Chapter 7 - The Ghost in the Barracks
Getting access to Ethan's confiscated personal effects required a high-stakes bluff.
With Deputy Harris coordinating from his cruiser parked two blocks away, I walked straight into the county sheriff's holding facility under the guise of delivering legal representation documents for Ethan.
The intake sergeant—a tired-looking veteran named Miller who clearly didn't want to deal with domestic drama on a rainy Thursday night—nodded me through the bulletproof glass partition.
"He's in holding cell three, Mrs. Walker. You've got ten minutes before shift change," Sergeant Miller muttered, sliding the logbook toward me.
I didn't go to holding cell three. Instead, using a distraction ploy coordinated by Monica—who called the front desk pretending to be an agitated base commander demanding an immediate status report—I slipped into the property intake room while Sergeant Miller was temporarily away from his desk.
It took me less than forty-two seconds to locate Ethan’s black tactical duffel bag.
I unzipped it, thrust my hand inside the side pocket, and pulled out his encrypted burner phone. The screen was dark, locked with a six-digit passcode.
Think, Sarah. What would Ethan use?
Not our anniversary. Not my birthday.
I looked at the silver anklet evidence tag hanging from the clipboard on the counter—the numbers 061418. Emma’s birth date.
I punched in 061418.
The screen instantly lit up.
I didn't have time to hesitate. I opened the messaging app, located the encrypted thread from Sergeant Raymond Walker, and saw the exact incoming message received at 3:00 AM:
“Vance has the girl secured at the clinic on Sector 4 Ridge Road. Keep your mouth shut or the whole house comes down.”
I hit forward, routing the message directly to Deputy Harris’s secure terminal, along with the GPS coordinates embedded in the metadata.
May you like
As I slipped the phone back into the duffel bag and zipped it shut, the heavy metal door clicked open.
Sergeant Miller stood in the doorway, staring right at me.
