Chapter 10: Captain Under Investigation

The morning after Elaine's remains were identified, Phoenix Fire Department headquarters looked nothing like it had a week earlier. Television crews crowded the entrance. Reporters shouted questions at every firefighter walking through the gates. The same station that had proudly displayed Cole's awards now stood surrounded by investigators carrying evidence boxes.

Rachel and I watched from across the street.

"The department can't protect him anymore," she said quietly.

"They already protected him long enough," I replied.

At exactly nine o'clock, the Internal Affairs committee announced an emergency disciplinary hearing. Captain Cole Barrett was officially suspended without pay pending the outcome of multiple criminal and administrative investigations.

The announcement spread across every news network within minutes.

Employees inside the station avoided the cameras as if looking into one might make them guilty by association.

Investigator Ruiz called while we were watching the live broadcast.

"We've finished reviewing Captain Barrett's financial records," he said.

"Did you find the payment?"

"More than that."

Ruiz explained that the fifty-thousand-dollar transfer from Meridian Recovery Holdings had entered a newly opened account shared by Cole and Jade only two days after the fire.

"The account wasn't disclosed on any departmental financial forms," he continued.

"Was any of the money spent?" Rachel asked.

"Almost thirty thousand dollars disappeared within forty-eight hours."

"Where did it go?"

"Luxury apartment deposits, airline reservations, furniture purchases, and an international travel agency."

I stared at the moving traffic outside the windshield.

"They were planning to leave."

"That's our conclusion," Ruiz replied.

My chest tightened.

Cole had already planned his future with Jade while pretending to mourn his mother.

The hearing began shortly after noon.

Although the public wasn't allowed inside, the proceedings were streamed to a separate press room.

Deputy Chief Larkin appeared first.

Under questioning, he admitted that Cole personally revised the official incident report after everyone else had gone home.

"Did you authorize those edits?" the committee chairman asked.

"No."

"Did you know Captain Barrett removed Lieutenant Dean's original statement?"

"No."

The room fell silent.

Lieutenant Marcus Dean testified next.

Unlike before, he showed no hesitation.

"I ordered Captain Barrett to let me operate the rescue platform," Marcus said firmly. "Firefighter Mercer had not completed aerial certification. Captain Barrett refused my recommendation."

"Did you observe anything unusual about the safety equipment?"

"Yes. I warned him the locking clip wasn't fully secured."

"How did Captain Barrett respond?"

"He ordered me to stand down."

Every answer chipped away at the image Cole had spent years building.

Then Jade entered the hearing room.

She looked nothing like the crying rookie from the press conference.

Her lawyer sat beside her while she answered each question with carefully rehearsed caution.

"Did Captain Barrett instruct you to operate the rescue platform?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him you weren't certified?"

"Yes."

"Why did you proceed?"

"Because he assured me I was ready."

"Were you involved in transferring the victim's remains?"

"No."

"Did you know about Meridian Recovery Holdings?"

"No."

Ruiz leaned toward the microphone.

"Then why was your name listed as co-owner of the account that received Meridian's payment?"

For the first time, Jade lost her composure.

"I... I didn't manage the account."

"But your signature appears on the account opening documents."

He projected the paperwork onto a screen.

There was Jade's signature beside Cole's.

"Can you explain that?"

Her attorney immediately objected.

"My client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights."

The hearing room erupted with whispers.

Rachel looked at me.

"She just stopped talking."

"Because she knows they can prove it."

Cole was called last.

He entered wearing a dark suit instead of his fire department uniform.

The confident captain I had once admired was gone.

His shoulders sagged beneath the weight of cameras and accusations.

"Captain Barrett," the chairman began, "did you knowingly submit false identification documents regarding the deceased?"

"No."

"Did you authorize the transfer to Meridian?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I believed the victim was Margaret Hale."

Ruiz immediately displayed the voicemail Cole had left for my mother the day after the fire.

"If you believed Margaret Hale was dead," Ruiz asked calmly, "why did you call her the following morning?"

Cole froze.

The recording played through the hearing room.

"Margaret... Nora is confused... Elaine is traveling..."

When it ended, complete silence followed.

Cole swallowed hard.

"I... I was under enormous stress."

"Stress doesn't explain speaking to a woman you claimed was dead," Ruiz replied.

"I made mistakes."

"Did you also make a mistake when you accepted fifty thousand dollars from Meridian?"

"It wasn't payment."

"Then what was it?"

Cole couldn't answer.

"Did you alter official reports?"

"Only to simplify paperwork."

"Did you remove Lieutenant Dean's objections?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want Jade blamed for an accident."

There it was again.

Even with his career collapsing around him, his first instinct was still to protect Jade.

"Did you ever once consider protecting your mother?" Ruiz asked quietly.

Cole lowered his head.

For several seconds he said nothing.

Finally he whispered, "I thought I could fix everything."

"By selling her body?"

Cole closed his eyes.

No answer came.

Late that afternoon, the committee announced its decision.

Captain Cole Barrett was permanently removed from active duty pending criminal prosecution.

His firefighter certification was suspended indefinitely.

Jade Mercer was terminated from the department for misconduct and placed under separate criminal investigation.

Outside the building, reporters rushed to broadcast the outcome.

Breaking News banners filled every television screen in the city.

Rachel looked toward the station entrance where officers escorted Cole through a side exit.

"This isn't the end," she said.

"No," I replied.

"It's only the beginning."

As Cole climbed into an unmarked police vehicle, our eyes met for the first time since the hearing began.

He looked exhausted, frightened, and completely alone.

For the first time, there was no crowd applauding him.

No reporters calling him a hero.

No department standing behind him.

Only the truth he had spent weeks trying to bury.

And now, that truth was taking him exactly where he deserved to go.