Chapter 5 - The Chief’s Confession
Chief Miller’s knees finally gave out. He slid down the white-paneled wall of the sunroom until he hit the floor, his police cap rolling away across the scattered pastel Easter eggs.
“I... I was just following orders,” Miller whimpered, looking up at the tactical officers towering over him. “The Sterlings... they controlled the town council budget. If I didn't sign off on the property reallocations and suppress the domestic disturbance calls from Lily’s house, they would have stripped my pension and ruined my family.”
Arthur turned slowly, looking down at the corrupt police chief with profound disgust.
“You swore an oath to protect citizens, Miller,” Arthur said quietly. “Instead, you took bribes to help a predator lock a battered woman in her own home.”
Arthur tapped his ear, activating his comms link. “Team Leader, secure the chief’s precinct files. Every digital drive, every physical ledger in his office safe. I want a complete audit of every fabricated arrest report filed in this county over the past decade.”
*“Copy, Commander. Team Two is already on site at the precinct,”* the radio crackled back instantly.
Eleanor let out a low, ragged moan and gripped the back of a velvet armchair to steady herself. “You’re destroying us,” she whispered, her voice losing its haughty edge, replaced by genuine terror. “You’re destroying generations of work over a domestic dispute... over a girl who didn't fit into our world...”
“She was never trying to fit into your world, Eleanor,” Arthur said, walking toward the French doors where Lily was waiting safely in the back of the truck. “She was just trying to survive it. And unlike you, I don't negotiate with people who hurt my family.”
Arthur turned his back on them, stepping out onto the sunlit terrace as the cool spring breeze swept away the lingering scent of champagne and fear.
“Pack them up,” Arthur instructed the tactical leader as he passed him. “Hand them over to the federal marshals waiting at the county line. I want no local interference.”
May you like
“Understood, sir,” the officer saluted sharply.
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