Paper Trail

Receipts spilled out in a bundle. White slips, carbon copies, signatures across the bottom. A few slid to the floor and fanned against the tile. Claire bent, picked one up, and looked at the name.

Travis Cole.

Then another. And another.

Ward shut his eyes for a second. “He handled the transport runs.”

“From where?” Claire asked.

Ward didn’t answer.

One of the techs at the hall called from his laptop, “They’ve got the wipe starting.”

Claire looked up. “Where?”

“Sub-Basement B. Remote session just lit up.”

That was enough. She handed the receipt to the nearest agent. “Bag everything. Now.”

They moved fast after that. A deputy from state crime lab took photos while another agent slapped tags on the drawers. Claire got three more receipts, all signed by Cole, all tied to vehicles that had been seized and never made it to state inventory.

Ward stared at the floor.

“You want to tell me who told you to keep this off-books?” Claire said.

He flexed his swollen knuckles once, then tucked his hands under his armpits. “Chief said it was temporary.”

“Temporary where?”

His mouth worked. Nothing came out.

Marcus came back in. “Basement access is open. We’ve got the inner gate.”

Claire was already moving. “Ward, stay here. Don’t talk to anyone.”