"Stand up!" Henderson roared, his face turning a dangerous shade of crimson. "Stand up, Rollins!"
Rollins slowly got to his feet, tears streaming down his face. "Chief, I swear he was acting suspicious. He would not show me identification. I was following proactive patrol guidelines," Rollins said." Shut your mouth," Henderson screamed, pointing a trembling finger at the young officer. "You are stripped of all police powers immediately. You are suspended without pay, pending termination." "And God help me. If the union tries to fight this, I will personally burn this precinct to the ground. The union won't be an issue," Hayes stated coldly, stepping forward. He nodded to two towering FBI agents standing by the hallway. "Officer Derek Rollins, you are under arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for violations of Title 18, United States Code Section 242, deprivation of rights under color of law. You are also being charged with federal kidnapping and battery of a federal official," Rollins gasped, stumbling backward until he hit the concrete wall. "No, wait. I am a police officer. You cannot do this." "You are not an officer anymore, Derek," Caldwell said, stepping forward with a pair of heavy federal handcuffs. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back."
The irony was thick, suffocating, and absolute. In the exact same room where Rollins had strutted proudly just an hour before, boasting about his massive collar, he was now forcibly spun around. The federal agents locked the steel cuffs tightly around his wrists. "Chief, please do something," Rollins begged, looking at Henderson.
Henderson simply turned his back. "Process him," Caldwell ordered. And put him in holding cell two. "I want him to sit on the exact same bench he forced the director to sit on."
Rollins sobbed openly as the agents marched him down the familiar cinder block hallway. The heavy metal bars of cell number two screeched open, and Rollins was shoved inside. The door slammed shut with a deafening finality. The key turned, the lock engaged. Rollins collapsed onto the cold metal bench, burying his face in his cuffed hands, the reality of his shattered life finally crushing him under its immense weight.