CHAPTER 2 — THE SECRET INSIDE THE POLICE FILES
The rooftop became eerily quiet.
No officer moved.
No one dared separate Rex from the suspect.
Officer Hayes slowly lowered his weapon.
"What is your name?"
"Ethan Carter."
Hayes recognized it immediately.
Three years earlier, Ethan had disappeared after serving as an informant in an international smuggling investigation.
Official records claimed he had fled the country.
But Ethan slowly shook his head.
"I didn't disappear."
"I was erased."
The officers exchanged confused looks.
Hayes ordered everyone to lower their weapons.
"Talk."
Ethan looked at Rex.
"I found him as a puppy in an abandoned warehouse."
"He was starving."
"I trained him with food... patience... and trust."
"When the police recruited me as an undercover informant, they also took Rex."
"I was promised I'd get him back."
His voice broke.
"I never saw him again."
Hayes felt something wasn't right.
He contacted headquarters requesting Ethan's old records.
Minutes later...
The dispatcher replied with trembling words.
"Sir..."
"His file has been deleted."
Hayes frowned.
"Deleted?"
"Completely."
Before anyone could react...
A black SUV suddenly burst through the rooftop entrance.
Three men in expensive suits stepped out.
They weren't police.
They carried federal credentials.
The oldest one spoke calmly.
"Officer Hayes."
"This man is under federal jurisdiction."
"Hand him over."
Hayes narrowed his eyes.
"I've never heard of your agency."
The man smiled.
"You don't need to."
Something about his smile felt wrong.
Rex instantly stepped in front of Ethan...
Growling.
Not at Ethan.
At the newcomers.
The deep growl echoed across the rooftop.
Every officer instinctively backed away.
Hayes trusted Rex more than paperwork.
If Rex believed these men were dangerous...
There had to be a reason.
The suited man slowly reached inside his coat.
Officers pointed their rifles.
But instead of a weapon...
He removed a folder.
Inside were surveillance photos.
Every robbery over the last six months.
Every crime scene.
One face appeared in every picture.
Not Ethan.
The same federal officer standing before them.
Hayes looked up.
"You've been framing him."
The man's smile disappeared.
"So..."
"You figured it out."
Suddenly everything exploded.
Gunfire shattered the rooftop.
The fake agents opened fire.
Officers scrambled for cover.
Rex tackled one attacker before he could fire again.
Hayes dragged Ethan behind an air-conditioning unit.
Bullets ricocheted everywhere.
Then one of the gunmen shouted,
"Kill the witness!"
At that moment, Ethan realized the truth.
The jewelry robbery had never been about money.
May you like
It had been bait...
Designed to lure him into the open forever.
