Chapter 11 - The Badge in the File
Collins closed the laptop.
“No.”
I knew that tone.
Not disbelief.
Prayer.
She wanted the evidence to be wrong.
“Who is Brooks?” Emily asked.
“My commander.”
“Could Caleb have been mistaken?”
Collins looked at her.
“Caleb was meticulous.”
Like June.
Maybe that ran through the family in ways blood did not need to explain.
The files showed Keene and Brooks manipulating evidence logs.
Darren transported vehicles for the sheriff’s impound contractor.
He had access to seized cars.
Caleb found missing narcotics.
Then cash.
Then altered chain-of-custody forms.
One audio clip included Darren’s voice.
“You keep looking, deputy, you’ll find your own grave.”
Emily started crying.
June was not in the room.
Thank God.
Collins said, “We need state investigators.”
I asked, “Not your department?”
“No.”
Smart.
She called the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Before they arrived, Brooks called her.
She stared at the screen.
Did not answer.
He called again.
Then texted.
HEARD YOU FOUND THE GIRL. CALL ME.
Collins turned off her phone.
“Good,” I said.
She looked offended.
“I know how to do my job.”
“I know.”
“Then stop sounding surprised.”
“I’m surprised people still do.”
That almost made her smile.
At 10:03 p.m., BCI agents arrived.
They took custody of Caleb’s files.
They interviewed Sarah.
Emily.
Collins.
Me.
At midnight, June fell asleep with her head against my arm.
Emily looked at us.
“You can move.”
“No.”
“She’ll stay asleep.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
I looked down at June.
“Because she asked me to stay.”
Emily’s eyes filled again.
At 12:17, a BCI agent entered.
“We found Darren.”
Everyone stood.
“Where?”
“County morgue.”
Silence.
Emily went white.
“What?”
“Body found this morning near Buck Creek. No ID. Prints just came back.”
I stared.
Darren had called me less than twenty-four hours earlier.
“That’s impossible.”
The agent shook his head.
“Medical examiner estimates he died two days ago.”
Nobody spoke.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I looked at the screen.
The agent said, “Don’t answer.”
I answered.
May you like
The same voice I had sworn was Darren whispered:
“Now you know how easy it is to believe a dead man.”
