Victoria let out a long breath. At last. The next three hours were a blur of arrests.
Investigators took in seven patrol officers, including the younger one from the stop. Four supervisors from the county department were arrested too. Detective Vinokurov was led out in cuffs.
Every one of them was tied to the scheme. Every one of them was headed to state lockup. Meanwhile, the forensic team kept working through the seized data. One of the techs came in carrying a stack of printouts.
— Investigator, we found something else. It was hidden on Vinokurov’s personal computer. A full list of every case he fabricated over the last three years.
— Fifteen people are currently serving prison sentences on those cases. All innocent. The room went silent.
— Fifteen people, Victoria said quietly. — Fifteen lives wrecked. Bell looked at her with sympathy.
— They’ll be released. Every one of those cases will be reviewed immediately. The convictions will be vacated. The victims will be cleared and compensated.
Victoria nodded faintly. It wasn’t enough, but it was something. Outside the barred window, the morning was fully here.
A new day had started. And before it was over, the whole country would know what had been happening in a little town called Silver Creek. They would know what one person refusing to fold had uncovered.
One week later, the story had exploded across national news. The major in an elite tactical unit who had uncovered a major corruption ring almost single-handedly—every network wanted the story.
They talked about Victoria Holden. About a woman who had risked her life to expose officers who had turned the law into a business. At the regional police command, a full internal purge began.
State and federal investigators arrested the county police chief who had protected Grusden for years and taken his cut. Three of his senior deputies were placed under investigation. Anyone with ties to Missura’s group was being reviewed.
The most public arrest came on day four. Judge Irene Belokopytova was taken into custody right at the courthouse. She protested, shouted about immunity, and was ignored. Within twenty-four hours, that protection was gone.
Now she sat in a detention unit not unlike the ones she had sent innocent people to. After that came three local crime figures. They were the ones Grusden had used to move confiscated drugs back onto the street.
The whole chain was broken. The system they built had collapsed. The governor had to hold a press conference.
He stood before cameras looking pale, talking about accountability and promising reform. But everybody understood one thing: if not for Victoria, the racket would have kept going for years. Two weeks later, the trials began.
