A voice on the other end of the phone crackled, garbled but audible. "Is he looking at the trucks? The tanker?" "He's looking around," Kendrick lied. "He looks suspicious.
He might be a scout." "If he sees the plates on the tanker when it rolls in, get rid of him," the voice on the phone ordered. "I don't care how. Stall him. Arrest him.
Just get him off the lot before the delivery gets there."
"Roger that," Kendrick said. "I'll cook something up. Stolen valor, easy pickings." The video ended. The room was silent.
Darius looked up, his jaw set. "It wasn't just prejudice. It was protection."
Pendergast nodded. "Big Al's Gas and Go isn't just a gas station. We have reason to believe the site's storage system is being used to conceal contraband." "Gun running?" Lang asked.
"Or narcotics," Pendergast replied. "Ironwood is a straight shot from the border on the back roads. Kendrick wasn't harassing you just because he's a bigot, Commander. He was clearing the zone for a drop. He saw a federal uniform and panicked, thinking the operation was blown."
Darius stood up, pacing the room. "Who was on the phone?" "Boss." Pendergast swiped the screen. "We traced the call.
It went to a burner phone, but that burner pinged off the cell tower right here in this building." Darius's eyes widened. He looked through the glass partition of the briefing room toward the sheriff's office, where Sheriff Voss was sitting, head in his hands. "Old Voss," Darius whispered.
"We need a witness to confirm the voice," Lang said. "The audio is a bit distorted. Any defense lawyer could argue it was just static." "We have a witness," Darius said. "The rookie, Brooks.
He was in the car." Pendergast noted, "He's complicit." "He hesitated," Darius corrected. "He picked up my Trident. He apologized.
He's scared, not rotten. Bring him in."
Minutes later, Officer Brooks was sitting in the interrogation room. He wasn't handcuffed, but he looked like he wished he were dead. He was shaking so hard the water in his paper cup was rippling. Darius walked in alone and sat down opposite Brooks.
"Officer Brooks," Darius said softly. "I didn't know, sir," Brooks stammered, tears welling up. "I swear. I just started three months ago. They tell me to shut up and follow orders."
"I know," Darius said. "I've seen men like Kendrick before. They thrive on fear. But right now, you need to understand how serious this is."
Brooks looked up, meeting Darius's eyes. "Kendrick is going to prison," Darius said. "That is a fact. The question is whether you go with him. You watched him assault a superior officer.