Chapter 2: The Name Hidden In The Evidence
The message stayed on my screen for twelve seconds.
That was all.
Twelve seconds of staring at words that should have meant nothing.
But they meant everything.
*Ask Reed why his brother wasn’t the only one who was framed.*
My fingers hovered above the phone.
I wanted to type back.
Who are you?
How do you know about this?
How do you know about Reed?
But I didn’t.
Because the first rule I learned as a police officer was simple:
Never reveal what you don’t know.
I locked the screen and placed the phone face down on the table.
Reed noticed immediately.
“What was that?””
“Nothing.””
His eyes narrowed.
“Don’t lie to me.””
I almost laughed.
The irony was almost too much.
The man threatening my career was accusing me of lying.
“Funny,” I said quietly.
“Coming from someone who has been hiding information from me.””
His jaw tightened.
“I’m not hiding anything.””
“You brought me a file with altered evidence and expected me not to ask questions?””
“I brought you proof that my brother was set up.””
“No.””
I pushed the folder back toward him.
“You brought me a problem and expected me to solve it.””
The diner suddenly felt smaller.
Reed leaned back, studying me.
“You’re angry.””
“Yes.””
“Because I’m forcing you to help?””
“No.””
That answer surprised him.
I looked at the folder.
“I’m angry because I don’t know if you’re telling the truth.””
For the first time since I had known Marcus Reed, I saw something change in his expression.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You think I would use my brother as an excuse to manipulate you?””
“I think people do desperate things when they’re scared.””
He looked down at the coffee between us.
“You’re right.””
The admission caught me off guard.
Reed was not a man who apologized easily.
“I am scared,” he said.
I watched him carefully.
“My brother has been sitting in prison for eight months for something he didn’t do.””
He tapped the folder.
“And every time I tried to find answers, someone closed the door.””
“Who?””
He looked at me.
“That’s what I need you to find out.””
I shook my head.
“You’re asking me to investigate my own department.””
“I’m asking you to investigate the truth.””
“That’s not the same thing.””
“No,” Reed said.
“It’s not.””
A waitress walked past, and for a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Reed lowered his voice.
“There’s something else you need to know.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What?””
“The night you met Andre wasn’t the first time someone saw him.””
My eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?””
“He came back to the city three weeks ago.””
“I know.””
“No, Tiana.””
Reed leaned closer.
“You know when he came back because you met him.””
A chill ran through me.
“You were watching me?””
“No.””
“Then how do you know?””
He hesitated.
That hesitation bothered me more than the answer.
“Because someone else was watching him.””
The room seemed to go quiet.
“Who?””
Reed looked toward the window.
A black SUV sat across the street.
My instincts immediately activated.
“Don’t look.””
Too late.
I already had.
The vehicle’s engine was running.
The windows were tinted.
“Who is that?”” I asked.
“I don’t know.””
“You’re telling me you don’t know?””
“I’m telling you I’ve seen it before.””
I looked back at him.
“When?””
“Every time I get close to finding out who changed Caleb’s file.””
A cold feeling settled over me.
The message.
The altered evidence.
The SUV.
None of it was random.
Someone was moving pieces around us.
And somehow, I had just become one of those pieces.
I picked up the folder again.
“Where did you get this?””
“Internal records.””
“You accessed restricted files?””
“Yes.””
My eyes snapped toward him.
“You broke into department records?””
“I used my credentials.””
“That doesn’t make it better.””
“It doesn’t make it legal either.””
I stared at him.
“Do you hear yourself?””
“Yes.””
“And you still expect me to help you?””
Reed looked exhausted.
“I expect you to understand.””
I hated that I did.
Because I had crossed a line too.
A different line.
But still a line.
I looked down at the documents.
“Tell me about Caleb.””
Reed went quiet.
For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then he reached into his wallet again and pulled out another picture.
This one was older.
Two boys standing outside a small house.
Marcus looked about fifteen.
The other boy was younger.
Caleb.
“He wasn’t always trouble,” Reed said.
His thumb moved across the photo.
“When our mother got sick, Caleb quit school to work.””
“You were both kids.””
“I know.””
“You were trying to survive.””
Reed nodded.
“After she died, he started running with people who promised him easy money.””
“And you tried to stop him.””
“Every day.””
“What happened?””
His face hardened.
“He listened to someone else.””
The bitterness in his voice was obvious.
“Who?””
Reed looked at me.
“That’s the problem.””
He slid another paper from the folder.
A police report.
A witness statement.
A name highlighted in yellow.
“Derek Vale.””
I recognized it immediately.
Everyone in the department knew that name.
A powerful businessman.
A man who donated to community programs.
A man whose picture had appeared in newspapers standing beside police chiefs and politicians.
“You think Derek Vale framed your brother?””
“I think Derek Vale is connected to everything.””
“That’s a serious accusation.””
“I know.””
“Do you have proof?””
“Not yet.””
I stared at the highlighted name.
“This is why you need me?””
Reed nodded.
“You’re one of the few people who can look without being noticed.””
I almost smiled.
“Noticed?””
I pointed at myself.
“Marcus, I got caught handing contraband to a former informant in a parking lot.””
His expression shifted.
“You’re not reckless.””
I looked away.
“Really?””
“No.””
His voice softened.
“You’re loyal.””
That hurt more than an insult would have.
Because loyalty was exactly what had put me here.
My phone buzzed again.
Both of us froze.
This time, Reed reached for it first.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.””
He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Then slowly, he released the phone.
“You don’t trust me.””
“No.””
“Good.””
The answer surprised me.
“Good?””
“Yes.””
He leaned back.
“Trust gets people killed.””
I picked up my phone.
Another message.
No number.
No name.
Just a picture.
My breath stopped.
It was a photo of me and Andre from the night before.
Taken from a distance.
Someone had been watching.
Under the picture were four words.
*YOU’RE BOTH ALREADY CAUGHT.*
I felt my hands go cold.
Reed saw my expression.
“What is it?””
I turned the phone around.
For the first time, Marcus Reed looked genuinely shaken.
“That’s impossible.””
“Why?””
His eyes stayed on the picture.
“Because nobody should have that.””
“What does that mean?””
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he grabbed the folder and started flipping through the pages.
“What are you looking for?””
“A mistake.””
“What mistake?””
But he wasn’t listening.
His fingers stopped on one page.
The witness statement.
The same one with the altered name.
His face drained of color.
“What?””
He slowly turned the paper toward me.
At the bottom was a signature.
A signature I recognized.
A signature that made my heart drop.
Because it belonged to someone I trusted.
Someone who had trained me.
Someone who had told me my entire career that the badge meant everything.
Reed whispered the name.
“No…”
I looked at him.
“Who is it?””
He didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes stayed locked on the signature.
Then he said the words that made my entire world tilt.
“It’s the person who taught you how to be a cop.””
My blood ran cold.
Because suddenly, this wasn’t about protecting Reed’s brother.
It wasn’t about Andre.
It wasn’t even about my career anymore.
Someone inside my own department had been building a lie.
And they had been waiting for me to discover it.
My phone buzzed one more time.
A final message appeared.
*COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT ANDRE.*
Below it was an address.
And a name.
May you like
A name I never expected to see.
*Captain Elias Ward.*
