Chapter 13 - THE VOICE ON THE TAPE
By sunrise, Maeve hated everybody.
Dominic lied.
Hale lied.
Cole hid things.
Mrs. Alvarez hid things.
Rocco hid things.
Her mother had hidden their debt.
Even her dead father had spent his final weeks keeping secrets.
Maeve was done being protected.
They reached the county archive at 6:12 a.m.
Mrs. Alvarez still had old federal credentials.
They got inside.
Barely.
A sleepy records clerk named Simon complained the entire way.
“You know these systems are ancient, right?”
Mrs. Alvarez said, “Find the backup.”
Simon typed.
“Date?”
Nora answered.
“October seventeenth, eight years ago.”
Maeve stared at the screen.
Simon found the file.
“Call received 11:52 p.m.”
Maeve’s knees weakened.
“Play it.”
The recording began.
Static.
Engine noise.
Then Patrick’s voice.
“911?”
A dispatcher answered.
“Yes, sir. What’s your emergency?”
“I’m being followed.”
“By whom?”
“A black sedan and a patrol car.”
Rocco swore quietly.
Patrick’s breathing grew louder.
“They keep trying to box me in.”
“Where are you?”
“County Road Nine.”
Maeve closed her eyes.
She knew that road.
Everyone knew that road.
Then tires screamed on the recording.
Patrick shouted.
The dispatcher said, “Sir?”
A crash.
Metal.
Glass.
Then silence.
Maeve was crying now.
The recording continued.
Footsteps approached Patrick’s truck.
A car door slammed.
Then a voice.
Chief Hale.
“You should’ve given us the copies, Pat.”
Maeve gripped the desk.
Another voice answered.
Dominic.
“This went too far.”
Rocco looked up.
Maeve stared at the speaker.
Hale said, “He’s still breathing.”
Dominic snapped, “Then call an ambulance.”
Silence.
Hale answered.
“No.”
Dominic said, “Ray.”
“Walk away.”
“You said scare him.”
“And now I’m telling you to walk away.”
Patrick groaned.
Nora broke down.
The tape continued.
Dominic’s voice came closer.
“Patrick?”
Patrick whispered something too soft to hear.
Dominic said, “Where are the files?”
Patrick laughed weakly.
Then Hale spoke.
“He’s not telling you.”
A third sound.
A gun being drawn.
Dominic said sharply, “Put that away.”
Hale answered.
“You wanted your problem solved.”
“No.”
A shot exploded through the recording.
Nora screamed.
Maeve fell backward.
Rocco caught her.
The dispatcher audio continued for six more seconds.
Then the file ended.
Nobody moved.
Maeve wiped her face.
“Dominic didn’t kill him.”
Mrs. Alvarez said, “He helped create the situation.”
“Yes.”
Maeve looked at her.
“But he tried to stop Hale.”
Rocco’s jaw tightened.
“That doesn’t make him innocent.”
“I know.”
Maeve stood.
“But it makes him useful.”
Rocco frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No chance.”
“We need him.”
“Maeve—”
“Hale controls half the police department. Dominic has money, lawyers, security, records. And now we know Hale has something on him too.”
Mrs. Alvarez studied Maeve.
“What are you thinking?”
Maeve looked toward the rising sun outside.
“Dominic wants my mother’s bakery.”
Nora stared at her.
Maeve’s voice hardened.
“So let’s invite him to come take it.”
Rocco understood first.
His expression changed.
“You want to trap him.”
“No.”
Maeve picked up Patrick’s recorder.
“I want Dominic to help us trap Hale.”
Behind them, Simon the records clerk spoke.
“Uh…”
Everyone turned.
He pointed at the security cameras.
May you like
Three police cruisers had just entered the parking lot.
And Chief Hale was walking toward the front door.
