You watched him falsify an arrest report. That's conspiracy. Brooks, you're twenty-two. You can still decide whether your career ends with their crimes."
Brooks sobbed. Darius leaned forward. "Tell me about the phone call. Tell me about the trucks at Big Al's. Tell me who Kendrick calls boss."
Brooks took a shuddering breath. He looked at the mirror, knowing the feds were behind it.
"It's the sheriff," Brooks whispered. "Sheriff Voss. He runs the whole county, the gas station. They move meth through there inside the fuel tankers. Kendrick is his enforcer.
If anyone snoops, Kendrick runs them out of town or locks them up. And yesterday, the shipment was big, two million dollars' worth. Voss was terrified the feds were onto it. When Kendrick saw you, he thought you were the advance team for a raid. He had to get you off the street before the tanker arrived."
Darius nodded slowly. "You did the right thing, son." Darius stood up and walked out of the room. Pendergast and Lang were waiting. "We got him," Pendergast said.
"RICO charges, drug trafficking, kidnapping, assault on a federal officer, conspiracy."
"What about Voss?" Lang asked. Darius adjusted his collar. "Voss is sitting in his office thinking he can still talk his way out of this. He thinks this is just about a bad arrest."
Darius walked toward the sheriff's office. He didn't knock. He kicked the door open.
Sheriff Voss jumped, spilling his coffee. "Now, wait just a minute." "Get up," Darius commanded. "You can't talk to me like that in my station," Voss blustered. "It's not your station anymore," Darius said, "and you're not a sheriff."
Darius threw the tablet onto the desk. It showed the transcript of Brooks's confession. Voss read it. His face went gray. The bluster drained out of him, leaving a hollow, terrified old man.
"It was just business," Voss whispered. "The town was dying. We needed money." "You sold poison to your own people," Darius said, his voice cold. "And when a soldier came through to bury a hero, you tried to destroy him to protect your profit."
Darius turned to the door. "Agent Pendergast, he's all yours."
As Pendergast and the agents swarmed in to cuff Voss, Darius walked out into the main bullpen. Kendrick was being led out in chains. He saw Darius. "You ruined my life," Kendrick screamed, spitting at the ground, "over a stupid piece of metal."
Darius stopped. He walked over to Kendrick. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Trident pin, the one Kendrick had pried off the day before. "It's not just metal," Darius said, holding the gold insignia up to Kendrick's face. "It's a standard, one you never could have met."
Darius turned to Lang. "Commander, make sure the charges stick. I want the book thrown at them, the whole library." "They won't see daylight for a very long time, sir," Lang promised.