bring Burns here, Assistant Director. No backup. No helicopters. You have fifteen minutes.” The transmission ended. Rachel stared at me. “Your brother wasn’t on the witness list.” “He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near Tennessee.”
I turned to Burns. “How did Edwards find him?” Burns looked away. Evan stepped closer. “Answer her.” “I don’t know!” Burns shouted. Then Daniel stepped forward. “He used the same contractor who tracked Marcus Bell’s family.” His voice trembled. “Marcus was my cousin. He discovered officers stealing money from motorists, and they framed him when he complained.”
