Chapter 5 - Lily’s Teddy Bear
Marcus crushed the recorder beneath his boot.
The plastic cracked.
Elena watched without reacting.
Destroying the device did not destroy the upload.
Her father had modified Lily’s teddy bear years ago, long before anyone had reason to suspect surveillance. Elena had assumed the battery compartment contained a simple voice box.
Now she understood.
The recorder transmitted whenever the bear’s seam was opened.
Marcus pointed at Lily.
“Did she activate this?”
Elena stepped in front of her daughter.
“She’s seven.”
“Your family likes hiding things in toys.”
“My family likes catching criminals who search children’s belongings.”
The two security employees returned to the garage. One whispered to Marcus.
Sirens were approaching.
Marcus handed the damaged bear to Elena.
“This isn’t over.”
“It will be soon.”
He smiled.
“Ask your father.”
Elena’s face remained still, but Marcus saw the question in her eyes.
He left through the garage.
By the time two patrol cars arrived, Warren’s van and Marcus’s employees were gone.
Officer Daniel Ruiz entered first.
Elena remembered him as a teenager who used to mow lawns on Hawthorne Street. Now he was in his early thirties, with tired eyes and a police sergeant’s stripes.
“Captain Ward?”
“Sergeant Ruiz.”
He looked at the broken window, the gasoline can, and the blood on one guard’s abandoned baton.
“Tell me what happened.”
Elena explained.
Ruiz took notes.
His partner, Officer Bell, remained near the garage entrance and repeatedly checked his phone.
When Elena mentioned Marcus threatening Lily, Ruiz’s expression darkened.
“Did anyone witness it?”
“Mrs. Holloway witnessed part of the break-in.”
“Where is she?”
“Next door with Lily.”
Ruiz turned to Bell.
“Get statements from the neighbors.”
Bell hesitated.
“The lieutenant wants us back.”
“We just arrived.”
“He said it’s a false alarm involving a property dispute.”
Elena looked at Bell.
“How did your lieutenant know it involved property?”
Bell’s hand stopped above his radio.
Ruiz noticed.
“Go outside,” he ordered.
Bell left.
Ruiz lowered his voice.
“The department has received calls from this address before.”
“My father?”
“Not officially. Complaints were entered, then withdrawn.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you access the original records?”
“Maybe.”
Elena heard caution in his answer.
“Warren has people inside your department.”
Ruiz did not deny it.
“He has people everywhere.”
“Does he have you?”
Ruiz met her gaze.
“My brother served under your father. Colonel Ward brought him home after an ambush. Warren later took our mother’s house using a loan she never signed.”
“Then help me.”
Ruiz looked toward the doorway where neighbors gathered again.
“They won’t testify.”
“They heard Marcus.”
“They also know what happens to witnesses.”
“What happens?”
Ruiz gestured toward a blue house across the street.
“Sergeant Rivera lived there. She accused Warren of forging her husband’s insurance documents. Two weeks later, drugs were found in her car. She disappeared before trial.”
“Alma Rivera is on my father’s map.”
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
“What map?”
Elena had revealed too much.
Before she could answer, Warren entered through the garage door.
He carried no weapon. He wore the same pale suit and a worried expression that might have convinced anyone who did not know him.
“Captain Ward, I heard about the disturbance.”
Ruiz moved between them.
“This is an active scene.”
“Of course. I only came because Marcus called me. He said Elena attacked two of our employees.”
“Your employees entered my property.”
Warren sighed.
“They were concerned after seeing smoke.”
“There was no smoke.”
“They may have misunderstood.”
Ruiz pointed at the gasoline can.
“Does that belong to your son?”
“No.”
Elena smiled faintly.
“It has his fingerprints.”
Warren looked at the can.
For the first time, his confidence slipped.
Ruiz said, “I’ll need Marcus to provide a statement.”
“I’m certain his attorney will contact you.”
“This isn’t optional.”
Warren’s friendly expression disappeared.
“Everything is optional, Sergeant, depending on who is asking.”
Ruiz’s hand moved near his radio.
Warren turned back to Elena.
“I’m sorry Lily was frightened.”
“Don’t say her name.”
“She resembles you at that age.”
The comment struck Elena strangely.
Warren could have seen childhood photographs. He could also have watched her grow up.
He walked toward the medal case.
“James never understood the cost of his choices.”
“Did you kill him?”
Ruiz inhaled sharply.
Warren studied Elena.
“No.”
“Did Marcus?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Warren’s gaze moved to the broken American flag.
“The man your father trusted most.”
He left before Ruiz could stop him.
That evening, Maya called from a secure number.
“The teddy bear uploaded twenty-three minutes of audio,” she said.
“Can you recover Marcus’s threats?”
“Yes, but there’s something else. Before Marcus entered the garage, the recorder captured a transmission on a nearby frequency.”
“What transmission?”
“A man gave instructions to the shooter.”
Elena looked toward Lily sleeping beside Beatrice.
“What did he say?”
“Exactly six words.”
Maya played the recording.
A distorted male voice said, “Do not kill Elena. Not yet.”
Then another voice responded.
Older.
Familiar.
“Understood.”
May you like
Elena replayed it three times.
The second voice belonged to Sergeant Ruiz.
