Chapter 6 - The Captain Without a Badge
Samuel Trent did not return home.
His phone was turned off. His department vehicle was found behind a closed restaurant near the highway. The tactical equipment and weapons were missing.
Internal Affairs issued an immediate order suspending his police authority.
Agent Voss warned that he was now considered armed and dangerous.
Daniel struggled to accept the description.
Trent had trained him during his first year on patrol. He had attended Daniel’s wedding. After Daniel’s wife died from illness, Trent had been one of the first people to arrive at the hospital.
None of those memories erased the ledger.
But they made the truth harder to carry.
Mallory found Daniel standing alone outside Daisy’s recovery room.
“You do not owe him loyalty,” she said.
“He gave me my first commendation.”
“He also used your badge to protect people who stole animals from families.”
Daniel looked through the glass.
Daisy rested beside her puppies. She had begun eating again. When one puppy moved too far from the blanket, she gently pulled it closer with her nose.
“How many times did I bring a report to Trent?” Daniel asked. “How many times did he tell me there was nothing there?”
“You believed your captain.”
“I stopped looking because he told me to.”
Mallory stood beside him.
“Then keep looking now.”
The hospital veterinarian entered the corridor carrying test results.
“Daisy is recovering well,” she said. “The puppies are stronger. We believe they can all remain together.”
“Has anyone identified her legal owner?” Mallory asked.
“A woman named Maya Torres contacted us after seeing a private notice sent to regional veterinarians. She says Daisy was stolen from her home almost two years ago.”
Daniel turned.
“Is she here?”
Maya waited in a consultation room.
She was twenty-eight and wore a delivery-company uniform. She held a worn photograph showing Daisy as a younger dog beside a blue bicycle.
“I raised her from eight weeks old,” Maya said. “She disappeared from my backyard while I was at work. The gate was locked.”
“Did you report it?” Daniel asked.
“To the police, shelters and every rescue group I could find.”
“Do you remember which officer took the report?”
Maya’s expression sharpened.
“A captain came to my house two days later. Samuel Trent. He said dog theft was unlikely and that Daisy probably escaped.”
Daniel felt a heavy silence inside him.
Maya continued.
“I told him Daisy never left the yard, even when the gate was open. He said I needed to accept that pets sometimes run away.”
Mallory asked, “Did anyone contact you afterward?”
“A woman from Second Horizon called. She offered to help search. She asked strange questions about whether Daisy had been spayed and whether she had any health problems.”
“Was the woman Celia Rook?”
Maya recognized the photograph immediately.
“That was her.”
Daniel told her Daisy was safe but did not yet bring her into the recovery room.
“We need to verify ownership and allow the veterinarian to manage the reunion,” he explained.
Maya nodded, though tears gathered in her eyes.
“I waited two years. I can wait another hour.”
When the veterinarian finally opened the door, Daisy lifted her head.
For a moment, she simply stared.
Maya knelt several feet away.
“Daisy?”
The dog stood too quickly, nearly losing her balance.
Then she crossed the room.
Maya covered her mouth as Daisy pressed her head beneath her chin.
No one spoke.
Daisy moved between Maya and the puppies, touching each one, as though introducing them.
Maya lowered herself to the floor and held her.
“You came home,” she whispered. “You really came home.”
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
His phone rang.
Captain Trent’s number appeared on the screen.
Daniel answered.
Trent spoke calmly.
“You found the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know this is larger than Celia Rook.”
“I know your name is in it.”
“You think I had a choice?”
“You had one every day for nine years.”
Trent breathed slowly.
“You have no idea who controls this.”
“Grant Mercer?”
A pause.
“You need to leave the hospital.”
Daniel looked through the glass at Maya and Daisy.
“Why?”
“Because Mercer knows the dog has an owner. He knows she can connect Second Horizon to the theft.”
“What are you planning?”
“I am giving you one chance to survive this.”
“You started the fire at Calder Street.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“The man who will come for Daisy if you do not move her.”
“Give me his name.”
Trent’s voice lowered.
“Warren Pike.”
Daniel signaled Mallory.
She immediately contacted Agent Voss.
“Where are you, Captain?” Daniel asked.
“Trying to repair something I should have stopped years ago.”
“Turn yourself in.”
“I cannot.”
“You can.”
“If I walk into your station, Mercer’s people will know before the handcuffs close.”
“You are Mercer’s people.”
“I was.”
The line went silent for a moment.
Then Trent said, “Redbrook Mill is a distraction.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What is the real location?”
“The old airport freight terminal. Midnight.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because the mill will be empty except for evidence they want you to find. While federal agents search it, the final transport will leave the state.”
“Send me proof.”
“I will send coordinates and a photograph.”
“Come to the federal building.”
“I cannot.”
“Captain.”
Trent’s voice cracked for the first time.
“Do not call me that.”
The call ended.
Seconds later, Daniel received an image.
It showed rows of transport crates inside an airport warehouse.
A newspaper lay on the floor with that morning’s date visible.
In the far corner stood Celia Rook and Mayor Grant Mercer.
May you like
Between them was Warren Pike, holding a pale mask.
The same mask Daniel had seen in the Calder Street hallway.
