When they emerged from the elevator on the third floor, they saw an armed police officer standing in front of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
“Holy crap, Colin,” Joshua breathed out.
Colin growled out an affirmative grunt as they stepped toward the door. “Yeah. Clearly, she’s taking it seriously.” He showed his badge to the guard, who moved aside to allow them to enter.
He paused at the receptionist’s desk. “Morning, Sheila.”
“Morning,” she said, then stabbed her finger toward Esther Jackson’s office. “In there,” she told him. “Boss wants to see you both first thing.”
Colin nodded. He gripped Joshua’s hand as they moved to the door, then knocked.
“Come!”
Colin led Joshua into Jackson’s office, where he saw his direct superior, Norman Clayton, seated in front of Esther’s desk.
“As soon as we’re done here…” she said, pointing at them, “…you two will be escorted to your home, where you’ll pack.”
Colin took two steps forward. “Esther, do you…”
“Plan to be gone at least a week,” Esther continued. “Could end up being longer, but we’ll start with a week.”
“Esther, wait a minute…” Joshua began. “Don’t you think…”
“No, Joshua,” she said, cutting him off. “There’ll be no discussion. You don’t get a say.” She pointed to two chairs. “Sit.”
Colin and Joshua slumped into the chairs. Joshua leaned forward, carding his fingers through his dark curls as Colin’s hand moved to his back and slid over it in a slow circle.
“You’re booked into an executive suite at the Omni,” Esther said. “We picked it in coordination with the State Police and UVA’s emergency planning office. It’s hosted high-risk federal witnesses before, and its security protocols meet state-level threat management standards. You’ll have a three-person security detail. You’ll meet them today.”
“Esther, look…”
“Colin, has Hannibal Barrett worked for you in the past?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s an informant—helped us with the Albemarle County task force, drug cases, even the Moreno RICO case.”
“He was murdered last night.”
Colin shot to his feet. “What?! By whom? Do we know?”
“No,” Norman said, “but we have some mighty strong suspicions.”
“Hannibal’s murder puts us in a very different place, Colin,” Esther told him. “The second a CI is killed, protocol shifts. We’re treating it as a retaliatory homicide and working it as a high-priority case — not just because of what it means for you, but for every case we’ve ever prosecuted using him as a witness.”
“He helped us put Lexi away. That puts a giant bullseye on his back.”
“We’ve already flagged every case where Hannibal’s name appears. If we find a connection to Moreno or his crew, we’ll coordinate with the feds. If they can prove retaliation against a government witness, it’s a slam dunk for obstruction and witness tampering — possibly even federal murder charges.”
“I’ve already called DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Norm added. “If we get even a whisper of Moreno involvement, this jumps to their court. Hannibal deserves that much.”
“You think it wasMoreno?” Joshua asked, his voice thin with shock and horror.
“We think we have to at leastconsiderthe possibility that the two incidents are related,” Esther told him. “That this murder was Moreno’s way of sending a message.”
“Oh my god,” Joshua whispered.
“And that elevates the credibility of Lexi Moreno’s threat against Colin,” Esther said, staring down at the police report.
Norman added, “And since he’s being moved to Red Onion in the morning — complete with twenty-three-hour lockdown, no contact except monitored legal visits, he’ll be….”
