“When?”
“Three days ago.”
Elias leaned back.
“Then you have a bigger problem than Keller.”
Grant nodded.
“We know.”
Elias turned another page.
There were photographs of a warehouse.
Then another.
A map.
A series of dates.
Amounts of money.
And finally a photograph of a black duffel bag.
Elias looked at it.
“That bag.”
“Yes.”
“It was in my truck?”
Grant shook his head.
“No.”
“Then where?”
“Keller's cruiser.”
Elias frowned.
“Pike put it there.”
Grant nodded.
“We saw him.”
“You have surveillance?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let this happen?”
“Because we didn't know how far it went.”
Elias understood.
They had been waiting for someone to make a mistake.
Keller had just made several.
Grant continued.
“We were monitoring the officers when they stopped you.”
“Why didn't you intervene?”
“Because we didn't know what they were looking for.”
Elias looked at him.
“You do now.”
“Yes.”
“What is in the bag?”
Grant opened another photograph.
Inside the bag were several envelopes.
A handgun.
A stack of documents.
And a small digital storage device.
Elias's eyes narrowed.
“What's on the drive?”
“We don't know.”
“Have you accessed it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's encrypted.”
Elias smiled slightly.
“You've forgotten something.”
“What?”
“People who hide evidence often protect the information.”
“And?”
“They rarely protect the device.”
Grant stared at him.
“You think you can open it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I think whoever owns it will come looking for it.”
Grant nodded.
“That was our theory.”
A knock came at the door.
Claire Donovan entered.
Elias hadn't seen her in years.
She looked older.
So did he.
They stared at one another for a moment.
Then Claire smiled.
“You haven't changed.”
Elias laughed quietly.
“That's not true.”
“You still look like you're about to interrogate everyone in the room.”
“Old habits.”
Claire hugged him.
Then she stepped back.
“I am sorry.”
“You already said that.”
“I mean it.”
Elias nodded.
“Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Why did Keller take my wallet?”
Claire looked at Grant.
Then back at Elias.
“We think he was looking for something.”
“What?”
“We don't know.”
Elias thought about the badge.
His wallet.
The cash.
Then something occurred to him.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Did anyone know I was coming?”
She frowned.
“What?”
“My daughter knows.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven't told anyone.”
Claire looked at Grant.
Grant's expression changed.
Elias understood.
Someone had known.
The question was who.
He stood.
“Where's my truck?”
“Impounded.”
“I want to see it.”
“You can.”
They walked outside.
Elias's old pickup sat in a secure lot.
He approached it slowly.
The driver's door was still open.
He examined the interior.
Nothing looked disturbed.
Then he noticed something.
A small scratch beneath the steering column.
He crouched.
“What is that?”
Claire looked.
“I don't know.”
Elias touched it.
“Someone accessed the wiring.”
Grant frowned.
“Why?”
“To install something.”
“A tracker?”
“Possibly.”
They searched beneath the dashboard.
There it was.
A tiny black device.
Claire stared.
“When was that installed?”
Elias shook his head.
“Recently.”
“Can you tell who?”
“No.”
He stood.
Then he looked toward the highway.
“Someone didn't just know where I was going.”
“What do you mean?”
“They knew I was carrying something.”
Claire frowned.
“I wasn't.”
Elias reached into his jacket.
He removed his phone.
He opened his daughter's last message.
Take your time, Dad. Dinner can wait.
He stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
Not from Rebecca.
Unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST ALONE.
Elias showed Claire.
She went pale.
“Did you receive that just now?”
“Yes.”
Grant looked toward the parking lot entrance.
“We have a problem.”
A black sedan was parked across the street.
The engine was running.
Elias watched it.
The sedan pulled away.
Grant immediately called his agents.
But Elias didn't move.
He was thinking.
He had seen that car before.
Not today.
Years ago.
At a warehouse outside Columbus.
During the Mercer investigation.
He remembered the license plate.
Not the entire number.
But enough.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“I know where they're going.”
“Where?”
“Mercer didn't disappear.”
Claire stared at him.
“You think he's alive?”
“I think he never stopped.”
The Name in the File
Daniel Mercer had once been one of the most respected private contractors in Ohio.
He handled evidence transportation for several agencies.
He had access to storage facilities.
Secure vehicles.
Evidence rooms.
Restricted records.
Elias had investigated him thirteen years earlier after several pieces of evidence disappeared from cases involving organized crime.
At first, Mercer appeared innocent.
Then the pattern emerged.
Every missing item had one thing in common.
It was evidence that could destroy someone powerful.
A witness statement.
A financial record.
A weapon.
A recording.
A hard drive.
Elias had built a case.
But before charges could be filed, Mercer disappeared.
His house was empty.
His bank accounts were closed.
His vehicles were abandoned.
His family claimed they hadn't heard from him.
The case eventually went cold.
Elias never forgot it.
Now, thirteen years later, the name was back.
Claire spread photographs across the conference room.
“We found Mercer three months ago.”
“Where?”
“West Virginia.”
Elias stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“We didn't know who we could trust.”
“That bad?”
“Worse.”
Grant entered the room.
“We traced several payments from shell companies to accounts connected to Keller.”
“How much?”
“Nearly four hundred thousand dollars.”
Elias whistled softly.
“And Pike?”
“Pike received smaller payments.”
“How much?”
“About forty thousand.”
“That's enough to ruin a career.”
Claire nodded.
“Maybe that's why he's cooperating.”
Elias looked at the photographs.
“What do they want?”
Grant placed the encrypted device on the table.
“This.”
Elias examined it.
“What's the connection?”
“We believe the drive contains records of every transaction.”
“Money?”
“Money, evidence, names, dates.”
Elias looked up.
“Names of who?”