Chapter 14 - The Witness Who Disappeared
Voss agreed to talk after Ellison informed him that the same people who hired him were now demanding his release.
His attorney arranged a formal proffer meeting under supervision.
Voss admitted receiving cash through a veteran-assistance nonprofit that didn't exist outside its bank records.
He claimed he never knew about the dangerous equipment.
I didn't believe him.
Ellison asked how he had learned about my pocket.
"A voice through the warehouse office phone," he said.
"She watched you on the old maintenance feed."
There were supposed to be no functioning cameras in Bay Four.
But a legacy observation camera had remained connected to a private inspection console.
Only a handful of senior staff knew it existed.
Voss named the person who had installed it: Meridian contractor Paul Harker.
He then said Harker had disappeared.
An officer opened the interview room door to speak privately with Ellison.
Moments later, the video feed from Voss's custody wing failed.
A facility alarm sounded.
By the time responders reached his room, Voss was gone.
No broken locks.
No forced doors.
His security escort had signed him out under an emergency medical transfer order.
The document bore a forged signature from Ellison herself.
The missing prisoner was more than an embarrassment.
He had been taken by people with access to the same credentials used against me.
Dom stood over the video timeline, jaw clenched.
"They're cleaning up everyone who can testify."
Then a hospital transport vehicle was found abandoned outside a service tunnel near the waterfront.
Its back door stood open.
A pair of restraints lay on the floor.
And on the dashboard was a folded blue paper star.
The note inside was handwritten.
TELL KATE THE CHILD IS NOT AT THE PIER.
Ellison showed it to me.
There was only one person who knew we were considering the pier.
May you like
Someone inside the response operation.
