# Chapter 10: The Arrest
We returned to the hospital with federal protection.
Before we reached Violet’s floor, six local officers surrounded me.
Detective Grant stepped from the elevator.
“Mason Cole, you are under arrest for the destruction of the Sentinel warehouse and the assault of a police officer.”
Naomi held up her federal credentials.
“He is part of an active federal investigation.”
Grant smiled.
“Then you can speak to the district attorney.”
The officers handcuffed me.
Grant leaned closer.
“You were warned.”
I allowed them to take me.
Fighting in the hallway would give Grant exactly what he needed.
At the station, he placed me in an interrogation room without cameras.
“You know Voss will kill you after this,” I said.
Grant loosened his tie.
“Voss protects people who remain useful.”
“No. He destroys witnesses. Ask Daniel.”
Grant’s eyes shifted.
He had not known about the warehouse.
I continued.
“Daniel kept records of every payment you received.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“He also kept the audio from the Lawson case.”
The name was a guess.
Mr. Lawson had mentioned a family member who died during a supposed burglary years earlier.
Grant stopped moving.
The guess had landed.
“You covered up that death,” I said. “Voss will blame everything on you.”
Grant sat across from me.
“He told us nobody would get hurt today.”
“But Violet did.”
“Sloane lost control.”
It was the first admission.
I leaned forward.
“Who ordered the hospital transfer?”
Grant realized his mistake too late.
He stood and reached for the door.
Naomi entered with three federal agents.
She had recorded every word through the device hidden in my belt buckle.
Grant reached for his pistol.
Two agents forced him against the wall.
His phone fell from his pocket.
A notification appeared.
AMBULANCE DEPARTED EARLY.
I looked at the time.
1:37 a.m.
Naomi called the hospital.
Violet’s room was empty.
A nurse had signed the transfer documents using the authorization of a doctor who had been home asleep.
Security footage showed Violet being wheeled into Ambulance Unit 6.
The vehicle’s GPS had been disabled.
Harper ran into the station.
“Where is she?”
I looked at Grant.
He smiled despite the blood on his lip.
“You will never reach her in time.”
Then Naomi’s radio came alive.
An ambulance had been spotted heading north on County Road Twelve.
May you like
County Road Twelve did not lead to another hospital.
It led directly to Voss’s private airfield.
