Chapter 4 - The List Beneath the Floor
By noon, the investigation had already begun producing consequences.
Ryan, Jake, Chris, and Matt were placed on restricted duty.
Officially, the reason was misconduct.
Unofficially, Elena needed them visible.
If someone was watching them, she wanted that person to believe nothing had changed.
Ryan hated the arrangement.
He hated Elena more.
Not because she had embarrassed him.
Because every hour revealed how little he actually understood about the institution he had defended so aggressively.
At 1400, Matt discovered something.
He requested Ryan meet him behind the maintenance building.
"You're violating orders already?" Ryan asked.
"Look."
Matt held up an old phone.
Ryan frowned.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Locker."
"Whose?"
"Mine."
Matt opened a video.
It had been recorded almost a year earlier.
A party.
The same bar.
Evan Shaw was visible in the background arguing with Daniel Voss.
Ryan leaned closer.
There was no audio.
Matt scrubbed forward.
Shaw pointed toward the floor.
Voss grabbed his arm.
Shaw pulled away.
Then he disappeared toward the restroom corridor.
"Why do you have this?" Ryan asked.
"I film everything."
"Apparently."
Matt zoomed in.
At the end of the hallway, Shaw opened a door Ryan had always assumed was a storage closet.
He disappeared inside.
Thirty seconds later, Voss followed.
Shaw never returned to the party.
Ryan looked at Matt.
"We need Graves."
Twenty minutes later, Elena watched the video twice.
Then she called Price.
By 1600, investigators had secured the bar.
The owner protested until Elena showed him the warrant.
The storage room contained beer crates, cleaning supplies, and an old freezer.
Nothing else.
Ryan stood beside Elena.
"This doesn't make sense."
Elena examined the floor.
"Shaw pointed down."
Ryan remembered.
They moved the freezer.
Underneath was a steel plate.
No handle.
Price brought technicians.
It took forty minutes to open.
Beneath it was a narrow staircase.
Cold air rose from the darkness.
Elena looked at Ryan.
"Stay here."
"No."
"That wasn't a suggestion."
"You brought me into this."
"And I'm still your commanding officer."
Ryan almost laughed at the absurdity.
Twenty-four hours earlier he had poured beer on her head.
Now he was arguing about accompanying her into a secret tunnel.
Elena stared him down.
Ryan stepped back.
Price and two investigators descended.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
At twelve minutes, Price's voice came through Elena's radio.
"Commander."
Elena answered.
"Go."
"We found something."
"What?"
A pause.
"You should see it."
Elena descended.
Ryan waited exactly thirty seconds.
Then followed.
"Sergeant," Elena snapped when she saw him.
Ryan ignored her.
Because behind Elena was a concrete room.
Metal shelves covered the walls.
Boxes filled them.
Each box carried a year.
2008.
2009.
2010.
All the way through 2026.
Price stood beside an open container.
Inside were personnel files.
Hundreds.
Elena removed one.
The name stopped her cold.
CAPTAIN MICHAEL GRAVES.
Her brother.
Ryan saw her discipline crack for the first time.
Only slightly.
But enough.
She opened the file.
Inside was a photograph of Michael.
A handwritten note had been stapled beneath it.
SUBJECT REJECTED PROGRAM CONDITIONS.
FINAL DISPOSITION AUTHORIZED.
Elena stopped breathing.
Ryan stepped closer.
There was another document beneath it.
A list of names.
Michael Graves.
Evan Shaw.
Daniel Voss.
Ryan Cole.
Elena looked at him.
Ryan stared at his own name.
May you like
Beside it was a date.
Tomorrow.
