Fifty miles away in Columbus, the dispatch center was already preparing the formal debriefing files, but inside the sedan, Victoria simply enjoyed the steady, uninterrupted hum of the open road. On the passenger seat, the blank yellow legal pad remained untouched—a quiet testament to the fact that her memory did not need to fill in the blanks when encrypted technology had captured every second. She reached down, picked up the cold gold shield from her console, and slid it safely back into her pocket alongside her badge. The badge itself carried no magic powers, but when backed by unyielding resolve and undeniable proof, it had the weight to dismantle years of unchecked arrogance in a single afternoon.
When she finally crossed the county line, the late afternoon sun broke fully through the canopy of trees, bathing the highway in a warm, golden light. Her phone buzzed on the dashboard with a brief text from Director Cross confirming that both deputies were currently being processed into the state holding facility without bond. Victoria didn’t reply; there was no need to celebrate what was simply a job executed to perfection. She took a deep breath, flipped on her turn signal, and drove toward the capital, leaving Route Nine forever changed by a single stop on a dusty shoulder.READ MORE BELOW