Several months later, Victoria returned to the same country road.
She was driving the same car.
The weather was clear.
The road was quiet.
But this time, she was not alone.
A marked federal vehicle followed several car lengths behind her as part of a security arrangement.
Victoria slowed near the shoulder where the traffic stop had occurred.
For a moment, she remembered Grant’s hand closing around her arm.
She remembered the metal cuffs.
She remembered Caleb’s words from another case she had once investigated:
People often believe power belongs to the person holding the badge.
But power is supposed to belong to the truth.
Victoria looked at the empty stretch of road.
Then she continued driving.
The investigation eventually recovered millions of dollars in misused public funds.
Several contracts were canceled.
The county introduced stricter oversight procedures.
And a new policy required independent review of complaints involving law-enforcement intimidation connected to government investigations.
