SCREEEEECH.
The static was so loud that every officer in the bullpen winced, covering their ears. The red emergency light above the dispatch station began to rotate, casting long, crimson shadows across the room.
The dispatch operator, Officer Sarah Chen, slammed her headset against her ear, trying to filter out the noise. "Central, this is 4th Precinct dispatch, do you copy? We have severe line interference."
Through the heavy static, a voice broke through. It wasn't the regular dispatcher. The voice was sharp, authoritative, and frantic.
"All units, all units! This is State Command Emergency Relay. We have a priority-zero signal originating from Sector 4! Repeat, priority-zero!"
Miller froze, his coffee mug hovering halfway to his mouth. A priority-zero signal meant an active threat to high-ranking government personnel or a federal emergency.
"State Command, this is 4th Precinct," Sarah called out, her voice shaking. "We are not reporting any active incidents in Sector 4. What is the nature of the emergency?"
"4th Precinct, listen to me very carefully," the voice on the radio demanded, cutting through the static with terrifying clarity. "Is Chief Marcus Reed at your facility?"
Silence fell over the entire room like a heavy curtain.
"Chief... Chief Marcus Reed?" Sarah stammered, looking around the bullpen in confusion. "No... no, ma'am. Chief Reed was sworn in at the Capitol yesterday morning. He's not scheduled to visit local precincts until next month."
"Check your intake logs immediately!" the radio barked back. "Chief Reed went dark during an unannounced inspection tour two hours ago. His personal tracking transponder was just activated inside your facility!"
Miller's coffee mug slipped from his fingers. It shattered on the floor, splashing black coffee across his shoes.
My eyes darted from the radio console to the metallic smart-card sitting on my desk, and then to the hallway leading to Interrogation Room B.
"Oh god," I whispered, my knees going weak. "Oh, dear god."
"What?" Miller turned to me, his face suddenly pale, his eyes wide with rising panic. "What are you staring at?"
I pointed a shaking finger at the screen on my desk. The command lines had stopped scrolling. A high-resolution profile photo was now displayed across the monitor, accompanied by bold, gold lettering:
[SUBJECT IDENTIFIED]
NAME: MARCUS A. REED
RANK: CHIEF OF POLICE / FORMER COMMANDER, SPECIAL OPERATIONS
CLEARANCE: LEVEL 5 (UNRESTRICTED)
SPECIAL NOTES: RECOVERING FROM COMBAT SPINE INJURY. USES CUSTOM ORTHOPEDIC LEG BRACES.
"It's him," I breathed, my voice trembling violently. "The man you dragged in here... the man in the leg braces..."
"No..." Miller backed away, shaking his head in denial. "No, no, no! That's impossible! The new Chief is supposed to be in a suit at City Hall! He's supposed to be meeting the Mayor!"
Just then, Vance came walking out of the hallway, holding the handheld fingerprint scanner. His face was completely drained of color, his skin as white as a sheet.
"Miller..." Vance choked out, his voice squeaking.
"What?" Miller yelled, his composure completely shattering. "What did the scanner say?!"
Vance held up the device with a trembling hand. The small LCD screen on the scanner was flashing in bright yellow text:
MATCH CONFIRMED: CHIEF MARCUS REED - CHIEF OF POLICE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE REQUIRED
"He... he didn't fight me when I took his prints," Vance whimpered, his eyes filled with pure terror. "He just looked at me and said... 'Tell Miller the clock is ticking.'"
Panic erupted in the 4th Precinct.
Officers who had been casually drinking coffee or filling out paperwork jumped up from their desks in horror. Higgins looked like he was about to vomit. Sarah was frantically trying to answer three ringing phone lines simultaneously, all of them calling from Headquarters.
"What do we do?!" Vance screamed, grabbing Miller by the collar of his jacket. "Miller! You tore his braces off! You threw them across the room! You dragged him like a dog!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Miller yelled back, though his hands were shaking so violently he could barely hold himself steady. "We didn't know! How were we supposed to know the Chief of Police was walking around in plain clothes near a warehouse?!"
"Because he was conducting a surprise audit!" I shouted at them, standing up from behind my desk. "That's what he does! He was a Special Ops Commander! He came to test us, and you two just committed multiple felonies on camera!"
WCOO-WCOO-WCOO!
The faint sound of sirens began to echo from the streets outside. Not just one or two sirens—dozens of them.
I ran to the front glass doors of the precinct and looked out into the night.
Down the main avenue, a massive fleet of vehicles was tearing through the darkness at breakneck speeds. Heavy armored transport trucks, marked black SUVs, and dozens of state police cruisers were speeding toward our gates, their red and blue lights flashing wildly against the night sky.
"They're here," I said, turning back to face the room. "State Police and Internal Affairs."
Miller stood frozen in the center of the bullpen. The arrogant, hách dịch detective who had walked into the room ten minutes ago was gone. In his place stood a broken, terrified man, trembling as he realized his life, his career, and his freedom were about to end.
The heavy steel gates at the front of the precinct yard were smashed open as three massive black Suburban SUVs roared into the parking lot, followed by ten State Police cruisers.
Tires screeched on the asphalt as the vehicles formed a tactical perimeter around the building. Spotlights mounted on the roofs of the SUVs snapped on, blinding light flooding through the glass windows of the 4th Precinct.
Dozens of armed tactical officers in full body armor poured out of the vehicles, rifles raised, securing every exit.
Inside the bullpen, no one dared to move.
The front doors were kicked open, and Deputy Mayor Eleanor Vance—accompanied by the Director of State Internal Affairs, Arthur Vance (no relation to Detective Vance)—marched into the precinct. Behind them were four armed Federal Marshals.
"Where is he?" Deputy Mayor Eleanor demanded, her voice cutting through the silence like a razor blade. She didn't look at Miller or Vance; her eyes swept over the room with absolute fury. "Where is Chief Reed?!"
I stepped forward, pointing down the corridor. "Interrogation Room B, ma'am. Detectives Miller and Vance locked him inside."