Miller looked at Davis. Davis was giving him a wild, pleading look, begging him to hold the thin blue line, begging him to lie.
Miller looked back at Arthur. The old man was holding the freshly cleaned badge in his hand, his eyes calm and unwavering.
Miller took a deep breath. His shoulders slumped, the fight draining entirely out of him.
“No, Commissioner,” Miller said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Miller, shut up!” Davis hissed, panic taking over.
“Quiet!” Marshall barked, the single word echoing like a gunshot. He kept his eyes on Miller. “Tell me exactly what happened, Officer.”
Miller swallowed hard. “We pulled him over because the truck looked beat up. Officer Davis demanded his wallet. When he saw the badge, he laughed at him. He pulled the sixty dollars out, put it in his pocket, and threw the Chief's badge in the dirt. He told him to keep driving.”
Davis let out a strangled cry. “He’s lying! Sir, he’s lying to protect himself! I didn't—”
“Open your right hand, Davis,” Marshall interrupted.
Davis froze. His right hand was balled into a tight fist at his side.
“I said open your hand,” Marshall repeated, stepping into Davis’s personal space. The Deputy Commissioner loomed over the younger man, casting a long, dark shadow across his face.
Trembling, Davis slowly uncurled his fingers.
In the center of his sweaty palm sat three crumpled twenty-dollar bills.
The silence returned to the highway. The physical proof was damning. There was no spinning it, no lying, no report that could cover the reality of the stolen cash.
Marshall looked at the money, then looked up into Davis’s eyes. The disgust on the Commissioner’s face was absolute.
“You disgrace the uniform,” Marshall said softly. “You disgrace the men and women who bleed in it. And you picked the worst possible man in this state to try and victimize.”
Marshall held out his hand, palm up.
“Badge and gun, Davis. Right now.”
Davis gasped, the air rushing out of his lungs. “Sir, please. It’s my career. It was one mistake. You can’t just—”
“I can, and I am,” Marshall said, his voice rising, the anger finally breaking through. “You are stripped of your police powers effective immediately. You will hand over your weapon, you will hand over your shield, and you will get in the back of my vehicle. If you hesitate for one second, I will have you face down on this asphalt in handcuffs. Do you understand me?”
Davis looked around frantically. He looked at the six veteran cops watching him with undisguised contempt. He looked at Miller, who had turned his head away in shame.
Finally, Davis looked at Arthur.