Four wealthy boys shattered my daughter’s jaw in six places, then laughed that their families had enough money, political power, and influence to make the entire attack disappear. By the time I reached the hospital, security footage was already gone, witnesses had suddenly seen nothing, and the police seemed terrified to investigate. What those four spoiled sons didn’t know was that the grieving father holding his daughter’s hand had once been known by another name: the Phantom Commander.

My eyes narrowed dangerously. The Phantom inside me recognized the anatomy of a cover-up.

“Altered how, Detective?” I asked, stepping closer to Bell.

“The first campus security officer who responded to the parking structure actually documented an eyewitness,” Bell explained, tapping the copied paper.

Nora shifted uncomfortably in her bed, her heart rate monitor ticking slightly faster.

Bell continued, his voice low. “A third-shift maintenance worker named Samuel Ortiz reported seeing three young men sprinting out of the north parking structure around the estimated time of the assault. Thirty minutes later, his entire statement simply vanished from the digital police file.”

“Where is Ortiz now?” I demanded.

“Home, as far as I know. Terrified, I’d bet.”

“Does anyone at the precinct know you copied this report?”

“No. If they did, I’d be suspended by noon.”

I paced toward the window, adrenaline flooding my veins. “I need to go see Ortiz.”

Bell immediately raised a hand in protest. “Mr. Miller, I understand you have a background in security.”

“You understand almost nothing about my background,” I shot back coldly.

“Fair enough,” Bell conceded without missing a beat. “But if Ortiz is already being pressured by billionaires, sending a physically intimidating, angry father to his house could make matters substantially worse. It might spook him into disappearing entirely.”

He was right. Tactically, he was entirely right. I hated it.

Nora tapped the whiteboard loudly with her marker. I turned around.

Listen to him, she had written.

Bell almost smiled. “Your daughter has excellent instincts.”

“She gets those from her mother,” I murmured.

Nora's expression shifted immediately. For one brief, heart-wrenching moment, the hospital room was filled with the memory of my late wife, Claire. Claire had been gone for eleven years, yet sometimes her absence entered a room as clearly as another living person.

Claire would have known exactly what to say to me right now. She would have reminded me that loving Nora did not mean controlling every single danger around her with violence. It meant helping her become strong enough to face the world.

I sat down, forcing the Phantom back into his cage.

“All right, Detective,” I said evenly. “What do you suggest?”

“We reopen the investigation properly. Quietly. I speak with Ortiz. We obtain emergency preservation orders for the university servers before more data disappears. We identify everyone who accessed the security system.”

“And the four boys?”

“We don't contact them. Not until we understand what actually happened.”