But the body had not been hers.
Jack stared at Cole.
"Where is Lena?"
Cole looked at the floor.
"I don't know."
A sound came from outside.
Metal scraping.
Everyone froze.
Jack reached for his gun.
A window shattered.
Then another.
The lights went out.
Someone screamed.
Mia ducked.
Jack grabbed her and pulled her behind the desk.
Gunfire erupted outside.
The garage exploded into chaos.
Men shouted.
Motorcycles toppled.
Glass rained down.
Jack drew his weapon.
"Stay down!"
Mia crouched beside him.
Cole fired through the broken window.
Frank returned fire from the opposite side.
The attack lasted less than two minutes.
Then silence.
Jack waited.
"Everybody alive?"
One by one, voices answered.
Frank.
Eddie.
Cal.
Ricky.
Cole.
Mia.
Jack stood.
He looked at the shattered windows.
Then at the floor.
A single object lay among the glass.
A silver triangle.
Black Meridian.
Pinned beneath it was a note.
Jack picked it up.
There were only six words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT HER ALONE.
Mia stared at the message.
Jack folded it.
"We're done waiting."
He looked at his brothers.
"We go after Hale."
The House That Wasn't Empty
They found the first lead two days later.
A small house outside Lexington.
It belonged to a woman named Grace Miller.
According to Cole, Grace had worked for Black Meridian as an accountant.
Three years earlier, she disappeared.
Now, however, someone had seen her recently.
Jack, Mia, Frank, and Cole arrived before dawn.
The house looked abandoned.
Windows boarded.
Grass waist-high.
Mailbox rusted.
Jack approached the front door.
He knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
"Grace Miller?"
Silence.
Mia looked around.
"Something feels wrong."
Frank nodded.
"The porch has fresh footprints."
Jack crouched.
Boot prints.
Recent.
Several people.
He drew his weapon.
"Stay behind me."
They entered.
The house smelled of dust.
Furniture was covered with sheets.
A clock ticked somewhere in the darkness.
Jack moved room to room.
Nothing.
Then Mia heard something.
A cough.
She froze.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
Another cough.
From upstairs.
Jack looked at Frank.
They moved up the stairs.
The sound came from behind a locked door.
Jack kicked it open.
An elderly woman sat on the floor.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Hands trembling.
She looked at Jack.
Then at Mia.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh God."
Mia stepped closer.
"Do you know me?"
The woman began crying.
"You're Lena's daughter."
Mia's heart stopped.
"My mother?"
Grace nodded.
"She's alive."
Mia dropped to her knees.
"Where?"
Grace looked at Jack.
"How do I know you're safe?"
Jack removed his vest.
He placed it on the floor.
Grace stared at the patch.
"Daniel trusted you."
"Yes."
Grace shook her head.
"He shouldn't have."
Jack frowned.
"Why?"
"Because someone in your club sold him out."
Mia looked at Cole.
Grace saw him.
Her face went white.
"No."
Cole stepped backward.
"Grace."
"You."
Cole stared at her.
"You told Hale where Daniel was."
"I didn't."
"You did."
"I swear."
Grace shook her head.
"You were there."
Cole's face hardened.
"Where?"
"At the warehouse."
Jack looked at him.
"What warehouse?"
Grace began to cry.
"The night Daniel disappeared."
Mia's hands shook.
"Tell me."
Grace looked at her.
"Your father wasn't captured."
Mia frowned.
"What?"
"He went willingly."
"Why?"
"To save your mother."
Mia stared.
Grace continued.
"Lena had been hiding evidence."
"What evidence?"
"Names."
"Whose names?"
"Politicians. Judges. Police officers. Businessmen."
Grace took a breath.
"And one of them was someone Jack trusted."
Jack's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Grace looked toward Cole.
Cole stepped forward.
"Don't."
Grace whispered:
"Thomas Reed wasn't the only traitor."
Silence.
Jack stared at Cole.
Grace continued.
"Daniel discovered that someone else had been feeding Hale information."
"Who?"
Grace looked at Jack.
Then she whispered:
"Someone inside Reaper's Hollow."
Mia looked at Cole.
Cole shook his head.
"No."
Grace pointed at him.
"It was you."
Cole's face went pale.
Jack raised his gun.
"Don't move."
Cole stared at him.
"Jack."
"Don't."
"I can explain."
"Then explain."
Cole looked at Mia.
"I never betrayed Daniel."
Grace shouted:
"Liar!"
Cole turned toward her.
"You don't know what happened."
"I know you gave Hale the address."
"I gave him a false address."
Jack froze.
Cole continued.
"I was trying to mislead him."
"Then why did Daniel disappear?"
"Because Hale knew I was lying."
Jack stared.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Cole's voice broke.
"Because I had proof."
"What proof?"
"That someone above Hale was giving him orders."
"Who?"
Cole looked at Mia.
Then at Jack.
"I never found out."
Grace shook her head.
"That's not what you told Daniel."
Cole looked at her.
Grace continued.
"You told Daniel you'd found the person."
Jack lowered his weapon slightly.
"Who was it?"
Cole said nothing.
"Who?"
Cole finally spoke.
"The person was inside the police department."
Jack's expression changed.
"Chief?"
Cole shook his head.
"Someone higher."
Mia asked:
"How high?"
Cole looked at her.
"Federal."
Silence.
Grace began coughing.
Jack helped her sit.
"Where is my mother?"
Grace closed her eyes.
"Lena went into hiding."
"Where?"
"She left a message."
"Where?"
Grace pointed toward a wooden cabinet.
Jack opened it.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
Mia stared.