The next few days consisted of long hours with Evan making appearances on each shift. He’d sent the picture to Ben and relayed what Ginger remembered. For the most part he seemed to have his feet under him with Rita keeping him on schedule for his meetings. Today was the first shift change for a few men so Evan knew adjustments would be necessary. Rodney had done a good job spreading his conversation with Ruby, but apparently some of the men hadn’t heard it yet.

Evan stood around the corner from the breakroom reviewing a report from Rita when he heard, “I came into town last night to see Ruby. I knocked and waited five minutes before she walked toward her back door. When she saw me, she turned around and headed for the front of her house. I knocked again and called her name, but she wouldn’t come to the damn door.”

“Maybe she was sick, dude.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll check on her later.”

It was good to know Ruby took his mandate seriously. Now, Evan had to decide if he wanted to bust balls or let Rodney tell them more gently. When he turned the corner, they knew he’d heard them and didn’t seem to care. They would.

“Gentlemen, be in my office in three minutes,” Evan said as he walked toward his office. He passed Rita and informed her to send Rodney to his office immediately. He was sitting behind his desk when he heard a tap on the door. “Come in.”

“Chief, you wanted to see us.”

“Yes, come in and have a seat.”

He let them fidget for a few minutes then finally asked, “What are your names?”

“Jasper Clark.”

“Lawrence Phillips.”

Evan looked up their information on the spreadsheet Rita provided him. These men were close to his age. Hell, Clark was even married, and Evan wanted to throttle him right there. Lucky for them, Rodney tapped on the door before he opened it. “You looking for me, Chief?”

“Come in.” Evan straightened in his chair before he addressed Rodney. “I asked you to let the officers know what happened on Monday.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve spoken with all the officers that were on first shift Monday and Tuesday, and quite a few on the other shifts but not all of them.”

“Well, I don’t believe Officers Clark and Phillips have heard what happened. Would you please inform them now.” Evan sat back and watched their faces as Rodney retold what Evan said to Ruby. Both officers continually cut their eyes at Evan, but Clark seemed a little pale. Evan assumed he wouldn’t be checking on Ruby later. “Thank you.”

“Yes, sir.” Rodney let himself out and closed the door.

“In light of what I heard this morning, I’m assuming Ruby no longer has time for y’all in her dating schedule. Since Rodney hasn’t been able to spread my news to all of the officers, I’m looking for you two to help him. I’m assuming that won’t be a problem with you fellas?”

“No, sir,” they said in unison.

“Glad to hear it. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, Clark, hold up.” Evan waited for him to retake his seat. “Do you think your wife knows you’re seeing the town prostitute?”

“No, sir,” he said with a red face.

“Take it from someone who grew up here, she knows. She just isn’t telling you she knows. If I were you, I’d make sure I knew where every sharp knife is in the house.” Clark’s eyes widened. “You can leave my office now.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Just like Ginger, Officer Clark’s wife received a call or was told the first time she went to the grocery store. Why the woman stayed with him was beyond explanation, but Evan was positive she’d make him pay, one way or another.

His phone rang just as he picked it up to text Ginger. “Riverton.”

“Hey. Do you have some time to meet with the Sheriff and me today?”

“I think so.” Evan left his office and verified his schedule with Rita. “How about eleven?”

“Sounds good.”

“Here or the Sheriff’s office?”

“Let’s make it the Sheriff’s office. No offense, dude, but he’s got more room than you.” Ben laughed as he disconnected the call.

Evan’s morning included addressing the officers who were rotating onto first shift with Clark and Phillips in the back of the room trying not to be seen. Evan told the officers he expected them to keep the laws they swore to uphold when they graduated the academy. He finished by letting them know if they couldn’t abide by the laws of their town, county, state, and country he’d be in his office until ten-thirty to accept resignations. If they needed more time to think about it, he’d be back after two.

He was just outside his office door when Rita stopped him. “You’re serious about cleaning up the town, aren’t you?”

“Very.”

“You know some people aren’t going to like that.”

“I’m sure, but I think most will. Are there some people in particular I need to worry about?”

She shrugged. “I’ve always found it odd that Mr. Jones at the bank has lunch with different men who mostly aren’t from around here once a week. There’s always a briefcase at that lunch.”

“Banks do business with more people than locals, Rita. They could be bank auditors or associates from different branches.”

Rita shrugged her shoulders. “I guess. But if Curtis is guilty of passing counterfeit money, where has he been putting it? Was it all at his house?”

“I don’t know. I assume that’s what my meeting at the Sheriff’s office is about. Do you know something you aren’t sharing?”

“No, sir. I just watch. Curtis met with Mr. Jones several times himself, and I saw him bring one of those briefcases into his office a few weeks back.”

“Did you see him leave with it?”

“No, sir,” Rita said as she shook her head.

“Is there a safe in my office I don’t know about yet?”

She tapped her finger on her lips for a moment. “I don’t know, but Curtis had a bookcase added about a month ago.”

“Show me the new one.” Evan stepped aside for Rita to enter his office. The new shelves had more personal effects than books on them.

”Rita, let’s get a box and remove all of Curtis’ personal items from this office today, please. We can store them in the evidence room until we know what we’re looking for.”

Evan slowly looked at each shelf of the bookcase and noticed it was hand crafted to match the others in the room. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look old. Just like the others, the bottom shelf was about a foot off the floor with a decorative front panel like wainscoting. The others had old law books on them, but this one was empty and upon closer inspection, the shelf was removable. He slid it off to find a hollow space with a briefcase inside. “Get me a pair of gloves please.” Rita left and returned with gloves, the box he’d requested, and an evidence bag. He slipped on the gloves and pulled out the briefcase. “Is this the one you saw?”

“Looks like it. Are you going to open it?”

“I think I should do that with the Sheriff and State Police.”

He placed the briefcase in the evidence bag and sealed it shut before both he and Rita initialed the bag across the tape. “Rita, I’m gonna step out and check on Ginger. I’ll send Rodney in here for y’all to check the rest of the bottom shelves.”

“Yes, sir.”

Evan hit Ginger’s speed dial before he reached the door to the parking lot. The sound of her voice made him breathe easier. “Hey, babe.”

“Hi. You sound like you’re feeling good this morning.”

“We are. We ate breakfast and now we’re helping Kayla clean. If we’re not too tired, we’re going to lunch with Kayla and Cat.”

Evan smiled as he couldn’t help but notice how she said we. “Darlin’, sorry to ruin your plans, but until we know where Frank Smith is, you can’t leave the ranch without me or Mitchell.”

“I’ll tell Kayla, but she’s not going to like it.”

“I’ve got a meeting at the Sheriff’s office this morning that’ll probably run into the afternoon. If you need anything, send me a text.”

He disconnected the call as he walked back into his office with Rodney and Rita standing among a bunch of books. “Well?”

“The only other false bottom was in the bookcase on the other end. There wasn’t another briefcase, just a night deposit bag from the bank. We’ve already put it in an evidence bag and sealed it like before,” Rita said. “We didn’t open it.”

“Thank you,” Evan said as Rodney handed him the bag. “While I’m at the Sheriff’s office, will y’all put the books back on the shelves?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he left with the bags. Just as he closed the trunk, an officer he recognized from the morning meeting approached him. He looked older than Evan, maybe close to forty and nervous.

“Chief, we haven’t officially met, but I’m Jeff Applegate.”

“Hi, Jeff.” Evan reached out his hand to shake Jeff’s. “How can I help you?”

“I went through the academy with Chief Taylor. He helped me through and promised I’d have a job.”

“Former Chief Taylor. He won’t be serving on this force again. Is that gonna be a problem?”

“I don’t know, sir. I liked the way he ran things. Not that I don’t enjoy my job, but I enjoyed some of the unofficial perks that came with it.”

Evan raised a brow in question. “Unofficial perks?”

“You told us we needed to keep up with the changes in the laws and uphold them. What if my mama’s speeding? How am I going to issue her a ticket? She’d skin me alive. Not to mention, the Chief let my boy off for taking candy from a store one time. Now you’re telling me the store owner can press charges.”

This time Evan furrowed his brows. “The store owner should’ve been given the choice to press charges. Your family, just like mine and any other officer’s should be held to a higher standard.” Evan leaned against the trunk of the car. “One of the hardest parts about being an officer in a small town is you know almost everyone. A lot of our citizens are getting up in age so somehow I don’t think your mom would be speeding, but I get your point. I think we’ve always had a little leniency with speeding for everyone in town. When you’re on duty, I expect you to enforce the law. I don’t care if it’s your mama, wife, child, brother, father, preacher. If you can’t write the ticket, call someone who can.” Evan rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m not trying to be a hardass, but the former chief left a hell of a mess to clean up. I’m gonna do what I have to for this town thrive. If you don’t think you can be a part of that, I’ll be back at two to accept your resignation.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll explain it to my family tonight. My boy hasn’t done anything else, but he just got his driver’s license.”

“Good.” Evan nodded and watched Jeff because there seemed to be something else on his mind. “Is there something else you wanna ask me?” Jeff looked at Evan with concern, like maybe he shouldn’t ask, but he needed to know.

“If he does get in trouble, can I just pay you like I did Chief Taylor?”

“Excuse me?” Evan put his hands on his hips and leveled his stare at Jeff. “Please explain that statement because I’m trying to wrap my head around what I think that means.”

Jeff cleared his throat and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Just like when my boy was younger and took that candy, we could pay Chief Taylor to make it go away.”

Evan’s eyes widened. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No, sir. Then from time to time, we’d pay him more so he’d continue to forget. My wife was stopped for speeding and my boy was twelve when he stole that candy. I’ve been paying the Chief a hundred dollars a paycheck to keep it quiet. I just want to know if I’m to pay you now.”

Evan bent over at the waist and took deep breaths because he thought he’d hyperventilate. What the hell? How did this department get so screwed up? When he stood back up, he looked Jeff in the eyes. “You said we. How many officers were paying the former Chief?”

“Me and five others.”

“At a hundred dollars a paycheck?” Evan’s voice was incredulous.

“I don’t know what they were paying.”

“Do you know who these other officers are?”

“Yes, sir. We met the chief every payday in the parking lot. It didn’t matter what shift we were on. We’d better be there at seven that night with cash money.”

“Do you know what shift these men are working today?”

“They’re not all men, sir.”

“What shifts are these officers working?”

“Some are inside now. Some come on at four.”

Evan looked at his watch. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. You get in touch with all the officers and tell them to meet me in the conference room on the second floor at three thirty.”

“So you’ll tell us what our new terms are then?”

“No, Jeff. There isn’t gonna be any terms at all, but I need the full picture.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Evan nodded to let him know they’d get to the bottom of everything. Son-of-a-bitch! No wonder the officers didn’t have anything, Curtis was taking their money. It was a good thing he was in protective custody because Evan wanted to beat the shit out of him again. As soon as he was in his car, he called Mayor Sinclair. When his secretary picked up, Evan cut her off, “This is Chief Riverton. I need to speak to the Mayor now.”

“Yes, sir. Hold on one moment please.”

“Evan?”

“Mayor, we’ve got a huge issue with the police department. I need you in attendance at a meeting in the second floor conference room at three-thirty.”

“What’s going on?”

“Sir, you need to hear this shit first hand. You just need to be there.” Evan disconnected the call and thought about the bags in the trunk. Ben was going to freak when Evan opened them.

Evan was reaching for the second bag when Ben walked up. “Need some help with those?”

“Thanks. You’re not gonna believe the shit I’ve uncovered this morning.”

“Yeah, and you’re not going to believe what the lab uncovered about that picture you gave me.”

Evan stopped. “What’d they find?”

Ben shook his head. “Not out here, but you’re not going to like it. What’s in these anyway?”

“A briefcase and night deposit bag we found in my office this morning. I don’t know the contents, but I have an idea. Is Ginger in danger?”

“Not if she’s on your ranch. Were they were delivered to your office?”

“No, the former chief had them hidden in there.”

Ben quickly glanced at Evan. “Are you fucking with me? These were stashed in the police department?”

“I can’t make this shit up. I’ll tell y’all about that and the conversation I had before I came here. You better plan on keeping Curtis Taylor for a long time because I don’t think he can give you enough information to make up for the charges you’re about to hear.”

Ben furrowed his brows. “I can’t wait to hear this. By the way, have you seen Judge Bishop lately?”

“No.”

“We haven’t seen him either,” Ben said with a resigned sigh.

“Is that why we’re meeting?”

“That and Frank Smith was due back from vacation today, but he didn’t show,” Ben said as they entered the building.

They stopped talking while they passed through the department to the Sheriff’s office and tapped on the door. Evan lowered his voice when he asked, “You got somebody watching his house too?”

“Yeah, and we’ve got nothing.”

“How long have you been watching it because I heard he was back in town before dawn last Sunday morning,” Evan said.

“Since he mysteriously took vacation. What’ve you heard?”

They were waived into the office. “Are we meeting in here or somewhere else because we’re gonna need a big space and a lot of privacy.”

“Let’s go next door. I’ll tell the desk clerk not to disturb us,” Sheriff Cahill said.

They walked into a room with a large table and several chairs. They placed the bags on the table and lowered all of the shades on the bank of windows that made up one wall while they waited for Sheriff Cahill to return. When the Sheriff walked in Evan asked, “Is this room sound proof?”

“You’d have to yell pretty loud to be heard, but it’s possible,” Sheriff Cahill said with a grin.

“Sheriff, I don’t think you’re gonna be grinning long,” Evan said as he walked back to the table.

“What y’all got?”

“Have you heard from Deputy Smith yet, Sheriff?” Ben asked.

“No, but I sent an officer by his house earlier. He said Smith’s personal vehicle wasn’t there, but his patrol car was.” Sheriff Cahill’s voice was all business.

“My men say the same thing. They haven’t seen any activity there since he became a person of interest,” Ben continued.

“I spoke with Ruby on Monday. She said Frank came to see her before dawn Sunday morning. Apparently, he’s staying on a boat and was running out of supplies and lonely.”

Ben asked, “Lake or ocean?”

“I asked the same thing. She didn’t know,” Evan said. “When he went deep sea fishing the other week, did he say if it was his boat?”

“Didn’t sound like it. He said it was a day trip. I assumed they went out on one of those chartered rigs,” Sheriff Cahill said.

Evan cut his eyes to Ben while he made a couple calls. “We should know if either of them has a boat registered in a few hours, but finding out if they went on a day trip will take a little longer because the number of charters. Since those trips usually ship out between five and six in the morning, we’re checking the ones departing from Charleston and Beaufort. The ones up the coast don’t make sense.”

“Does the Judge have a boat?” Evan asked.

“A little John boat he uses for fishin’ and huntin’,” the Sheriff confirmed. “Why?”

“Has anyone seen it?”

Ben made another call to add Harland Bishop to the boat registration search as the Sheriff stepped out of the room. As Evan took a seat, he heard the Sheriff ask a couple deputies to check the boat landings at the lake and river for Judge Bishop’s truck. That too would take time they didn’t necessarily have.

While Evan waited for them to dispatch their people, he stared at the bags. His stomached rolled to think those officers were being blackmailed by their own boss. Was he using the money to launder the counterfeit bills? It was the Sheriff’s voice that brought him out of his reverie, “Evan, what’s in the bags?”

Evan told Sheriff Cahill and Ben what was found and where as well as relayed the story his officer told him. When he finished his story, he looked at the two sets of eyes staring back at him. “I think the briefcase is gonna be more counterfeit and marked currency, and the night deposit bag will be legit bills from the blackmail money.”

“How the hell was all this going on down here and nobody knew?” Ben threw his hands in the air. “Damn. With all the other money we found at Curtis’s property, I need to notify Secret Service. A hundred thousand is enough to totally fuck with the economy down here,” Ben said. With a scowl on his face, he turned to make another call and all he said was, “I’ve got more.”

They opened the bag holding the briefcase to find stacks and stacks of bundled money. Some was held up to the light, and they saw it’d been bleached. Others looked normal, but the few serial numbers they ran were marked bills used in gun and drug buys by ATF and DEA. Those could definitely be linked back to Masterson Investments. The briefcase being in Curtis’s office was further verification he was taking bribes. “Has he told you the total MI paid in bribes here?” Evan asked.

“He claims he doesn’t know because Mr. Jones was the money man,” Ben confirmed.

“One of my officers said Mr. Jones has lunch once a week with different out-of-town people. She says there’s always a briefcase present.”

“How does she know that?”

“Apparently, these lunches happen every Wednesday. She’s been watching him, I guess,” Evan said.

They moved to open the other bag. Just as before, there were bundles of bills. They repeated the same process, except they added the pen test. They counted fifty-thousand dollars in legitimate currency. Evan shook his head as a wave of nausea rolled through him.

“The blackmail money?” Sheriff Cahill asked.

“Looks that way,” Evan said. He couldn’t help but think about those families living in fear of charges hanging over their heads if they didn’t pay. “I wanna give it back to them.”

“It’ll have to be evidence for a little while,” Ben softly said.

“How long has this been goin’ on? That’s a lot of money for six officers. Do you think there were others?” the Sheriff asked.

“I don’t know. I’m meeting with the Mayor and the officers at three-thirty. Hopefully they can give us the whole picture, but that may be why he felt he ran the town.” As they replaced the money in the bag, Evan said, “The first day Kayla was back, he told her his badge got him whatever he wanted. I think he’s been bullying our citizens, and they’ve been too scared to say anything.”

The Sheriff left to find tape to secure the bags again.

Evan tensed and his voice was unyielding when he said, “Time’s up, Ben. I need to know about that picture.”

“It was taken by the same phone that took the picture of Harley.”

“We know that’s Frank. If he’s still using his same phone, let’s call the bastard.” Evan looked at Ben questioning why he hadn’t done that yet.

“Don’t you think we’ve tried? This isn’t my first rodeo, Riverton.” Ben glared at Evan with his hands on his hips then continued, “When the lab calls the phone, my men hear it ring inside his house. Since there hasn’t been any movement there, he apparently didn’t take it with him.”

Evan raked his fingers through his hair and pulled. “Fuck,” he said in a barely audible tone. “What about the first one?”

“Nothing yet.”

Evan’s fingers were laced on top of his head as he paced the length of the room. “Man, I know you’ve got this, but…” The tone of his voice and the look Evan gave Ben showed his desperation.

“I know, man. We’re going to catch the psychopath.”

When the Sheriff returned with a roll of evidence tape, they resealed the bags and initialed them. Ben was taking them to the state’s evidence room in Columbia for safe keeping. His phone rang as they prepared to walk out, and he listened to whoever was on the other end. Ben thanked the person then said, “Neither Frank or Curtis has a boat registered in their names, but their grandmother has an old house boat that’s been docked on the other side of the lake for years. Since it’s out of your jurisdiction, Sheriff, I’ll send a couple of my men to check it out. I’ll keep you informed of what we find. If he’s there, my boys are bringing him here for questioning. Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, he’s got things to answer for. I wanna be there when he’s questioned, though,” Sheriff Cahill said with his hands on his hips.

Ben handed Evan a bag, and they walked out together. In the last three hours, Evan heard things he never thought would be attached to Riverton Crossing. He needed to get his head wrapped around it and fast. When they arrived at Ben’s car, he popped the trunk. “Thanks for the help, man. I’ll let you know when we have the phone and if there are any more pictures.”

“That’d be great, before I do something drastic.”

“You know the drill. She stays in a secure place until we get our hands on the son-of-a-bitch. She doesn’t leave the ranch without you or your brother. Is he licensed to carry?”

“Yeah, he’s had his concealed weapons permit for years. She is not gonna like this.”

“Look at it this way, she’ll have excessive energy when you get home,” Ben said with a chuckle before Evan flipped him off. “Seriously, did you think you were walking into this hornet’s nest when you came back?”

“Not in a million years. Are you amending the charges against Curtis?”

“You get written statements from your officers before they leave that room. Have a notary there so they’re admissible. He’ll go to jail, Evan. We won’t let him get away with it.”

Evan nodded and shook Ben’s hand before he walked to his car. At least he had that and the promise they’d eventually get all or part of their money back to take to the officers. At the moment, he was embarrassed he wore the same badge and held the same title Curtis did. Evan checked his phone as he sat in his car. There was a text from Ginger letting him know she’d laid down for a nap so he sent her a reply.

* * *

Arriving at his office, Evan gathered supplies and readied the conference room himself since he took this particular meeting personally. These officers had been manipulated long enough so he wanted them as comfortable as possible. He hoped this meeting would help remove some of the burden from their shoulders.

Evan rested his head on the back of the chair with his eyes closed trying to switch gears when the Mayor walked in. Evan opened his eyes when the Mayor looked around at all of the notepads, pens and cups. “I didn’t know this meeting was more than you and me.”

“Six of my officers will be here at three thirty. You need to hear their stories from them, and I need to know how long this has been going on, who else and how much money is involved.”

The Mayor furrowed his brows. “Money?”

“Mayor, I thought my first day was eventful, but it was nothing compared to today.”

It wasn’t quite three thirty when a knock sounded on the door. Evan opened it to find Officer Applegate with four other officers behind him. “Jack Casey is on his way, sir. He’s just finishing his patrol,” Jeff said.

“Sounds good. Come in and have a seat. I know this is hard for y’all, but we’re gonna make things better.” Evan pointed between himself and the Mayor. “We’re gonna need sworn statements from each of you so if you wanna start writing while we wait for Officer Casey, feel free.” Evan looked at the people sitting around the table. With Jack Casey, there were four men and two women. The petite officer sitting diagonally at the far end of the table from Evan sniffled as she wrote. That couldn’t be good.

A few minutes later Officer Casey tapped on the door and stuck his head in. Jeff waived him in as each officer introduced him or herself to the Mayor and Evan. Evan informed them he was recording the meeting because he didn’t want to miss any details when he filed his report with the state. The petite officer, Mary, looked at Evan with watery eyes. “Are you going to keep that confidential? I don’t want what I say in here to get out.”

“I assure you, this tape is for my use only. The Mayor is here because he needs to know what happened under the former chief, and I want him to hear this first hand. We’ll use the statements for prosecution though. Jeff, why don’t you start since I already know your story.”

The men’s stories were about the same. Either a family member had been caught speeding, or a child had gotten into mischief, or they had been to visit Ruby and didn’t want their wives to know.

Officer Casey’s was different, though. He was hired straight out of the academy as were most of the officers, and his first performance review was excellent marks across the board. He was told to only expect a modest raise in pay, so when it came in more than double what he expected he spoke with Chief Taylor. He was told his increase was only three percent so the other four was the Chief’s for incidental expenses. He was told not to tell anyone and didn’t until he heard the others’ stories. Other than Officer Casey, the men’s payments were a hundred dollars a paycheck. Evan rubbed his hand down his face while the Mayor plowed his fingers through his hair. By the time they got to the women, Evan didn’t imagine their stories could be any worse.

The first female officer was Georgia. She was in her mid-thirties and a single mother of a little girl. The grievance against her was she’d sometimes need to leave early because of her daughter. Again, the payment was a hundred dollars. When she couldn’t pay it, Curtis had her run special errands. For every payment missed she had to make two special deposits at the bank. The deposits were into different company accounts out of state. She was told to always go to the teller where Mr. Jones stood, and it was a different teller each time. The deposits were never the same amount, but always cash and under the ten thousand dollar threshold. She said the money always felt real, but she never really checked because she was too scared.

When it was the petite officer’s turn, she was shaking. “Mary, we’re here to help you. Can you tell us the circumstances that led you into this room today? We won’t judge.”

“My story can’t get out.”

“Everyone in this room is embarrassed about what’s happened to them. No one is gonna say anything,” Evan voice was consoling as he tried to put her at ease.

She looked around the room to find encouragement from her colleagues before she held Evan’s stare. That one gesture must’ve given her courage because she didn’t break eye contact when she spoke, “I too am a single mother, but fortunate enough to have my mother live with us so leaving is never an issue for me. Money is tight on an officer’s salary, though. I don’t get child support from my son’s father, and my mother’s social security isn’t much either so I picked up a part-time job that works around my schedule.”

She stopped to gather herself once more as her focus was now on her clinched hands. “There’s a gentlemen’s club in Cloverville, and I dance there. It’s legal and legit, but Chief Taylor came in one night while I was dancing. He threatened to tell my mother and co-workers. My mother thought I had extra duty, and I never told her any differently. I knew what people would think if they found out so I kept it from my co-workers, too. It was the only place I could make enough money to be worthwhile. Anyway, once he found out, he asked what I made in tips. I told him, and he wanted half to keep his mouth shut.

“When my son got sick last winter, I couldn’t make the payments so he had me do what Georgia did with the deposits,” she said as she pointed at Georgia. “I didn’t ask any questions because I figured it was better than being exposed.” She closed her eyes. Evan thought she was finished with her story when her voice came through a soft cry, “When I caught the same flu my son had, I couldn’t make the bank runs either.” She sniffled and locked eyes with Evan again.

His gut told him he won’t like where her story was going. “Mary, you don’t have to finish, just put it in your statement.”

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. “Y’all need to know what kind of monster he really is.” She gained some semblance of control before she spoke again, “The day I came back to work he told me since I didn’t make my payment or run his errand, I’d work my payment off in other ways. So anytime he couldn’t see Ruby, I had to book a hotel room out by the big box store.” She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of something. “He said he was getting his money one way or another. This saved him money and he got a free hotel room out of it.” She broke down after that while Georgia hugged her.

Evan slammed his hands on the table as he stood. “He made you pay for the room where he forced you to have sex?” he blurted, and Mary nodded. Evan saw the Mayor out of the corner of his eye, and he was green.

“Dear God,” Mayor Sinclair mumbled.

Evan ran his hand down his face as he tried to gain control of his anger. He paced since he couldn’t beat Curtis’s face in, but had to expend the energy somehow. When he turned, all the officers were watching him. What was he supposed to say to all of this? The officers didn’t need a priest. They needed a leader who’d get them justice. To do that, he needed the whole picture so he gritted his teeth and sat back down. “How long has this been going on?” The times ranged from six months to four years. Evan looked at the Mayor for answers.

“I’ve been in office less than three years. I had no idea.”

“Not that what y’all have told us isn’t bad enough, but was he taking payments from people outside the force?”

One of the men who admitted visiting Ruby spoke up, “He’d send me to Ruby’s on the fifteenth and thirtieth of every month. His message to her was always the same. ‘Give him a blowjob before you give him the envelope’. I always got the blowjob and returned with a fat envelope. I never opened it, but knew it was money.” The man’s face was red with embarrassment. This was how Curtis kept his leverage.

“Have you been back to visit her lately?”

“Not since I heard what happened Monday.”

“Keep it that way.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ruby was being pinched. Anyone else?” Evan asked.

“When those Masterson Investments men came into town, we were told never to write them a ticket. They’d get drunk and cause problems at the bar, but the chief wouldn’t do anything about it. I know the owners had to pay a lot of money for the damages they did,” Mary said once she’d regained her composure.

“So maybe he wasn’t taking money from them, but he wasn’t protecting them either. Did y’all see a lot of that?” The officers nodded. “I’d like a list of merchants that you know were either pinched or left unprotected on my desk by Monday,” Evan said. Mayor, do you have any questions before I let them finish their statements?”

“Was it only Chief Taylor?”

“Yes, sir. We weren’t sure if Chief Riverton was going to follow in his footsteps,” Jeff said.

With a confident voice Evan said, “I guarantee I’ll never walk in his footsteps. I’ll always have an open door policy. I wanna know any misconduct you see, and I’ll never reveal where I get my information.”

“Good to hear, sir,” Jeff said.

“Finish your statements and give them to Sandra. She’ll notarize them and leave them on my desk in a sealed envelope. Tomorrow I’ll send them to the agent working Curtis’s case. Thank y’all for taking the time to come in today.”

Evan opened the door for Sandra as he and Mayor Sinclair walked out. They pressed the button sat on the padded bench by the elevators while they waited. When Evan looked at the Mayor, he was bent over with his elbows resting on his knees and fingers massaging his temples. Evan waited him out because he knew what Evan was going to ask. When he tilted his head, his expression was somewhere between disbelief and anger. “I had no idea, Evan. No one ever said anything to me. When the little officer back there,” he flicked his finger to indicate the direction she sat from him.

“Mary.”

“Yeah, Mary. When she was telling her story, I had to swallow several time to keep from puking. I almost got up and walked out. What kind of man would that make me if I couldn’t listen to what she had to say? She had to endure it, and I almost got sick just listening to it.”

Evan nodded. “A fellow agent of mine once told me Curtis was a sick fuck, but I didn’t know he was this low. I’ve already told Ben he’d need to amend the charges on Curtis. After hearing this today, I don’t think Curtis deserves protective custody so I’ll call Ben tonight.”

The Mayor stood to leave. “Let me know what you find out. I think I need to go home and have a stiff drink.”

“I need my girl. If someone ever treated her like those ladies were treated, I’d have to kill them.”

The Mayor waved him off. “I’m with you. Good night.”

Evan didn’t get in the elevator, but took the stairs to burn off some energy. On his way to his car he called Rita to inform her he’d left for the day. He couldn’t get to Ginger fast enough.