What Was Hidden on B-17
Chapter 03 - What Was Hidden on B-17
Detective Maya Chen ordered Ethan not to respond. Officers were already on their way to the Bennett house, but Raymond ended the video and disabled the cameras before they arrived.
Sofia carefully removed the rest of Noah’s cast. Beneath the padding, the boy’s arm was covered with small pressure marks but no serious injury. Taped near his wrist was a folded note written in hurried blue ink.
IF THIS REACHES ETHAN, TRUST MAYA CHEN. RAYMOND KNOWS ABOUT THE BRIDGE.
The note was signed by Daniel Price, Bennett Construction’s project engineer. Daniel had disappeared two weeks earlier. Raymond told everyone he had left the country after stealing company funds.
Detective Chen revealed that Daniel was actually a confidential witness in a corruption investigation. He had uncovered evidence that Raymond was using the B-17 project to move public money through fake suppliers. When Daniel realized someone inside law enforcement was leaking information, he hid the full records on the memory card and tried to deliver it to Ethan.
Raymond intercepted him.
The school bus “accident” had been staged to create a moment when Noah could be separated from teachers and parents. Raymond hid the card in the cast because he believed police would search adults, vehicles, and offices—but not the injured arm of a frightened child.
The medication served two purposes: it kept Claire weak and gave Raymond leverage over Noah. He never expected the hospital to question the cast before he could retrieve it.
Using the code from Daniel’s note, investigators opened the memory card. It contained bank transfers, recorded meetings, and structural reports showing that Raymond had approved substandard materials for the bridge. The bridge was scheduled to open to traffic the next morning.
“If these reports are accurate,” Ethan said, “part of the support system could fail under full load.”
Detective Chen contacted city engineers and ordered an emergency closure. But someone inside the transportation office overruled it, claiming the evidence was fabricated by a missing employee.
Then a second folder opened on the memory card.
It contained photographs of Claire’s sister being followed, Daniel restrained in an abandoned project trailer, and a schedule for destroying both the trailer and the remaining records at midnight.
The clock read 10:42 p.m.
Claire tried to sit up. “You have to find them.”
Ethan kissed her forehead and promised he would return.
As Detective Chen prepared a rescue team, Noah called his father back.
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“Dad,” he said, holding up a tiny silver object Sofia had found beneath the final layer of padding. “There was something else in the cast.”
It was a key stamped with the number 17—and a smear of fresh blue paint.
