Chapter 5
CHAPTER 6 — The Tuesday Morning Purge
It was exactly six days since the phone call at 2:27 a.m.
Tuesday morning.
The day the Westbridge Police Department was scheduled for its confidential integrity inspection.
But this wasn't an inspection anymore.
It was an execution.
The morning sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the remaining patches of ice on the pavement.
I walked through the front doors of the Westbridge precinct.
I wasn't alone.
Behind me walked the State Attorney General, two FBI special agents, and twenty heavily armed state troopers.
The reception area was bustling with the morning shift change.
The moment we walked in, the entire room fell dead silent.
The desk sergeant—the same one who had gone pale when I arrived the night of the attack—stood up slowly, his hands raised slightly in surrender.
"Where is Captain Landry?" the Attorney General asked, his voice booming through the lobby.
The desk sergeant swallowed hard.
"He... he's in his office, sir."
We bypassed the front desk entirely.
The state troopers fanned out, securing the perimeter, blocking the exits, and instructing every officer to step away from their computers.
I walked straight down the main hallway toward the captain's office.
I didn't knock.
I pushed the door open.
Captain Thomas Landry was sitting behind his mahogany desk, casually drinking a cup of coffee and reading a printed report.
He looked up, irritation flashing across his face.
Then he saw the Attorney General.
Then he saw me.
His coffee cup stopped halfway to his mouth.
"What is the meaning of this?" Landry demanded, trying to project authority he no longer possessed.
"Stand up, Captain," the Attorney General ordered.
Landry slowly stood, his eyes darting toward the window, calculating his options.
There were none.
"You're out of your jurisdiction," Landry sneered, looking directly at me.
"This is a local precinct."
I stepped forward, pulling a thick, blue-bound federal warrant from my briefcase.
I tossed it onto his desk.
It landed heavily, right on top of his coffee mug, knocking it over.
Brown liquid spilled across his paperwork.
He didn't try to wipe it up.
"Arthur provided us with the encrypted hard drive, Thomas," I said smoothly.
Landry's jaw clenched.
"He gave us the text messages where you instructed Brooke on exactly how to hit my mother to make it look like a fall."
"He gave us the bank routing numbers where you received your twenty-percent cut of the estate fraud."
Landry’s face turned a violent shade of red.
"That spineless coward."
"He was smart enough to save himself," I corrected.
"You weren't."
"By order of the State Attorney General, you are relieved of your command, stripped of your badge, and placed under arrest for corruption, conspiracy, and evidence tampering."
Two state troopers stepped into the office.
They grabbed Landry by the arms, forcing his hands behind his back.
The metallic click of the handcuffs sounded remarkably satisfying.
"You think you're a hero?" Landry spat as they dragged him toward the door.
"You're just a bureaucrat in a fancy suit."
I walked up to him, stopping inches from his face.
"I'm the daughter of the woman you tried to lock in a cage."
"Enjoy yours."
They led him out of the office and paraded him through his own precinct.
Every officer he had ever bullied, intimidated, or manipulated watched as their corrupt captain was walked out in chains.
The purge had begun.
By noon, six other officers who had assisted in his cover-ups were also arrested.
The precinct was placed under emergency state receivership.
I walked out of the building and into the crisp winter air.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was Marcus.
"The hospital just called," he said.
"Your mother is being discharged today."
"She's asking for you."
A genuine smile finally broke across my face.
"Tell her I'm on my way."
"And Marcus?"
"Yeah, Clara?"
"Tell her I brought a black felt-tip pen for her crossword puzzle."
I got into my car, started the engine, and drove away from the precinct.
May you like
The storm was finally over.
And the people who had thought my silence was weakness would spend the rest of their lives wishing they had never woken me up.
