This time, Carson let her lead him to the bedroom, but his mind was still spinning. If Shaw had been deliberately destroying evidence, the question was why. Was he protecting someone? Covering up his own mistakes? Or was there something else going on?
And more importantly, were there victims out there who’d never gotten justice because of it?
***
The next morning, Carson requested a meeting with Captain Holloway.
“What can I do for you?” Holloway asked, gesturing to the chair across from his desk.
“I need to ask you about Captain Shaw. Specifically about how he handled evidence during his tenure.”
Holloway’s expression shifted—not quite suspicion, but definitely interest. “That’s an odd question. Why?”
Carson laid out what he’d found—the three cases, the destroyed evidence,the pattern.
Holloway listened without interrupting, his face growing more serious with each detail.
“I remember Shaw,” Holloway said when Carson finished. “Good cop, as far as I knew. Thirty-five years on the force. Took retirement on good terms. Never heard anything questionable about him.”
“But you weren’t looking for questionable things.”
“No. I wasn’t.” Holloway pulled out a notepad. “You said three cases so far. Give me the case numbers. I’ll pull the full files from archives, see if there’s anything else we missed.”
“You think I’m onto something?”
“I think you found something worth investigating. Whether it’s administrative errors or something more serious, we need to know.” Holloway’s expression hardened. “If evidence was deliberately destroyed, if cases were sabotaged, victims deserve to know why. And if Shaw was involved...” He trailed off. “We handle this carefully. Quietly. No accusations until we have proof.”
“Understood.”
“And, Carson? Keep this close to the vest. Don’t discuss it with anyone except me and maybe Finn if you need his tech expertise. If Shaw did something dirty, we don’t want to tip off anyone who might have been working with him.”
Carson left the office feeling validated but also uneasy. If Shaw had been corrupt, how deep did itgo? How many cases had been compromised? How many victims had been failed?
And—the thought that made his stomach turn—had Shaw’s corruption let Eugene operate unchecked for longer than he should have?
***
That evening, Carson came home to find Nora on the phone, pacing the living room.
“Yes, I understand the timeline,” she was saying. “Thirty days for the LLC paperwork, then I can start taking clients... Okay, thank you so much.”
She ended the call and turned to Carson with a huge smile. “I’m officially registering my business. Nora Bell Consulting. It’s real.”
“That’s amazing.” He pulled her into a hug. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m terrified,” she admitted with a nervous laugh.
“That means you’re doing it right.” He kissed the top of her head. “What’s the timeline?”
“LLC registration takes about a month. While that processes, I’m building my website, reaching out to potential clients, getting everything set up. I could have my first client by next month.” Her voice wavered between excited and scared. “This is really happening.”
“It is. And you’re going to be amazing at it.”
They celebrated with takeout and wine, Nora talking a mile a minute about business plans and marketing strategies and tax structures. Carson listened, watching her come alive with excitement about something that was completely hers.
“Thank you,” Nora said later as they cleaned up.
“For what?”
