Chapter 4: The Secret Buried With My Father
The phone kept ringing.
I stared at the screen.
The message beneath the call felt impossible.
*ASK CAPTAIN WARD WHY HE LET YOUR FATHER DIE.*
My fingers went numb.
For seven years, I had convinced myself I knew exactly how my father died.
A tragic accident.
A wrong place.
A wrong time.
A story repeated so many times that eventually it stopped feeling like a story.
It became history.
My history.
Captain Ward watched me carefully.
“Tiana.””
I looked up.
His face had lost all color.
“Tell me.””
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
My chest tightened.
“You know.””
“Tiana…”
“You know what happened to my father.””
He looked away.
And that hurt more than if he had screamed.
Because Captain Elias Ward was not a man who avoided questions.
Not unless the answer could destroy something.
Or someone.
“You need to leave,” he said.
I almost laughed.
“Seriously?””
“Now.””
“After everything?””
His voice hardened.
“I said leave.””
I stepped closer.
“No. You don’t get to do that.””
His eyes met mine.
For the first time in my life, I saw him afraid of me.
Not because I was dangerous.
Because I was asking questions he didn’t want answered.
“You were there,” I said.
Ward said nothing.
“You were there the night my father died.””
Silence.
My heart pounded.
“Captain.””
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.””
The word landed like a punch.
I felt the room shift.
All those years.
All those memories.
Every time someone told me my father’s death was just bad luck.
Every time I visited his grave and wondered if there was something I never knew.
Now I had my answer.
Someone knew.
And that someone had been standing in front of me for seven years.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Ward looked exhausted.
“Because I was trying to protect you.””
“Protect me?””
My voice rose.
“You let me believe my father died because he was careless.””
“That wasn’t what happened.””
“Then what happened?””
He didn’t answer.
I slammed the photograph onto his desk.
“Start talking.””
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then Ward slowly sat down.
“You were nineteen.””
I froze.
“What?””
“The night your father died.””
I stared at him.
“How do you know that?””
“Because I was the officer who handled the scene.””
My breathing stopped.
“You told me you were assigned to another district.””
“I was.””
“Then why?””
Ward rubbed his forehead.
“Because your father wasn’t just a civilian.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
He looked at the photograph.
“Your father was investigating something.””
“What?””
“A network.””
The word sounded strange.
Almost too big.
“What kind of network?””
“One that involved people with power.””
I thought about the files.
Andre.
Caleb.
Derek Vale.
The altered evidence.
“This is connected.””
Ward didn’t deny it.
And that scared me.
“Your father discovered something he wasn’t supposed to find.””
“What?””
“He found evidence that someone inside law enforcement was protecting criminals.””
The room went silent.
I looked at him.
“And you?””
His expression tightened.
“I was trying to help him.””
“Trying?””
“Yes.””
“That sounds like something people say when they failed.””
The words came out before I could stop them.
Ward accepted them.
“I failed.””
The honesty shocked me.
He looked older suddenly.
Not like my captain.
Like a man carrying a weight he had hidden for years.
“Your father trusted me.””
“What was his name?””
Ward looked at me.
“Whose name?””
“The person he found.””
A long pause.
Then:
“Derek Vale.””
My stomach dropped.
The same name.
The same person.
The one connected to Caleb.
The one appearing in every shadow.
“How?””
Ward leaned back.
“Your father was investigating financial records. Payments made through fake charities. Money moving between businesses and criminal groups.””
“And police?””
“Yes.””
I swallowed.
“Who?””
Ward looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
I almost lost control.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“It’s the truth.””
“You were there.””
“I was there after.””
His voice became quiet.
“When I arrived, your father was already gone.””
I stared at him.
“What did you see?””
Ward looked toward the window.
Rain tapped against the glass.
“The evidence was missing.””
“What evidence?””
“A flash drive.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Containing what?””
“Everything.””
The word echoed.
Everything.
The corruption.
The names.
The proof.
My father’s entire investigation.
Gone.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?””
Ward’s jaw tightened.
“Because someone else got there first.””
“Who?””
He looked at me.
“Someone from our department.””
A chill moved through me.
“Who?””
Ward didn’t answer.
And suddenly I knew why.
Because saying the name made it real.
“Captain.””
He looked down.
“Your father’s partner.””
I felt sick.
“My father didn’t have a partner.””
Ward’s silence said otherwise.
“Yes, he did.””
“Who?””
His voice dropped.
“Detective Thomas Brooks.””
The room spun.
I stepped back.
No.
Impossible.
Thomas Brooks.
My father.
My hero.
The man whose framed photograph sat in my living room.
The man I spent my entire life trying to make proud.
“You’re lying.””
“I wish I was.””
“You’re saying my father was involved?””
“No.””
Ward stood.
“I’m saying someone used his identity.””
I stared at him.
“Explain.””
“Your father discovered the corruption. Someone needed access to his files.””
“And they used him?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Ward looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
“I don’t know.””
I hated that answer.
Because it was the same answer everyone gave when they wanted me to stop digging.
A knock interrupted us.
Both of us froze.
Ward looked at the door.
“Who is it?””
No answer.
Another knock.
Slower.
Three times.
Ward’s face changed.
Fear.
Not confusion.
Fear.
“What’s wrong?””
He whispered:
“They shouldn’t know I’m here.””
My hand moved instinctively toward my weapon.
The door handle slowly turned.
Ward grabbed my arm.
“Don’t.””
“Why?””
“Because whoever is outside wants you to open that door.””
The handle stopped.
A piece of paper slid underneath.
No footsteps.
No voice.
Just silence.
I picked it up.
Ward didn’t stop me this time.
The paper had one sentence.
*YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE WRONG BROTHER.*
My eyes moved lower.
There was a second line.
A name.
*ANDRE CARTER KNOWS WHERE THE FLASH DRIVE IS.*
I looked at Ward.
He looked back at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I never thought I would see from Captain Elias Ward.
Panic.
My phone buzzed again.
A new message.
This time, it wasn’t from an unknown number.
It was from Andre.
*Tiana, don’t trust Ward. He’s the reason your father died.*
My heart stopped.
Two men.
Two stories.
Two people claiming the other was guilty.
And somewhere between them was the truth about my father.
Ward watched me read the message.
“What did Andre say?””
I slowly lowered the phone.
“He says you’re responsible for my father’s death.””
Ward closed his eyes.
A long silence followed.
Then he whispered:
“He would say that.””
I stared at him.
“Why?””
Because his answer changed everything.
May you like
Because the next words out of his mouth were the last thing I expected.
“Because Andre Carter was there that night too.””
