"Who recruited you?"
Grant hesitated.
Then said:
"Hale."
"Who else?"
Grant shook his head.
"There's someone above him."
Daniel froze.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Thomas."
"I swear."
Grant looked terrified.
"I never met him."
Daniel leaned closer.
"Then how did Hale receive his orders?"
Grant swallowed.
"Through a private phone."
"Whose phone?"
Grant whispered:
"The mayor's security office."
Daniel's expression changed.
The corruption wasn't just inside the police department.
It went higher.
Much higher.
That night, Daniel reviewed the footage from the green-jacket operation again.
He noticed something he had missed.
At the moment Cole stole the wallet, a black SUV passed behind the cruiser.
Daniel froze the frame.
The license plate was visible.
He ran it.
The vehicle belonged to a private security company.
A company owned by the mayor's brother.
Daniel leaned back.
"Now we know how deep this goes."
CHAPTER 5 — THE TRAP CLOSES
Daniel decided to let Cole make one final mistake.
He leaked information that a large amount of seized drug money was being transported the following Friday.
It was completely false.
But Cole believed it.
So did Hale.
Friday night, three police vehicles waited near the supposed transfer route.
Cole sat in one.
Mason sat beside him.
They waited.
Nothing happened.
Then a black SUV appeared.
Hale stepped out.
"Where's the money?"
Cole looked confused.
"I thought you had the information."
Hale's expression changed.
Suddenly headlights appeared behind them.
Multiple vehicles.
Not police cruisers.
Unmarked government vehicles.
Agents stepped out.
"Nobody move!"
Hale reached for his weapon.
"Don't."
Daniel Carter stepped forward.
"Captain Hale."
Hale stared.
Then smiled.
"So you're the old man."
Daniel nodded.
"The one you robbed."
Hale's smile disappeared.
"You set us up."
"Yes."
Cole looked horrified.
"The wallet."
Daniel held up the brown leather wallet.
"Three thousand dollars."
He looked at Cole.
"You stole it."
Cole shook his head.
"I didn't know."
Daniel smiled.
"That's the problem with corruption."
He stepped closer.
"You always think the victim is the weakest person in the room."
Hale stared at him.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Daniel looked toward the agents.
"Actually, Captain."
He paused.
"I know exactly who I'm dealing with."
The agents began arresting the officers.
Cole's hands were cuffed.
Mason's too.
Hale remained still.
Then he laughed.
Daniel frowned.
"What?"
Hale smiled.
"You think this ends with me?"
Daniel's expression changed.
Hale leaned closer.
"You still don't know who gave the orders."
Daniel stared at him.
"Then tell me."
Hale shook his head.
"You'll find out."
He was taken away.
Daniel watched him disappear.
Something felt wrong.
Too easy.
Later that night, Daniel received an encrypted message.