Cole kept his hands visible. "Judge Price, I need five minutes. I won't come inside if you don't want me to."
"You're getting two."
He almost smiled. Nia stepped where he could see her through the opening.
Cole swallowed. "What happened today was not sanctioned the way Sheriff Larkin is claiming. Kessler assembled the team from people he trusted. Some of us were told there was a sealed federal request. We were never shown it."
"You still came," Nia said.
His eyes lowered. "Yes."
"You still surrounded my house."
"Yes."
"Why should anything you say matter now?"
Cole looked at her again. "Because Larkin is meeting Theodore Bryce tonight at the old civic warehouse on Industrial Drive. And because I heard Kessler say the phrase Brass Locust before the raid." Daniel's face changed.
"How do you know that name?"
"I didn't until today. After the state investigators arrived, Larkin pulled Kessler aside. I was close enough to hear Kessler say, 'If Brass Locust surfaces, Bryce burns us all.'"
Nobody spoke for a moment. Cole continued. "I can't testify yet. Not safely."
Evelyn's voice sharpened. "That's not how conscience works, Lieutenant." Pain crossed his face. "You think I don't know that?"
Nia studied him. He did not look like a man performing courage. He looked like a man terrified of the price of it.
"What do they have on you?" she asked.
Cole said nothing. That was answer enough.
"The warehouse meeting," Daniel said. "When?"
"Ten-thirty. Maybe eleven. Larkin, Bryce, Kessler. Possibly Sloan."
"How do you know?"
"I was told to arrange a patrol gap around Industrial Drive."