Chapter 4 - Staying Alive
Two nights before Dominic supposedly died, he came to Elias’s apartment.
Atlas was with him.
Rain fell hard against the windows.
Dominic looked exhausted.
“You need to know something.”
Elias poured coffee.
Dominic did not drink it.
“If anything happens to me, don’t trust Holloway.”
Elias stared.
“Dom.”
“I mean it.”
“What did you find?”
Dominic looked toward Atlas, who lay near the door with his head up.
“Evidence theft. False warrants. Informants moved off-book. At least one death covered as a fire accident. Holloway is tied to all of it.”
Elias felt the room tilt.
“Internal Affairs?”
“I contacted them.”
“And?”
“The file disappeared before the meeting.”
“Feds?”
“Tomorrow.”
Elias exhaled.
“You’re going alone?”
“No. I’m going with someone Holloway doesn’t know.”
“Who?”
Dominic hesitated.
Then said, “Elena.”
Elias almost shouted.
“Your girlfriend?”
“Former assistant U.S. attorney.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“She likes privacy.”
“You’re putting her in this?”
“She was already in it before she knew my name.”
Atlas rose suddenly and moved to Dominic’s side.
Dominic looked down.
His expression softened.
Then he looked back at Elias.
“If they come for me, Atlas will know before anyone else. Trust him.”
Elias tried to argue.
Dominic stopped him.
“No hero stuff. If I go down, protect the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Dominic tapped his chest.
“Not on me.”
That was all he said.
The next night, Dominic was gone.
Official version:
Officer Dominic Reyes died in the line of duty after responding to a warehouse disturbance linked to an arson investigation. Fire conditions made viewing inadvisable. His body was recovered, identified, and released for burial with full honors.
Elias received the call at 2:17 a.m.
Captain Holloway delivered it himself.
That should have bothered Elias immediately.
But grief arrived first.
“What about Atlas?” Elias asked.
Holloway’s face stayed neutral.
“Dog was found outside the perimeter. Injured paw. He’s alive.”
Elias drove to the K9 facility before sunrise.
Atlas was in a kennel, pacing.
Not limping.
Not sedated.
Not grieving the way Elias expected.
Searching.
The dog slammed his paws against the kennel door when he saw Elias.
Elias opened it, and Atlas shoved past him, nose to the floor, pulling toward the exit.
He wanted to go back.
Elias thought it was grief.
Now he knew it was unfinished work.
Dominic’s funeral happened fast.
Too fast.
Holloway said it was to honor him before media scrutiny turned his death into a spectacle.
The coffin was sealed.
Holloway said the fire damage was too severe.
The medical examiner confirmed the identity.
Holloway controlled every step.
Elias did not like it.
But grief, again, dulled the blade.
Elena disappeared the morning after Dominic’s death.
Holloway claimed she was “overcome” and left town.
Dominic’s mother said she had not heard from her.
Elias called.
No answer.
He texted.
No response.
He told himself people grieve differently.
That was the lie he used because the truth was too large and he was too tired.
At the funeral, Elias insisted Atlas attend.
Holloway objected.
“A police funeral is not a K9 demonstration.”
“He was Dominic’s partner.”
“He’s retired.”
“He still outranks half the room.”
Holloway’s mouth tightened.
Finally, he allowed it.
That decision saved Dominic’s life.
At the hospital, Dominic was placed in critical care.
Not dead.
Not stable.
Not conscious for long.
Doctors found sedatives in his system, dehydration, oxygen deprivation, bruising consistent with restraint, and shallow injuries from a prior struggle. Nothing like the official fire report.
The coffin had been sealed but not airtight enough to kill him immediately.
A small internal gap, intended for preservation materials, had left just enough air.
Not by mercy.
By mistake.
Dominic survived because corruption had been careful, but not perfect.
Atlas lay outside the ICU door and refused food until Elias brought Dominic’s old jacket.
Then he ate half a biscuit from Elias’s hand and went back to watching the door.
Captain Holloway was placed on administrative restriction within hours.
Not arrested yet.
Power resists handcuffs.
But he was no longer in command.
The department tried to call it an “unprecedented procedural irregularity.”
Elias stood in the hospital hallway, blood on his white shirt from where Dominic’s hand had gripped him during transfer, and said to the deputy chief, “If you call this procedure again, I’ll say what it is in front of every camera outside.”
The deputy chief did not ask what he would call it.
Everyone knew.
Attempted murder beneath a flag.
The FBI arrived before midnight.
So did Elena.
Not missing.
Hidden.
She came through a service entrance wearing a hooded coat, eyes red, hands shaking around a flash drive.
Elias saw her and nearly shouted.
“Where the hell have you been?”
May you like
She looked toward the ICU door.
“Staying alive.”
