Chapter 6 - Marcus Thorne’s Dispatch Archive
While State Police units mobilized along Interstate 75 toward northern Michigan, Marcus Thorne dug deeper into the precinct's digital archives, pulling up every historical CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) log associated with Robert Vance and Sarah Miller over the past three years.
The screen scrolled rapidly with rows of past complaints, domestic calls, and restraining order violations. Marcus’s eyes scanned the data like a hawk hunting prey.
What he found made his blood run cold.
Three years ago, Sarah Miller had been an art student at a local university, dating Robert Vance Jr., the heir to a wealthy real estate fortune in Wayne County. When Sarah tried to end the relationship due to Vance’s increasingly erratic and violent behavior, Vance had escalated from psychological intimidation to physical assault.
Yet, every single time the police were called, the reports mysteriously vanished from the active docket. Case numbers were closed with notes reading “Unfounded” or “Parties reconciled.”
Marcus checked the officer ID attached to those closed reports.
Officer Thomas Vance—Robert’s uncle, a twenty-five-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department who had retired just six months ago.
May you like
“Corrupt to the core,” Marcus muttered, slamming his fist onto his desk. The entire system had been weaponized to protect a violent predator while burying a terrified young mother who had nowhere left to turn.
Marcus exported the entire archived folder, encrypting the files directly to Detective Miller’s secure terminal, ensuring that no amount of internal political influence could sweep this under the rug again. The shield was not going to protect one of its own this time.
