Chapter 3 - Ghosts in the Machine
Marcus left Leo under the armed guard of a state trooper he trusted implicitly, a man who didn't report to Precinct 4.
He drove back to the station in silence. The puzzle pieces were snapping together with terrifying clarity. Someone knew exactly when he was heading home. Only dispatch had his GPS coordinates real-time, and only command staff had access to the restricted oversight channel.
He walked into the bullpen. The usual hum of ringing phones and clacking keyboards felt sinister now. He spotted Detective Sarah Jenkins, his former partner. She was sharp, ambitious, and clean—as far as he knew.
"Sarah," Marcus said, pulling her into an empty interrogation room. He disabled the audio recording with a swift flick of a switch under the table.
"Marcus, what's going on? I heard about Leo. Is he okay? There’s a warrant being drafted for your arrest right now—assault under color of authority."
"Brenda's setting me up, and she's got help from inside," Marcus said rapidly. "I need you to pull the dispatch access logs for my cruiser between 1400 and 1500 hours today. Don't use your terminal. Use a burner laptop and bounce the IP."
May you like
Sarah’s eyes widened, but she didn't hesitate. She knew Marcus. "Give me ten minutes."
When she returned, her face was pale. "You're not going to like this. The log was pinged from a secured terminal in the Captain's office. Miller was watching you drive home."
