From fear.
He saw Claire standing there in the bureau jacket and stopped so hard he nearly lost his balance.
Dugan came up behind him and said under his breath, “No.”
Just that.
One small broken word.
Claire looked at them both.
“Morning.”
Reyes began reading charges.
Not to impress anyone.
To document the moment.
Conspiracy to violate civil rights under color of authority.
Evidence tampering.
False imprisonment.
Obstruction.
Unlawful entry.
Destruction and attempted destruction of public records.
Then more names.
Not just Hale.
Not just Kessler and Dugan.
Twenty-three officers total, by the end of the morning, across overlapping levels of involvement.
Some for direct acts.
Some for coverups.
Some for patterns already documented and now finally tied together.
The station erupted into fragments.
Shouting.
Protests.
Denials.
“I never touched the evidence.”
“I was following orders.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“You can’t do this here.”
A federal evidence tech replied without looking up from the server rack she was photographing.
