SEIZED Part 5: A Steamy New Adult Romantic Suspense Thriller (Seize Me Romance Fiction Series) by JC Coulton Page B

Access is granted pretty much upon request to schools or companies with genuine need to see the footage for staffing or other reasons, but it takes a week or so to receive them, not to mention a load of paperwork to request access. I need to narrow the search to people who have instant access.
    After a while, it hits me. This shouldn’t be a process of elimination from a long list; I just need to check the coding in the videos themselves. The system leaves a trail like any other. It should be simple. I copy all of the video files onto my desktop and open the access pages only to find that each has been corrupted. Unbelievable.
    I get up and begin to pace. I do my best thinking here, and this case needs some extra finesse. I consider the next steps. With every difficult case, there’s a point like this—where real answers seem impossible to uncover. I need to start again. I’m left with a strange feeling. There’s more to this. Something I’m supposed to pay attention to. I go back to thinking about the case and realize only someone who knows the video surveillance system inside out would know there’s an almost invisible—and tamper-proof segment of time-stamped coding on each file. I can use this to track down the users who were logged in during the times the date files were damaged.
    Tapping away furiously at my keyboard, I access the system logs and cross-reference them with the base codes of each video. Bam! There it is. I find the same code for every video. It means it’s just one person behind all this video tampering activity. And from the identification number, this person may actually be too close for comfort. It’s a code for this precinct.
    I hurry to the IT section of the floor, which is usually occupied by the top geeks of the department. Today, no one is here. They’re all out to lunch. I know what I’m looking for. I try to be subtle as I search for it on the one of their computers. I open the file and scan down the list, searching for one particular combination of letters and numbers amongst all the departmental codes.
    I find it and my mouth drops open. Unbelievable. The person who altered each of these videos is on shift today. I never would have thought someone this close to us could be a part of this. Shaking my head, I lean back in the swivel chair. I know corruption is part of the deal no matter where you go; I just didn’t expect it to be this close to home. It surprises the shit out of me. If only I had more evidence, I could come forward. This is exactly the type of thing that lands people like me in the harbor with bricks tied to their feet.
    When they go down they need to go down fast and hard enough to make sure there’s no backlash against Blake or myself. Suddenly that crank call Blake received through the desk sergeant comes to mind. I think it’s noted in the files as unresolved because the caller never left a number. But I know Blake said he had a moment of full paranoia where he was sure the whole April case was an inside job. I thought it was crazy at the time, but maybe we were closer than we thought way back then?
    My mind is faithfully following the trail of evidence, just as it’s been trained to do. It’s automatic these days. It ingrained in me to never make assumptions. Evidence is one thing; assumption is an entirely different beast. I begin to wonder who that caller was. Whoever it was, it demonstrated I’m not the only one who knows this is an inside job. The quickest way to get to the bottom of it is to find that snitch caller as fast as possible.
    In the meantime, the best plan is not to say a word. I need to assemble the troops and take the perpetrator by surprise. That’s what it’s going to take—speed, an army of evidence and people who are willing to back me when Blake and I come forward. Caution is a must. I get the feeling I shouldn’t even tell Blake until I know more. With so much at risk, he could easily get hot-headed and come forward too soon. I