Chapter 1 — Caleb confronts Trey on the front porch over missing items — Then a green jacket on the deck changes the argument
Caleb stood on the front porch with his finger pointed straight at his son, his voice rising in anger.
“Explain this.”
Trey shook his head, looking defensive as delivery boxes stacked up beside them on the wooden deck.
“Look there.”
Vincent stepped out through the front door, glancing between the two of them with a steady gaze.
“Let’s look at the evidence.”
Trey pointed down toward a green jacket lying discarded on the wooden planks next to a stack of cardboard packages.
Caleb stepped closer, his jaw tight as he stared at the fabric.
He reached down into the jacket pocket, his fingers brushing against something heavy.
Caleb pulled out a set of metal keys and dropped them onto the wooden boards between them.
Vincent stared down at the keys, his expression turning grim and calculating.
When Caleb looked up, his face went completely pale with utter shock at what the keys meant.
“Where did you get these?” Caleb asked, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper.
Trey held up his hands, stepping back against the porch railing.
“I didn’t put them there,” Trey insisted.
Vincent knelt down on one knee to inspect the heavy brass ring holding three distinct keys.
He turned the keys over in his palm, examining the stamped serial numbers near the bow.
“These aren’t standard house keys,” Vincent said quietly.
Caleb looked closer at the metal ring, noticing a small plastic tag still attached to the smallest key.
A faded barcode and a set of printed numbers were visible on the tag.
Vincent pulled a small notebook from his pocket and compared the numbers on the tag to a list written inside.
“Whose handwriting is on that log?” Caleb demanded, leaning over Vincent’s shoulder.
Vincent did not answer right away.
He ran his finger down the second column of the page, stopping at a specific entry near the bottom.
“That number belongs to a unit authorization log,” Vincent said, his eyes narrowing as he looked up at Caleb.
“And according to this log, this exact key was signed out yesterday morning by someone who was never supposed to have access to the main perimeter.”