Chapter 3 - The Supply Closet
I hung up without speaking.
The phone rang again immediately.
Marcus Vale.
I turned it face down.
Alessandro's guard watched me.
"Who?"
"Federal agent."
"Name?"
"Vale."
His expression changed.
That was enough.
"You know him."
"Everybody knows him."
"That isn't an answer."
"It's the only one you get until the boss can talk."
I took Logan by the hand and went downstairs.
The supply closet door hung open.
Boxes had been pulled from the shelves.
The little plastic cup I had filled with crackers was upside down on the floor.
Captain Bear was missing.
Logan started crying.
"My bear."
I crouched.
"We'll find him."
The hallway camera above the door showed a red error light.
I went to hospital security.
The camera had been offline for seventeen minutes.
Exactly while Logan disappeared.
"Coincidence?" I asked.
The technician did not answer.
A second camera at the far end of the service corridor had remained active.
He rewound it.
Denise appeared.
She walked into the corridor at 2:07 a.m.
A man followed her.
Dark coat.
Gray hair.
Silver eagle at his tie.
He never turned fully toward the camera.
My hands went cold.
"Zoom."
The image blurred.
But the tie clip stayed clear.
Silver eagle.
David's had been scratched across one wing.
This one looked identical.
The technician said, "Do you know him?"
"No."
That was almost true.
I knew the symbol.
Not the face.
My black phone vibrated.
Another message from Alessandro.
BODY WAS NOT IDENTIFIED BY FAMILY.
Then another.
CHECK DENTAL RECORDS.
I called the dentist listed in David's death investigation.
Dr. Kenneth Rowe had retired to Delaware.
It took fifteen minutes to reach him.
"David Winters?" he repeated.
"My husband. His dental records were used to identify him after a crash."
Silence.
"Mrs. Winters, I never sent records to law enforcement."
I gripped the counter.
"The report says you did."
"Then the report is wrong."
"Could someone have accessed them?"
"My old office was part of a large network. Possibly."
"Who requested them?"
"I don't know."
I opened David's autopsy.
The body was badly burned.
Dental confirmation.
Old healed fracture of right distal radius.
I stopped.
David had never broken his right wrist.
He had broken his left wrist at sixteen.
I had heard the story a hundred times.
He had even complained when cold weather made it ache.
I printed the page.
Then Vale called again.
I answered this time.
"Why did you identify my husband's body?"
He paused.
"Mrs. Winters, I think you're upset."
"Why?"
"Your husband was involved in a sensitive federal matter."
"Was he alive when you signed that certificate?"
Silence.
Then:
"Do not discuss this with Alessandro Romano."
My skin tightened.
"Why?"
"Because Romano is the reason your husband is dead."
Behind me, Logan gasped.
I turned.
Captain Bear sat in the middle of the empty hallway.
Someone had placed him there.
Around the bear's neck was a red thread.
May you like
CUT.
