The arrest records.
The detention reports.
The evidence access history.
Everything stored on the department's internal servers had become inaccessible.
And it had happened less than three minutes after Caldwell surrendered his credentials.
Ramirez looked at Marcus.
“What do we do?”
Marcus took out his phone.
“First, we preserve whatever hasn't been destroyed.”
He dialed Evelyn Shaw.
She answered on the second ring.
“Marcus? How's your first morning?”
“Interesting.”
Something in his voice made her stop.
“What happened?”
“I was arrested inside my own station.”
Silence.
Then Evelyn spoke.
“Are you injured?”
“Not seriously. But somebody just erased the department's custody database.”
Another silence.
Marcus could hear movement at the other end of the call.
Evelyn was already standing.
“Listen to me carefully. Don't trust the department's communications network. Don't use their computers. And don't let anyone move you to another building.”
Marcus glanced toward the security cameras.
“Why?”
Evelyn's voice became very quiet.
“Because Daniel Mercer called me eleven months ago, thirty minutes before he died.”
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
“What did he say?”
“He said he had discovered who was running the corruption inside Riverside.”
“Who?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she answered.
“He said the name wasn't in the police department.”
Marcus looked through the glass windows toward the city hall building across the street.
Evelyn continued.
“He said the orders were coming from someone everyone in Riverside had voted for.”
Marcus closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he opened them.
“The mayor?”
“I don't know,” Evelyn whispered. “Mercer never got the chance to tell me.”
Across the room, the station's televisions switched from a morning news program to a breaking local bulletin.
A reporter appeared outside city hall.
Behind her stood Mayor Thomas Whitaker.
The caption beneath the broadcast read:
MAYOR CALLS EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE REGARDING NEW POLICE CHIEF
Marcus stared at the screen.
The reporter announced that the mayor had received disturbing information about an incident involving Chief Marcus Reed.
Whitaker stepped toward the microphones.
He looked solemn.
Concerned.
Almost mournful.
Then he said something that caused the entire operations room to fall silent.
“Given the serious allegations concerning Chief Reed's conduct, I have requested his immediate suspension pending a full investigation.”
Marcus slowly lowered his phone.
He had been in Riverside for less than an hour.
And someone was already trying to remove him.
The Mayor's Perfect Story
By ten fifteen that morning, three news vans were parked outside Riverside Police Department.
By ten thirty, a photograph of Marcus being escorted through the station in handcuffs had appeared on social media.
By eleven, local television commentators were questioning whether the newly appointed police chief had been properly vetted.
Someone had sent the photograph to the press.
Someone had supplied a carefully worded description of the incident.
And someone had ensured that the story reached the public before Marcus had been allowed to tell his side.
The headline was simple.
NEW POLICE CHIEF DETAINED AFTER ALTERCATION WITH OFFICERS
Marcus stood in the command office, reading it on Lieutenant Ramirez's phone.
“Altercation,” he repeated.
Ramirez folded her arms.
“That's what they're calling it.”
“Who released the photograph?”
“We're tracing it.”
“Who photographed me?”
“Possibly one of the officers at the reception desk.”
Marcus studied the image.
It showed Caldwell gripping his arm while Mullen pushed him toward the holding corridor.
From the angle, Marcus could tell the photograph had been taken from an elevated position near the lobby entrance.
“That's not a phone picture,” he said.
Ramirez looked closer.
“Security camera?”
“Exactly.”
She frowned.
“But the security footage is supposed to be restricted.”
Marcus handed back the phone.
“So is the custody database. Someone has access to both.”
The command office had once belonged to former Chief Harold Benton, a silver-haired administrator who had resigned after the city paid nearly four million dollars in misconduct settlements.
Benton's personal decorations had been removed, but the room still carried traces of him.
A framed photograph of the department's tactical unit hung beside the door.
A heavy wooden desk occupied the center.
The blinds were closed.
And three filing cabinets stood against the far wall, each secured with a separate lock.
Marcus had been told the office would be prepared for his arrival.
Instead, the computer was disconnected, the telephone had no dial tone, and the cabinet keys were missing.
Ramirez stood near the door.
“Chief, there's something else.”
Marcus looked up.
“Go ahead.”
“Deputy Chief Voss called. He says you aren't authorized to issue disciplinary orders until the mayor clarifies your appointment status.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“That's convenient.”
“He wants to meet you downstairs.”
“Tell him to come here.”
“Sir, he won't like that.”
Marcus opened the top drawer of the desk.
Empty.
“I didn't come to Riverside to make Robert Voss comfortable.”
Ramirez gave a small nod.
For the first time, Marcus saw the hint of a smile on her face.
A knock sounded.
Officer Bennett entered carrying a folder and a sealed evidence bag.
“Chief, I recovered the items from the holding corridor.”
He placed the folder on the desk.
Inside were Marcus's scattered appointment documents, a damaged business card, and a leather notebook.
Marcus immediately checked the notebook.
It was his private record of the Riverside investigation.
The first page contained the names of several officers associated with previous misconduct complaints.
The second contained a timeline of Daniel Mercer's final investigation.
The third listed three bank accounts linked to a mysterious municipal contractor called Civic Shield Consulting.
Marcus turned to Bennett.
“Who handled these documents?”
“I did, sir.”
“Anyone else?”
“Sergeant Mullen tried to take the notebook.”
Marcus looked up.
“What did you tell him?”
“That it belonged to you.”
“And?”
“He told me I was making a career-ending mistake.”
Marcus closed the notebook.
“Officer Bennett, how long have you been with this department?”
“Seven months, sir.”
“Why did you become a police officer?”
Bennett seemed surprised.
“My father was a firefighter. My mother teaches elementary school. I grew up believing public service mattered.”
“Do you still believe that?”
Bennett hesitated.
Marcus waited.
Finally, the young officer answered.
“I want to.”
Marcus nodded.
“Then hold on to that answer. You're going to need it.”
The door opened again.
Deputy Chief Robert Voss entered without knocking.
He was fifty-six, broad-shouldered, and impeccably dressed in a white uniform shirt with polished command insignia.
His silver hair was neatly combed, his expression controlled.
Behind him walked Captain Victor Hale, the head of Riverside's special operations division.
Hale was a tall, unsmiling man whose movements were unusually deliberate.
Marcus recognized him from photographs in the misconduct files.
Three years earlier, Hale had commanded a drug raid that resulted in the death of an unarmed homeowner.
The department had declared the shooting justified.
A civil lawsuit was still pending.
Voss looked Marcus over.
“Chief Reed.”
“Deputy Chief.”
“I wish we'd met under better circumstances.”
Marcus remained standing.
“So do I.”
Voss gave an apologetic sigh.
“I'm afraid this morning has become a serious embarrassment for the department.”
“That's one way to describe it.”
“The mayor is concerned.”