Tagert obeyed, his legs feeling like lead. Wyatt stood frozen next to him, staring intently at the floor.
"Take a seat," she commanded.
They both sat down in the stiff leather chairs facing her desk. Josephine opened a silver laptop, tapped a few keys, and turned the screen toward them.
His stomach dropped.
Playing on the screen was crystal-clear footage of the traffic stop from the night before, but it was not from the cruiser's dash camera. The angle was different; it was actually from her car.
"My vehicle is equipped with a full military-grade surveillance system," Josephine explained, folding her hands neatly on the desk. "It records audio and video, uploading it directly to a secure cloud server in real time. I watched you manufacture probable cause, physically assault my property, and perform an illegal frisk without the presence of a female officer. You violated four separate department protocols and three constitutional amendments in the span of seven minutes."
Tagert opened his mouth to speak, but his throat was bone-dry. No words came out. He was completely trapped in a dark, deep corner.
"Chief, I can explain," Tagert stammered, his tough facade shattering into pathetic pieces. "It was dark. There have been many drug runners on that stretch of the highway lately. I was just being thorough. I made a judgment call based on my experience in the field."
Josephine let out a short, humorless laugh that sent a fresh wave of terror through his veins. She leaned forward, her dark eyes piercing straight through his pathetic excuses.
"You made a judgment call based on the color of my skin and the price of my expensive sports car on the road last night." She pointed a manicured finger at the thick files stacked on her desk. "But last night was not an isolated incident, was it, Derek? These are the internal affairs dossiers that you were too arrogant to read when you illegally searched my trunk. They detail twelve years of brutality, racial profiling, and outright theft. The previous administration looked the other way because you brought in high arrest numbers. But I do not care about your statistics. I care about the law."
Josephine nodded to the two men in suits standing quietly in the corner of her spacious office.
"Officer Wyatt Miller," Josephine said, shifting her gaze to the terrified rookie.
Wyatt jumped slightly in his chair. "Yes, Chief," he croaked, his voice cracking.
"You are three months out of the academy. Last night, you stood by and watched a senior officer violate the civil rights of a motorist. You did not intervene. You did not report it. Why?"
Wyatt swallowed hard, tears brimming in his eyes. "He told me to keep my mouth shut, Chief. He said that is how things work here. I was scared. I am sorry. I know I failed my duty right there completely."
Josephine studied the young man for a long moment. The anger in her eyes softened, replaced by a stern, maternal disappointment.
"Fear is not an excuse for cowardice, Miller. But I know what it is like to be a rookie under the thumb of a corrupt veteran."
Then came the twist that made his heart stop completely.
"What Tagert does not know is that you were not assigned to his cruiser by accident. I selected you, Miller, because I needed an unimpeachable witness who was not already on his payroll to corroborate the footage we were going to capture."
Tagert whipped his head around to stare at Wyatt, sheer betrayal and fury flashing across his face.
"You set me up!" Tagert snarled, lunging out of his chair toward the rookie.
Before Tagert could even take a full step, the two agents were on him. They grabbed his arms, twisting them painfully behind his back, and slammed him face-first onto the polished mahogany desk.
"Stay down!" one of the agents barked, pressing his forearm firmly against the back of his thick neck.
Tagert gasped for air, his cheek pressed flat against the cold wood of the desktop.
"I did not set you up, Derek," Josephine said calmly, remaining perfectly still as the violent scene unfolded directly in front of her. "I simply drove my car on a public highway. You chose to pull me over. You chose to break the law. You set yourself up. I just provided the stage."
She stood up, walking around the desk to look down at the disgraced officer.
"Officer Derek Tagert, you are officially terminated from the Oakport Police Department, effective immediately. Furthermore, you are under arrest for civil rights violations, official oppression, and battery under color of state law."
The broken man wept softly as they dragged him away. Oakport was finally safe under her new, firm command forever.
Karma never misses an address, especially when arrogance blinds you to the truth. This powerful grandmother proved that true authority does not need to shout; it only needs to wait for the perfect moment to strike.