Chapter 5 - The Red List
Laura obtained a warrant faster than Jack expected.
Not for the gym.
For Rick Dalton's truck.
Hospital surveillance had captured the vehicle outside when the threatening bag was delivered.
A man wearing a hood exited the passenger side.
The image was unclear.
The plate was not.
Rick claimed he had lent the truck to a fighter.
Laura did not believe him.
Inside the truck police found three burner phones.
Cash.
A printed schedule.
And a red notebook.
Fourteen women's names.
Hannah Miller was number fourteen.
Melissa Grant was number six.
Three names had lines through them.
Jack stared at the photocopy Laura showed him.
"What do the lines mean?"
"We don't know."
"Find them."
"We are."
"All three?"
"Two."
Jack looked up.
"And the third?"
Laura's expression told him.
"Dead."
His face hardened.
"How?"
"Car crash."
"When?"
"Eighteen months ago."
"Name?"
"Rachel Dunn."
"Connection to Dustin?"
"No."
"Dalton?"
"She trained at his gym."
Jack looked toward Hannah.
She sat nearby, wrist in a brace.
"What about the other two?"
"One moved to Oregon. One is in Wilmington."
"Will they talk?"
"Maybe."
Hannah pointed toward the notebook.
"Why is my name last?"
Laura answered.
"Possibly chronological."
"When was I added?"
"We don't know."
Jack looked at the schedule.
One date had been circled.
Friday.
Two days away.
Location code: FAD-2.
Forge Athletics Development.
The warehouse outside Leland.
Laura closed the folder.
"We're checking whether we have enough for a second warrant."
Jack knew what that meant.
Wait.
He hated waiting.
But he had spent years teaching younger Marines that impatience was often simply fear wearing armor.
He would not become careless now.
That afternoon Hannah asked to speak with him alone.
They sat in a hospital courtyard.
She wore sunglasses to hide the bruising.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"There's something I didn't tell you."
Jack waited.
"Before Dustin hit me, I took something."
"What?"
"From Dalton's desk."
Jack's stomach tightened.
"Hannah."
"I panicked."
"What did you take?"
"A memory card."
He stared.
"Where is it?"
"In my apartment."
"With Dustin?"
"No. My old apartment."
"You still have it?"
"I kept the lease because I didn't trust myself to fully move in with him."
Jack felt both relief and sadness.
She had known something was wrong long before admitting it.
"Why didn't you tell the police?"
"I forgot."
"Because of the concussion?"
"Maybe."
"What's on it?"
"I don't know."
"Then we don't touch it."
She looked surprised.
"You're not curious?"
"I'm extremely curious."
"Then why not?"
"Because evidence belongs in evidence bags, not in your father's laptop."
Hannah smiled faintly.
"You're learning."
"Apparently."
They contacted Laura.
Police recovered the card.
By evening, digital forensics confirmed it contained video.
Hundreds of clips.
Private matches.
Cash exchanges.
Women signing waivers.
Men placing bets.
Dalton instructing fighters.
Then one clip changed everything.
Hannah sat beside Jack and Laura in an interview room.
The footage showed Rachel Dunn.
Alive.
She stood in the Forge warehouse.
Rick Dalton faced her.
Rachel looked angry.
Audio was clear.
"You promised me it was over."
Rick responded:
"You signed."
"I signed for sparring. Not for him."
She pointed off-camera.
A man entered.
Cole Mercer.
Heavyset.
Expensive watch.
No gloves.
Rachel stepped backward.
"I don't fight men."
Cole smiled.
"This isn't a fight."
The video ended.
Laura stopped playback.
Jack stared at the frozen screen.
"What happened next?"
"Forensics is looking."
Another clip existed seventeen minutes later.
Rachel sat on the floor.
Blood at her lip.
Rick handed her an envelope.
She threw it back.
"You think money fixes this?"
Cole walked toward her.
Rachel pointed at him.
"If anything happens to me, my sister gets everything."
The clip ended.
Laura leaned back.
Rachel died six months later.
Jack looked at her.
"Car crash."
"Yes."
"Accident?"
"Officially."
Hannah whispered:
"Was it?"
Laura did not answer.
Then the technician entered.
"There is another file."
Laura looked up.
"What?"
"Audio only."
He placed headphones on the table.
"Recorded two days before Rachel died."
Laura pressed play.
Rachel's voice:
"If you're hearing this, I was right about Dalton."
Then a pause.
"And about Dustin Parker."
Hannah froze.
Jack turned toward her.
Rachel continued:
"Dustin isn't just one of the fighters."
Hannah whispered:
"What?"
May you like
Rachel's recorded voice answered:
"He's Dalton's partner."
