Chapter 7 - THE COP
Back inside Graystone, Ethan stared at Officer Knox.
Leon’s words kept repeating in his head.
Ask the cop.
Knox ordered the other officers to drag Leon away.
Then he closed the medical room door.
Ethan stayed against the wall.
“So?”
“So what?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
Knox looked tired.
Older suddenly.
“Leon was trying to get in your head.”
“He looked at you.”
“He looks at everybody.”
“He said ask the cop.”
Knox exhaled.
“Ethan—”
“You know Ray?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Ethan stepped forward.
“You know him.”
“Sit down.”
“Hell no.”
Knox looked through the door window.
Then lowered his voice.
“I arrested Ray Damon when he was nineteen.”
Ethan stopped.
“For what?”
“Burglary.”
“And?”
“He became an informant.”
Ethan stared.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“He gave names. Dealers. Stolen property rings. A couple bigger guys.”
“So the cops protected him.”
“Some did.”
“You?”
“No.”
Ethan studied him.
“Why should I believe that?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Knox pulled something from his shirt pocket.
A folded piece of paper.
He handed it over.
Ethan opened it.
A list of dates.
Payments.
Initials.
One name stood out.
D. HARRIS.
Detective Harris.
The man who arrested Ethan.
“What is this?”
“Records found in Ray Damon’s storage unit six months ago.”
“Why wasn’t this in my appeal?”
“Because the storage unit search was part of a federal trafficking investigation.”
Ethan stared.
“Trafficking?”
“Stolen pharmaceuticals. Weapons. Cash.”
Suddenly Ethan understood.
“The warehouse.”
Knox nodded.
“You saw Ray loading boxes behind your job.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“I told Claire about that.”
“You also confronted him the next day.”
“I told him if he was stealing from my warehouse, I’d report him.”
“Three nights later, Marcus pulled a gun on you.”
Ethan leaned against the examination table.
His mind raced.
“Ray set it up.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“He wanted Marcus to scare me.”
“Probably.”
“But the gun went off.”
“And Marcus died.”
Ethan looked at the list again.
“Then Ray lied to protect himself.”
“And somebody helped him.”
Ethan pointed to Harris’s name.
“The detective.”
Knox didn’t answer.
“You knew this?”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
Knox looked away.
That was the wrong thing to do.
Ethan grabbed the front of Knox’s uniform.
“For how long?”
Knox didn’t fight back.
“Eight months.”
Ethan shoved him away.
“Eight months?”
“I couldn’t prove it.”
“You could’ve told somebody!”
“I did.”
“Who?”
“Internal affairs.”
“And?”
“Two weeks later, my house was broken into.”
Ethan stopped.
“My wife got a picture of herself sleeping mailed to her office.”
The room went quiet.
Knox looked Ethan directly in the eyes.
“So don’t talk to me like I don’t know what these people do.”
Ethan released his grip.
Knox straightened his uniform.
“Your case isn’t just about a bad witness anymore.”
“What is it about?”
“A network that’s been protecting Ray for years.”
The radio on Knox’s shoulder crackled.
“Officer Knox, report to command.”
Knox touched the button.
“Copy.”
Then another voice came through.
“Transport order confirmed for inmate Ethan Cole.”
Knox frowned.
“What transport order?”
Static.
Then:
“Cole is being transferred immediately.”
Ethan looked at Knox.
“Transferred where?”
Knox went pale.
“No transfer was authorized.”
Heavy footsteps filled the hallway.
Knox drew his baton.
May you like
“Behind me.”
The door handle started turning.
