Nothing else.
I carried it into my car before opening it.
Inside were folders.
Photographs.
USB drives.
Financial records.
Badge numbers.
Bank transfers.
Enough evidence to destroy careers and send people to prison.
And taped to the top folder was a note written in Ava’s handwriting.
“If you’re reading this, they know I talked.”
My blood turned cold instantly.
That’s when headlights suddenly flooded my rearview mirror.
A black SUV had pulled behind my car.
Then another.
Three men stepped out.
One of them flashed a police badge.
But none of them looked like they were there to help me.
The tallest one walked to my window slowly and tapped the glass.
“Ma’am,” he said calmly, “you have something that doesn’t belong to you.”
I grabbed the bag instantly.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled slightly.
“Friends of your sister.”
Everything inside me screamed to drive.
But before I could even touch the ignition—
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered without thinking.
And the second I heard the voice on the other end…
My entire body went numb.
Because it was Ava.
Or at least…
It sounded exactly like her.
“Don’t trust the police,” the recording whispered. “Especially Detective Moreno.”
I slowly looked back up at the man standing outside my car window.
Then at the badge clipped to his belt.
Detective Moreno.
And suddenly I realized something horrifying.
My sister hadn’t just hidden evidence because she feared criminals.
She hid it because the people who killed her were wearing badges too.
