James had spent thirty years working around law enforcement. He knew the difference between an ordinary criminal and someone who had been trained to control a situation.
This man moved carefully. He never stood with his back to a door. He checked the windows every few minutes. And he kept his phone within reach.
“You're making a mistake,” James said.
The man looked at him.
“That's what everyone says.”
“My son has nothing to do with this.”
“Your son knows more than you think.”
“He's a deputy. He doesn't know anything about your business.”
The man smiled faintly.
“Your son knows enough to become inconvenient.”
James leaned forward.
“If you want something from me, ask.”
The man studied him.
“Did you ever receive a payment from the Fallen Officers Foundation?”
James frowned.
“What?”
“Forty-eight thousand dollars. Four years ago.”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“I would remember receiving that kind of money.”
The man opened a folder and showed him a printed financial record.
James read it.
His face changed.
“That signature isn't mine.”
“It's not your signature. It's your name.”
“Someone stole money in my name?”
The man closed the folder.
“That's what we need to establish.”
James looked at him carefully.
“You're not here to ask questions. You're here because my son found something.”
The man's expression remained unreadable.
“Perhaps.”
“Then tell your employers something for me.”
“What?”
James stared directly at him.
“They can threaten me all they want. But Ryan won't stop.”
The man stood.
“That's exactly what worries them.”
He walked to the door.
Before leaving, he turned back.
“Your son has until tomorrow morning to make a decision. After that, things become more difficult.”
The door closed.
James sat alone in the darkness.
He did not know whether Ryan was safe. He did not know whether the authorities had discovered Blackwood. But he knew one thing.
His son had finally done what he himself had been too afraid to do years earlier.
He had spoken the truth.
And James was not going to let anyone convince him that it had been a mistake.
That evening, Victoria received a call from an unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
“Director Bennett.”
A familiar voice spoke.
“It's Margaret Ellis.”
Victoria stood immediately.
“Margaret, where are you?”
“At home. I need to speak with you.”
“Is everything all right?”
“No. I found something in the old department archive.”
Victoria lowered her voice.
“What did you find?”
“The original ledger from the foundation account. The one I told you had disappeared.”
“Where is it?”
“Not here. I hid it before they searched my office.”
“Why didn't you tell us earlier?”
Margaret's voice trembled.
“Because I was afraid of what they would do to my family. But I saw the list of names. I saw James Mitchell's name. And I realized they had been stealing from families for years.”
Victoria closed her eyes briefly.
“Margaret, listen carefully. Do not go anywhere. Do not open the door to anyone you don't recognize. We are sending a protection team.”
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“I remember who brought the ledger to the sheriff's office. It was Edward Lang.”
Victoria exchanged a glance with Sarah.
“Are you certain?”
“I saw him sign the transfer form. But that isn't the worst part.”
“What is?”
Margaret took a shaky breath.
“He came with Thomas Miller.”
Victoria felt her pulse quicken.
“Agent Miller?”
“Yes. He wasn't an agent then. He was working as a security contractor. He helped Lang remove the original documents from the archive.”
The room became silent.
Thomas Miller had not merely become compromised during the investigation.
He had been connected to the corruption from the beginning.
Victoria looked at Sarah.
“Can you send me the location of the ledger?”
Margaret gave her an address.
Victoria wrote it down.
“Don't move until our team arrives.”
“Director?”
“Yes?”
“There's one more thing I never told anyone.”
Victoria waited.
“Your father came to see me the night before he died. He gave me a sealed envelope and told me to keep it safe. I never opened it.”
Victoria's breath caught.
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In a box beneath my bedroom floor. I kept it because I knew one day someone would come looking for it.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Her father had left evidence in more than one place.
And now, after all these years, the truth was finally beginning to emerge.
“Margaret,” she said softly, “you did the right thing.”
But before Margaret could answer, a loud noise sounded through the phone.