Chapter 12 - The Blue Door
Daniel told Cole nothing about Union Station.
For the first time since the balcony, Maria saw him lie without hesitation.
“Lily remembered wrong,” Daniel said. “There’s nothing else.”
Cole studied him. “And the phone call?”
“Spam.”
Cole’s eyes stayed on him a second too long.
Later, Daniel borrowed Maria’s car and left his own phone at the hospital to make it look as if he had stayed with Lily. Maria came too. Lily remained under guard with Daniel’s mother and Mateo.
Union Station was nearly empty after midnight.
Locker 8 did not exist.
“Great,” Maria muttered. “We risked everything for a children’s song.”
Daniel looked up at the giant brass clock in the main hall.
“Pass the clock and cross the floor.”
They walked past it.
On the far side of the station, behind a row of vending machines, a maintenance corridor ended at a blue-painted door.
It was unlocked.
Inside was an abandoned records room. Metal shelves filled the walls.
Maria found a cardboard archive box labeled 2008.
Daniel laughed once, almost in disbelief. “Number eight.”
Inside were court files, old newspapers, and a small digital voice recorder taped beneath the lid.
He pressed play.
Anna’s voice filled the room.
“If Daniel is hearing this, I’m dead or I finally got brave enough to leave.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Anna continued. “The Mercer Development accounts are being used to move bribe money through city contractors. Jonathan Mercer knows. Claire Bennett knows. Detective Samuel Cole knows.”
Maria stared at Daniel.
Detective Samuel Cole.
Sergeant Cole.
The recording went on. “I copied the ledger and gave it to someone outside the department. If anything happens to me, the original can be found where Daniel proposed to me.”
Daniel whispered, “Pier 14.”
A slow clap came from the doorway.
Cole stood there with a gun.
“Anna always did love drama,” he said.
Maria’s blood went cold.
May you like
Cole stepped inside and locked the blue door behind him.
“Now,” he said, “give me the recorder.”
