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“Something’s missing,” Lex said. “Look.” He pulled out Craig’s notepad. “He talks here about the photos Colton took, but there are no photos. Nowhere in these files are photos.”
“He could have emailed them,” Elena said.
“Colton only submitted physical files,” Lex said. “He was paranoid about leaks, considering that everyone thought he was dead.”
“We’re going to get so much shit when Campana sends out the memo about the investigation,” Elena said.
“There’s a lot of things missing,” Lex said. “Costa’s team was right—Dyson references information that isn’t here. Peter, what do you make of this?”
Peter glanced at the notepad Lex held up. I couldn’t see what was on it. Peter said, “We looked through his office, none of that was there.”
“It has to be somewhere.”
“Maybe he locked it up,” I suggested. “Does he have a safe or something?”
Will had been here earlier. He said something similar, that something was missing. He seemed worried, but left before I could talk to him about it.
“No one knew about this investigation except us,” Lex said.
“Not exactly no one,” Peter said. “Campana knew, probably his admin. Dyson’s legal secretary, even if she didn’t know specifics, she could have figured it out. The DA knew the goal of the investigation and he would have had to sign off on the grand jury and wouldn’t do that without more information. And don’t forget, even though the courthouse was locked down on Monday, people were still inside the building.”
Lex swore and shook his head. “Something is wrong. I just can’t put my finger on it. Elena, get Colton in here. Where is he?”
“He said he’d be here at noon,” Elena said with a glance at her watch.
I looked at the wall. It was twelve fifteen.
“I’ll bet he came in and made a big splash about not being dead,” Lex muttered. “Shit, I need him. He’ll know exactly what’s missing.” Lex pulled out his phone and dialed. A minute later he slammed the phone down. “Voice mail. I’m going to throttle him.”
“I’ll call Kara,” Elena said. A minute later she, too, said, “She’s not answering. Where the hell are they?”
Michael said, “Who are you trying to reach?”
“Colton and Kara aren’t answering their cell phones. They were at the press conference, but that was over thirty minutes ago. They should be here by now.”
Michael put up his finger and listened to whoever he was talking to on the phone. Then he ended the call and said, “Costa says they were going to First Contact to meet with Will. He’s on his way there, but still ten minutes out. We’re closer.”
“Not by much,” Elena said and pulled out her radio. She asked for a patrol to be sent to the First Contact office. “Something is wrong,” she said. “The closest patrol is more than ten minutes. They’re headed in, but I’m going, too. I don’t like this.”
“I’m joining you,” Michael said. He looked at me. “Violet, stay here. You’re safe in this building. I need to make sure my partner is okay.”
I nodded. “Go.”
Elena said to Peter, “Call me as soon as the warrant comes through.”
“Of course. And let me know what’s going on. There must be an explanation.”
Everyone left the room and I was worried. About Kara and Colton and Will. I wish I could have gone with them, but I wasn’t a cop. I didn’t want to be a cop, but I had a lot more respect for them now than ever before. I had never met anyone who cared so much about justice until I met Colton...and then Kara and Michael. They wanted justice as much as I did.
Two minutes after the room cleared out, Peter said, “We need to go.”
“I’m good here.” Michael had told me to stay, so I was staying.
Peter pulled a gun. I didn’t even know he had a gun, but why shouldn’t he? He was an investigator for the DA’s office. They probably all had guns.
“Violet, on my word, Kara Quinn and Colton Fox will either live or they will die. If you come with me now, they live. If you stall, they die—and so will you.”
I stared at this man. A man that Craig had trusted. Yet Peter Sharp had betrayed his boss. He’d betrayed everyone. I believed him in that moment when he said he would kill me; and I believed him when he said he could have Kara and Colton killed. Colton, who had helped me find out what happened to my mom. Kara, who had saved my life and gave me hope. They would be dead because I was scared.
