“Money. Records. Digital devices. Anything that could disappear without leaving an obvious trail.”
Cole leaned forward.
“Who was behind it?”
“We never proved that.”
“But you suspected Warren.”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Why did you let the Harbor Street operation happen?”
“I didn't control it.”
“Who did?”
“Warren's task group.”
Porter removed another photograph.
It showed a warehouse worker opening HS-17.
“Daniel photographed this before the seizure.”
Marcus studied the image.
“What is he holding?”
“A recorder.”
“The same one?”
“Yes.”
Cole looked stunned.
“Then it survived.”
Porter nodded.
“Daniel believed the recorder contained proof that certain evidence was being redirected after seizures.”
Marcus felt his anger rise.
“Why didn't you take it?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel disappeared.”
Silence filled the kitchen.
Marcus looked at Cole.
“So the recorder was inside HS-17.”
“Yes,” Porter said.
“And Ranger detected the compartment.”
“Yes.”
“Then someone knew Ranger could find it.”
Porter nodded.
“Which is why I believe his injury was deliberate.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
He thought of Ranger lying on the warehouse floor.
The scream.
The frightened eyes.
The blood.
He had spent two days asking who hurt his dog.
Now he understood the larger question.
Who had been afraid of what Ranger would discover?
Porter pushed a key across the table.
“County evidence annex.”
Marcus picked it up.
“There is one remaining storage room.”
“What is inside?”
“Original seized property.”
“Why haven't they cleared it?”
“Because Warren forgot about it.”
Cole almost smiled.
“That's the first mistake I've heard him make.”
They drove to the annex after midnight.
The building was dark.
Porter used the key.
Inside, rows of evidence boxes stretched into darkness.
They searched until Marcus found a shelf marked with an old Harbor Street code.
One box remained.
HS-17.
Inside was a piece of damaged insulation, a broken latch, and a training collar.
Marcus picked up the collar.
Ranger's name was printed on it.
“This was logged after the seizure.”
Porter frowned.
“That's impossible.”
Marcus turned it over.
A tiny metal tag was attached.
He recognized it.
Ranger had worn it during training three days earlier.
He remembered the exercise.
Ranger had stopped beside a container and refused to move.
A technician had removed the collar afterward.
Marcus suddenly understood.
“Ranger wasn't injured because of the container.”
Porter looked at him.
“He was injured because someone wanted to know what he had detected.”
A sound echoed from the hallway.
They turned.
The lights went out.
Cole whispered, “Someone's here.”
Marcus heard a door slam.
Then footsteps.
Fast.
They ran toward the corridor.
A figure disappeared through an emergency exit.
Marcus chased him.
The door slammed shut.
Outside, an engine roared away.
Marcus returned breathing hard.
Porter stood holding a small object.
“What did you find?”
Marcus looked.
A memory card.
It had been left on the floor.
Porter handed it to him.
“Maybe our missing recording just found us.”
The memory card contained one video.
No label.
No timestamp.
Marcus loaded it onto Porter's laptop.
The image showed the Harbor Street warehouse.
The recording was grainy.
A security camera.
Marcus recognized the date.
The night before the seizure.
A man entered the frame.