“Take the cuffs off.”
Pierce laughed.
“What?”
“Take them off.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
Marcus turned his head.
“Listen to him, Colton.”
Pierce stared.
Marcus’s voice no longer belonged to an exhausted trucker.
It was controlled.
Professional.
Commanding without trying to be.
Pierce took one step backward.
“Who are you?”
Marcus looked toward Boone.
“He knows.”
Pierce reached for the credential case.
Boone pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
Pierce’s face changed.
He understood before he read anything.
“No.”
Marcus spoke clearly.
“Adrian.”
Inside the command vehicle, every person went still.
Marcus continued.
“Identity compromised.”
“Search complete.”
“Move.”
Adrian answered:
“Copy.”
The federal response was fast but not theatrical.
No Hawk helicopter.
No armored vehicle crashing through brush.
No unnecessary spectacle that might get someone killed.
Two unmarked SUVs entered from the highway.
Another vehicle moved from behind the feed store.
State investigators came from the opposite direction.
Emergency lights activated only when the vehicles reached the lot.
Agents emerged with weapons ready but controlled.
“Federal agents!”
“Hands visible!”
“Do not reach for your weapons!”
Pierce froze.
His right hand hovered too close to his holster.
Marcus looked directly at him.
“Colton.”
The young deputy’s eyes met his.
“Don’t.”
Pierce swallowed.
Slowly raised both hands.
Boone did the same.
He looked almost relieved.
Adrian approached Marcus first after Boone and Pierce had been disarmed.
“Any injuries?”
“Shoulder strain.”
“Wrists.”
“Nothing serious.”
An agent removed Marcus’s cuffs.
Marcus rubbed his hands.
Marks had already appeared around the wrists.
Vanessa stepped from the second vehicle.
She did not look triumphant.
She looked at Boone.
“Deputy Travis Boone?”
He said nothing.
“Deputy Colton Pierce?”
Pierce stared at the ground.
“You are being detained pursuant to a federal investigation.”
Boone finally spoke.
“You set us up.”
Marcus turned.
“No.”
“You put that money there.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted us to find it.”
“I refused consent.”
“You searched anyway.”
Marcus’s voice remained level.
“You invented an equipment violation.”
“You detained me.”
“You handcuffed me.”
“You threatened me.”
“You searched the vehicle.”
“You forced open secured property.”
“Nobody ordered you to do any of that.”
Boone’s jaw tightened.
Marcus continued.
“We gave you an opportunity to behave exactly the way you behave when you think no one important is watching.”
Boone looked away.
Pierce began breathing too quickly.
“Travis.”
Boone ignored him.
“Travis.”
“What?”
Pierce’s voice cracked.
“What happens now?”
Boone finally looked at the younger man.
For the first time that night, Marcus saw no arrogance in either of them.
Only fear.
Not the fear their victims had experienced.
The fear of consequences.
They were transported separately.