Chapter 4
Chief Raymond Briggs had known Naomi before I did.
He and Naomi’s father had served in the Army together.
When Naomi’s father died, Briggs became part of her family.
He attended our wedding.
Held Sophie in the hospital three hours after she was born.
Sat beside me during Naomi’s funeral.
For two years after her death, he called every few weeks to ask whether we needed anything.
If there was one police officer in the world I trusted, it was Raymond Briggs.
So when Evelyn looked frightened by his arrival, my first reaction was confusion.
My second was anger.
“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything.”
“You just—”
Another knock.
“Evelyn?”
She opened the door.
Briggs stepped inside.
Sixty-two.
Broad shoulders.
Close-cropped gray hair.
Dark overcoat covering his uniform.
His expression softened when he saw Sophie.
“There’s my girl.”
Sophie ran to him.
“Uncle Ray.”
He hugged her.
I watched Evelyn.
She did not relax.
Briggs looked at me.
“Marcus, I came as soon as I heard about the break-in.”
“How did you know we were here?”
He paused.
“Sergeant Reed told me.”
I filed that away.
He looked toward Evelyn.
“I’d like to speak with Marcus privately.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
Briggs blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“He stays with his daughter.”
His expression cooled slightly.
“Of course.”
We sat.
Briggs condemned Whitaker’s actions.
Promised an independent investigation.
Said the department had requested federal assistance because of the apparent spoofing.
He sounded exactly like the man I had known for fifteen years.
Then he noticed the music box.
Just for an instant, his eyes stopped.
That was all.
A half second.
Maybe less.
But Evelyn saw it.
So did I.
Briggs smiled at Sophie.
“Is that the one your mother gave you?”
Sophie nodded.
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“How do you remember that?” I asked.
Briggs looked at me.
“I was there when Naomi bought it.”
“No, you weren’t.”
The room changed.
Sophie looked between us.
Briggs hesitated.
I continued.
“She bought that in Vermont. It was just the three of us.”
A small mistake.
Maybe harmless.
But suddenly nothing felt harmless.
Briggs recovered quickly.
“Then I must be thinking of another one.”
He stood.
“Marcus, you and Sophie should stay somewhere secure tonight. I can arrange—”
“We’re fine.”
“Your house was breached.”
“So was Evelyn’s privacy. Yet you found us.”
He studied me.
“Be careful, Marcus.”
“With what?”
“Fear makes patterns where none exist.”
I almost laughed.
Naomi had said something similar.
Only her version had been the opposite.
Sometimes a pattern becomes dangerous when somebody realizes you can see it.
Briggs left ten minutes later.
When his SUV disappeared, Evelyn locked the door.
“You saw it,” she said.
“I saw nothing.”
“You saw him look at the box.”
“He loved Naomi.”
“So did you.”
“What are you saying?”
Evelyn sat down.
“Naomi went to Briggs with what she had found.”
My chest tightened.
“She trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Two days later, Walter’s old dispatch archive was accessed without authorization.”
“By who?”
“We never found out.”
“Then Naomi died?”
“Three weeks later.”
The room felt smaller.
“No.”
“Marcus—”
“No.”
I stood.
“Raymond carried my wife’s casket.”
“I know.”
“He spoke at her funeral.”
“I know.”
“He helped Sophie through—”
“I know.”
My voice rose.
“You don’t get to imply he killed her because he looked at a music box.”
Evelyn did not flinch.
“I did not say he killed Naomi.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I am saying your wife became frightened after she spoke to him.”
That stopped me.
“How do you know?”
“Because she came here.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“She sat exactly where you are standing. She cried. I had never seen Naomi cry over work.”
“What did she say?”
Evelyn’s answer was barely audible.
“She said she had trusted the wrong person.”
We did not open the microSD card that night.
Evelyn insisted we needed an isolated computer.
Walter had left one in the basement.
No wireless card.
No network capability.
Before we went downstairs, I called Sergeant Reed.
I did not mention the card.
I asked about Whitaker.
“Still on leave.”
“Has he been questioned?”
“Yes.”
“Did he make the call?”
“We don’t know.”
“Did Chief Briggs send you to Evelyn’s house?”
Silence.
Then Reed said, “What?”
“Briggs said you told him I was here.”
“I haven’t spoken to Chief Briggs today.”
My blood went cold.
“Are you certain?”
“Marcus, what is going on?”
I hung up.
Evelyn was watching me.
“He lied,” I said.
She nodded once.
Sophie had fallen asleep on Evelyn’s sofa.
I carried her into the guest room.
Then Evelyn and I went downstairs.
The isolated computer took almost three minutes to start.
The card contained fourteen files.
Spreadsheets.
Audio recordings.
Scanned contracts.
Photographs.
And one video file.
The video showed Naomi.
Alive.
Sitting inside her car.
She looked exhausted.
Behind her was a parking garage.
The timestamp was six days before her death.
My hands shook.
I pressed play.
“If Marcus is watching this, then something went wrong.”
I stopped breathing.
Naomi looked directly into the camera.
“I don’t have enough proof yet. But I know the police calls are connected to property acquisitions. Someone is generating false reports at targeted addresses. The calls create incidents. Incidents create records. Records create pressure. Families sell. Companies buy.”
She looked over her shoulder.
Then back.
“The obvious connection is Hollis Development.”
A pause.
“But Hollis isn’t controlling the police side.”
My mouth went dry.
“I trusted someone with this.”
Naomi’s voice cracked.
“And afterward, someone entered my office at work.”
Evelyn reached for my shoulder.
Naomi continued.
“I don’t know whether he betrayed me or whether someone is watching him too.”
He.
She did not say a name.
Then she held a paper toward the camera.
A list of emergency calls.
One address was highlighted.
My address.
My house.
Two years before that morning.
“I found a future target list.”
She swallowed.
“Our house is on it.”
I stared at the screen.
Naomi whispered:
“Marcus, if anything happens to me, do not assume the person you hate is the person responsible.”
The screen went black.
A second later, footsteps sounded upstairs.
Evelyn and I looked at each other.
Someone was inside the house.