Cop Said “You Two Aren't Welcome Here” To Twins — Both Were Federal Agents Investigating Him
Chapter 5
Theme:
Font Size:
24px
"Call it in," Jayda said."What?""Call it in," Jayda said again. "Get on your radio. Call the FBI field office in St. Louis. Give them our names and badge numbers—they'll tell you exactly who we are." She held her badge a little closer to his face. "Go ahead, Sergeant. We'll wait."Dempsey looked at the badge, looked at the photo on the ID, looked at Jayda's face. Something changed in his eyes; the color started to drain out of his cheeks.At that moment, the front door opened again. A young police officer walked in: short blond hair, a thin, nervous face, about 27 years old. On the front of his uniform, a small black body camera glowed with a steady green light."Sarge," he said, "you were taking a long time. I thought maybe—" He stopped. He saw the badges. He saw the handcuffs in Dempsey's hand. He saw a whole room full of phones pointed at his sergeant."Webb," Dempsey hissed, "turn that thing off."Officer Tyler Webb looked down at his body camera; its green light was glowing. "Sarge, policy says—""I said turn it off!"Webb's hand moved toward the camera, then stopped. He looked at the twins, looked at the room, and let his hand fall back to his side. The green light stayed on. Kendra noticed; she noticed everything.Dempsey slowly put his handcuffs back on his belt. He looked at the twins with pure hate in his eyes. "Federal agents," he said quietly, "in my town, sitting in a bar, drinking soda." He shook his head. "You think you're smart? You think a couple of badges mean something here?""They mean something everywhere," Kendra said."Not here." He leaned in close to her. "You're in Hollis County now, lady. You don't know what that means yet, but you will."He turned around and walked to the door—he did not run, but he moved fast. On the way, he passed a table where a man was still filming; Dempsey slapped his hand down on the table so hard the glasses jumped. The man flinched, but he did not lower his phone.Then Dempsey was gone. Webb looked back at the twins one last time, then followed him out. The door swung shut.For a moment, there was silence. Then somebody at the back table started to clap. Then another person. Then the whole bar was clapping and cheering, and the man with the phone was shouting, "I got it all! I got the whole thing!"Hank Delaney leaned against the bar like his legs had stopped working. Lucy pushed through the kitchen door and stared at the twins with her mouth open. "You're really FBI?" she said. "Both of you?""Both of us," Jayda said, and finally smiled.Kendra put her badge away; she did not smile. "He took the envelope," she said quietly to her sister. "It's still in his pocket.""I got it all," Jayda said, touching the button on her jacket. "Every word. 'Rent's due.'"Kendra nodded, then turned to Hank. Hank was grinning for the first time in years. "Did you see his face? Did you see it? 11 years, and I never saw that man look scared—not once."