Chapter 7: The Badge
Officer Harris turned the key in the lock and slowly removed it.
The tiny metallic click sounded louder than the sirens outside.
Daniel stared at her.
“Why did you lock the doors?””
She didn't answer.
Mom pulled me behind her.
“Emily, stay back.””
Officer Harris lifted her hands.
“You need to calm down.””
Daniel drew his weapon.
“Step away from the door.””
Her eyes moved toward him.
“Daniel, you're making a mistake.””
“No.””
His voice was quiet.
“I made a mistake fifteen years ago.””
He nodded toward the locked door.
“I won't make another one.””
Outside, shadows moved between the abandoned gas pumps.
One of them raised a hand.
A flashlight swept across the windows.
Mom whispered, “They're here.””
Officer Harris shook her head.
“No. They're not.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You're saying that while they're surrounding us?””
“They're federal agents.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Federal agents don't approach an active crime scene without announcing themselves.””
“They did.””
“Then why aren't they showing identification?””
Officer Harris said nothing.
Daniel took one step toward her.
“Who do you work for?””
She swallowed.
“The department.””
“That's not an answer.””
Her hand moved toward her waistband.
Daniel raised his gun.
“Don't.””
She stopped.
“I don't want to hurt anyone.””
Mom laughed bitterly.
“You brought them here.””
Officer Harris looked at her.
“You don't understand what you're involved in.””
“I understand enough.””
“No, Sarah. You don't.””
She pointed at me.
“You've been protecting the wrong person.””
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?””
Officer Harris looked directly at me.
“Your father wasn't the only one who knew about the ledger.””
Daniel stepped between us.
“Don't talk to her.””
“He deserves to know.””
“She.””
Officer Harris frowned.
“What?””
“Emily is a she.””
The officer's face changed.
It was tiny.
A flicker.
But I saw it.
Daniel saw it too.
He suddenly lunged.
Officer Harris reached for her weapon.
Daniel knocked her hand away.
The gun hit the floor.
Mom kicked it beneath a table.
Officer Harris slammed Daniel against the wall.
I grabbed a metal chair.
“Get off him!””
She turned.
Daniel drove his elbow into her shoulder.
She staggered.
He grabbed her wrists and forced them behind her back.
“Tell me who sent you.””
She struggled.
“You're protecting a murderer.””
“Who?””
“Ethan.””
Mom stepped forward.
“You're lying.””
Officer Harris looked at her.
“Am I?””
She stopped struggling.
“Ask him why he stayed with you.””
Mom's face went blank.
“Ask him why he never left.””
Daniel tightened his grip.
“Who sent you?””
Officer Harris smiled.
“The same person who sent Rebecca that night.””
Mom gasped.
“You know where Rebecca is?””
“No.””
“Then who does?””
Officer Harris looked at me.
“Emily does.””
I froze.
“What?””
She laughed softly.
“That's what they believe.””
Daniel's grip tightened.
“What did they put inside her?””
Officer Harris didn't answer.
Mom stepped closer.
“What did they do to my daughter?””
The officer stared at her.
“Nothing.””
She looked at me again.
“They didn't put anything inside her.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“Then what is the seventeenth piece?””
Officer Harris smiled.
“Ask Emily.””
I stared at her.
“I don't know anything.””
“Yes, you do.””
“No!””
“You've known your entire life.””
My heart raced.
“How?””
She nodded toward my shoulder.
“The mark.””
I touched it.
“It's a birthmark.””
“That's what your mother told you.””
Mom whispered, “Emily, don't listen to her.””
Officer Harris continued.
“Your father had the original records altered.””
Daniel looked at Mom.
“Is that true?””
Mom didn't answer.
“Sarah.””
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Daniel stepped back.
“Why?””
“Because the real records contained information about Emily.””
“What information?””
Mom looked at me.
“Coordinates.””
The room went silent.
“Coordinates of what?””
“A place.””
“What place?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Officer Harris laughed.
“You do.””
Mom turned toward her.
“Where?””
The officer said, “Ask your husband.””
Daniel looked at her.
“Ethan is in custody.””
“Not anymore.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
Officer Harris smiled.
“He was never taken to county jail.””
Daniel immediately reached for his phone.
He made a call.
“County dispatch. This is Daniel Brooks. Confirm prisoner Ethan Collins.””
A voice answered.
Daniel's expression went cold.
“What?””
He listened.
“Say that again.””
Silence.
Then:
“That's impossible.””
He hung up.
Mom whispered, “What happened?””
Daniel looked at us.
“Ethan disappeared twelve minutes ago.””
I felt sick.
“How?””
“No one knows.””
Officer Harris smiled.
“I do.””
Daniel turned toward her.
She whispered:
“He was never your prisoner.””
A gunshot exploded outside.
The windows rattled.
Everyone ducked.
Daniel shoved me to the floor.
“Stay down!””
More shots followed.
Then someone screamed outside.
Officer Harris crawled toward the table.
Mom pulled me behind the counter.
Daniel looked at the back exit.
“We're leaving.””
“Through the back?”” Mom asked.
“No.””
He looked at Officer Harris.
“Through the roof.””
She laughed.
“You're not going anywhere.””
Daniel grabbed her collar.
“Start talking.””
She looked directly at me.
“Your father has the key.””
“What key?”” I asked.
“The key to the place where Rebecca hid the ledger.””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Where?””
Officer Harris smiled.
“Inside your house.””
My blood went cold.
“We searched the house.””
“You searched the house Ethan wanted you to search.””
Mom whispered, “The basement.””
I looked at her.
“We don't have a basement.””
She stared at me.
“Yes, we do.””
I felt the room spin.
“What?””
Mom's voice broke.
“Your father built it before you were born.””
Daniel stared at her.
“You never told me.””
“I didn't know it was still there.””
A heavy crash came from outside.
The back door shook.
Someone shouted.
“Open up!””
Daniel grabbed my hand.
“Move.””
We ran toward the rear of the building.
Mom followed.
Behind us, Officer Harris shouted:
“Emily!””
I turned.
She was still on the floor.
Her face was strangely calm.
“Your father didn't build that basement to hide the ledger.””
May you like
She smiled.
“He built it to hide *you*.””
