Chương 11
Her eyes closed.
David put the coin away.
At 6:18 a.m., Cole called.
His voice sounded exhausted.
“County processed the keychain and drive.”
“Good.”
“They took custody.”
“Even better.”
“Campus security wasn’t happy.”
“I’m devastated.”
Cole ignored him.
“They also found blood under the stairwell.”
David stood.
“Nora’s?”
“Unknown.”
“Location?”
“About thirty feet from where the keychain was found.”
“Could be hers.”
“Could be anybody’s.”
“What about the backpack?”
“Still missing.”
David paced toward the window.
“And Vale?”
“He says camera maintenance had been scheduled.”
“At eleven twenty-six at night?”
“No.”
“Then irrelevant.”
“He claims a software fault caused the outage.”
“Can that be verified?”
“We’re preserving the server.”
“University cooperating?”
Cole laughed.
It contained no humor.
“That depends on your definition.”
“What happened?”
“General counsel arrived.”
“Reeves?”
“Yes.”
“Fast.”
“She brought outside counsel this time.”
David looked at Nora.
“So somebody’s awake.”
“Everybody’s awake.”
Cole lowered his voice.
“There are black SUVs outside the administration building, and one belongs to Holbrook Dynamics security.”
David stopped pacing.
“Security?”
“Registered corporate vehicle.”
“Does that mean Wyatt’s father is there?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I thought you’d appreciate the distinction.”
“I do.”
Cole hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
David waited.
“The red keychain has a partial print.”
“Nora’s?”
“No comparison yet.”
“Then what?”
“The drive itself had been wiped clean.”
“Not electronically.”
“No.”
David understood.
“Physically.”
“Somebody cleaned it before leaving it.”
“That sounds planted.”
“It sounds handled carefully.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
Cole’s correction was immediate.
David accepted it.
“No.”
Cole continued.
“The county tech won’t examine the contents without a warrant or consent from whoever owns it.”
“If Kayla owns it?”
“That’s the question.”
David looked at Nora.
“Can the serial number identify a purchaser?”
“Maybe, but probably not quickly.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Nothing right now.”
David almost laughed.
“That may be the first sensible thing anyone has told me tonight.”
“Morning.”
David looked at the window.
The sky had turned gray.
“Right.”
Cole exhaled.
“Go home at some point.”
“No.”
“She’ll need clothes.”
David looked down at himself.
He was still wearing yesterday’s T-shirt under an old jacket.
Nora’s shoes were gone.
Her jeans had been cut by emergency staff.
Cole was right, which irritated him.
“I’ll send someone.”
“Who?”
David almost answered Bishop.
He stopped.
“A friend.”
“The strange-hours one?”
“No.”
That reminded him of something normal.
Nora’s neighbor, Mrs. Alvarez, had a spare key for emergencies and believed every crisis could be improved with soup.
He could call her after seven.
Normal help.
Not Vanguard.
The distinction suddenly mattered.
Cole said, “One more thing.”
“What?”
“I ran Martin Vale through what I could access.”
David waited.
“He worked corporate security before Bellweather.”
“For whom?”
Cole paused.
“Holbrook Dynamics.”
David looked at Nora.
The coincidence was possible.
That was exactly why it was dangerous.
“How long ago?”
“He left three years ago.”
“Position?”
“Regional security manager.”
“Reason for leaving?”
“Not public.”
David’s mind started connecting lines.
He stopped himself.
“Employment history isn’t guilt.”
“I know.”
“Have you told your lieutenant?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me to come back to the station.”
David heard something beneath the words.
“Are you going?”
“Yes.”
“Why do I think there’s more?”
Cole became quiet.
Then he said, “Because Internal Affairs is waiting for me.”
David gripped the windowsill.
“For what?”
“They say there’s a complaint about how I handled evidence tonight.”
“Filed by whom?”
“They won’t tell me.”
“You found the drive.”
“Yes.”
“You called county.”
“Yes.”
“You preserved the garage.”
“I tried.”
David’s voice hardened.
“Do you need an attorney?”
“I am a detective.”
“That was not my question.”
Cole gave a humorless laugh.
“I probably do.”
David looked down the corridor.
Doctors were beginning morning rounds.
Families were waking.
A television in another room played a cheerful breakfast commercial nobody had asked for.
“Cole.”
“Yeah?”
“Before you go in, send copies of your notes through whatever authorized preservation process your department uses.”
“I already uploaded them.”
“Body camera?”
“Active for the garage.”
“Good.”
Cole was silent.
Then he said, “You really were something else before security consulting.”
David looked at Nora.
Her eyes were open again.
She had heard enough of the call to understand the danger.
“I was worse at sleeping.”
“That explains nothing.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
Cole sighed.
“If they suspend me, somebody else gets the case.”
“I know.”
“If somebody else gets the case, you do not decide that makes you law enforcement.”
David almost resented him for saying it.
Mostly because Cole had identified the exact temptation waiting for him.
“I know.”
“Say it like you mean it.”
David’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not law enforcement.”
“Good.”
Cole ended the call.
Nora lifted the whiteboard.
HE’S IN TROUBLE?
“Yes.”
BECAUSE OF ME?
“No.”
She stared at him.
David corrected himself.
“Because of choices other people are making around what happened to you.”
Nora considered that.
Then she wrote.
DIFFERENCE?
David looked at the word.
“Important one.”
She lowered the board.
His phone vibrated again.
A message from Bishop appeared.
RAMIREZ HAS HIS COIN.
Another followed.
CHEN HAS HERS.
Then another.
FOSTER’S IS MISSING.
David felt the hospital room recede around him.
He called immediately.
Bishop answered.
“When?”
“Foster says he hasn’t seen it in years.”
“Where did he keep it?”
“Desk drawer.”
“Who had access?”
“Family.”
“Cleaners.”
“Friends.”
“Anybody from the old days?”
Bishop hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“Who?”
“Foster had a visitor six months ago.”
David’s pulse slowed rather than quickened.
“What visitor?”
“He didn’t tell me until I asked about the coin.”
“Name.”
“He says the man introduced himself as Daniel March.”
David said nothing.
Bishop continued.
“Foster recognized him.”
“From where?”
“Vanguard.”
David’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Who?”
“Foster says he looked older.”
“Who?”
Bishop finally answered.
“He says it was Elias Mercer.”
David did not move.
Bishop said his name once.
Then again.
“Describe exactly what Foster told you.”
“He said the man showed up at his house in November.”
“Unannounced?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
May you like
“What did he want?”
“Foster said they talked for twenty minutes.”
