"Unless you'd prefer to ride in the back of my SUV, wearing a pair of my cuffs?" Keller offered coldly.
Decker shook his head slowly, backing away from the vehicle, his boots splashing in the puddles he had so aggressively stomped through just 10 minutes prior.
Mayor Gable turned back to Agrippa, his demeanor instantly softening into pleading deference. "Agrippa, please let my driver take you home. We'll have your car towed to your driveway. You shouldn't be driving after after an assault like this."
Agrippa looked at his dark blue Mercedes, still idling quietly by the curb, the driver's side door still open to the rain. He shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Richard. But no," Agrippa said firmly.
"I am not a victim in need of a rescue. I am a citizen who was subjected to an unlawful detention. The law does not grant me a chauffeur simply because a rogue officer abused his authority. I will drive myself."
Agrippa turned and walked back to his vehicle. He slid into the driver's seat, ignoring the dampness of his suit and the throbbing ache in his shoulders. He closed the door, put the car in drive, and pulled away from the curb.
He didn't speed. He didn't swerve. He drove with the exact flawless precision he always had, leaving the flashing lights, the panicked politicians, and the disgraced officer standing in the pouring rain.
By 8:00 a.m. the following morning, the Oakridge Police Department was a fortress under siege, though the battle was entirely internal. The local press hadn't caught wind of the incident yet. But the atmosphere inside the precinct was suffocatingly tense. Rumors had spread through the midnight shift like a contagion, and by dawn, every officer in the building knew that Travis Decker had committed the ultimate career-ending sin.
In the second floor conference room, the blinds were drawn tight against the morning sun. Chief Keller sat at the head of the heavy oak table, his eyes bloodshot from a total lack of sleep. To his right sat Mayor Gable, nursing a black coffee.
To his left sat Harrison Miller, the district attorney for the county. Harrison was a notoriously ruthless prosecutor, a man who had built his career on dismantling organized crime rings and corrupt public officials with equal fervor. Across from them sat Captain David Rossy of internal affairs, setting up a secure laptop connected to a large flat screen monitor mounted on the wall.
"All right," DA Harrison Miller said, loosening his tie. "Let's see the tape. No edits. No cuts. I want to see exactly how badly the county is going to be sued."
Captain Rossy hit play. The screen flickered to life, showing the high-definition dash cam footage from Decker's cruiser. They watched in absolute silence as the cruiser aggressively tailed the Mercedes. They watched the flawless driving of Judge Graham. They heard Decker's fabricated excuse about the double yellow line.
Then Rossy switched the feed to Decker's body-worn camera. The audio was pristine. They heard Agrippa's calm, baritone voice. They heard the articulate, precise recitation of his rights, and they heard Decker's response.
The room collectively winced as Decker sneered. "You think you're a real legal eagle, don't you? You think because you wear a fancy suit and learned a few big words, you can talk down to me?"
They watched the physical escalation, the aggressive yank of the wrist, the unconstitutional search, the violent application of the handcuffs. When the video ended, the screen went black, leaving the room in a heavy, toxic silence.
"Well," Harrison Miller said finally, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers. "That is without a doubt the most airtight case of deprivation of rights under color of law I have ever seen in my 25 years of practice."
"It's worse than that, Harrison," Mayor Gable said, his voice trembling with residual anger. "It wasn't just a bad stop. It was a targeted, racially motivated assault on a sitting Supreme Court justice. Do you understand what the press is going to do to this city when this leaks? The Department of Justice will descend on Oakridge like a plague of locusts."
"They're already on their way," Harrison replied calmly. "I called the US attorney at 6 this morning. He's looping in the FBI's civil rights division. But we are not going to wait for the feds to clean up our house. We are going to decapitate this issue right now."
Chief Keller rubbed his temples. "I've drafted the termination paperwork. Decker is done, but his union rep is already making noise, claiming Decker felt threatened by Graham's refusal to exit the vehicle."
Harrison let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "The union can make all the noise they want. I am charging Travis Decker with false imprisonment, aggravated battery, and perjury. I'm also impaneling a grand jury to investigate every single arrest Decker has made in the last 6 years."