force, had his fucking orgies right here in the station while he was on the force. Everybody knows the stories. Cravens might have been a dirty little cunt willing to make a deal, but not me. You fight me on this, you do anything less than say yes fucking sir right now, and I will tear your life apart. You think I can’t go back and find what I need? You think I can’t dig up dirt from when you were a cop, an embarrassment to this fucking force, and bury you with it? If that’s what you think, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“This conversation is over,” Thompson said, touching Hazard’s arm as she stood. “My client is cooperating fully with this investigation, but he has no knowledge about any alleged criminal activity by Mr. Somerset and he has no knowledge of Mr. Somerset’s whereabouts.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Riggle roared, shooting out of his seat. “Sit your nigger ass down before I slap you back into that seat. This faggot isn’t going anywhere until I say so.”
Thompson’s braids clicked as she swiveled toward Park. “Special Agent Park, as a federal law enforcement officer, you are now a witness to Chief Riggle’s hate speech. You’re also witness to his attempts to unlawfully imprison me and Mr. Hazard in this interview room. We will be filing an official complaint with the mayor, the civilian review board, the state attorney general’s office, and federal law—”
“That’s it,” Riggle shouted, coming around the table. “You are both under arrest. Get your asses over to the wall and—”
“For the love of God, Riggle,” Park said. “Get the fuck out of my interview room.”
The silence that followed Riggle’s bellowing was sharp and sudden. He swiveled slowly to face Park.
“I’ve put up with a lot of shit from you over the last few days,” Riggle said, “letting you come in here, letting you push people around, my people, letting you push them around. I’ve nodded and smiled and played nice at all these asshat meetings you’ve made me attend. I’ve gone along; I understand you’re going to work this case, and I’ve done what I could to make that easy on you. But let me remind you that I’m the chief of police, and this might be a flyspeck city in the middle of nowhere, but I’m still chief. You’re in here as a courtesy. If the feds decide they want this corruption case, they can handle it through the proper channels.”
Park didn’t move. Hazard wasn’t even sure she blinked. The seconds dragged into a minute. When the door to the interview room flew open, Riggle flinched; Park didn’t.
Glennworth Somerset didn’t normally look much like his son—the same eyes were all, tropically blue and clear. But today, as Wahredua’s recently elected mayor stormed into the interview room, Hazard could see the resemblance: the way he carried himself, the coloring in his face, the tightness in his jaw. Even the voice, when Glenn began to speak.
“Just exactly when was someone going to inform me that there is an arrest warrant out for my son?” Glenn said. His gaze touched on Park before shifting to Riggle. “What the fuck is going on?”
Riggle straightened, raised his chin, and glanced at Park before saying, “It’s not good, Mr. Mayor. I was hoping to have more information before I brought this to you.”
“More information? You’re damn right there better be more information. My son has been a respected member of this police force for over ten years. You were still picking lint out of your ass in that shithole I dragged you out of. If you think I put you in this job so you could harass my family—”
“Mr. Mayor,” Riggle managed to get in, “if we could talk in my office—”
Again, his gaze moved to Park.
“I want every fucking detail,” Glenn said, turning and marching out of the room. “And keep Emery here; I want to talk to him too.”
Riggle slunk out of the interview room, pulling the door shut behind him.
“Christ,” Park said, arching her back. “He’s going to be even more of a nightmare to work with after this.” She gestured at the door. “Everybody heard that whole train wreck. He’s going to spend the rest of my time here proving to everyone that he’s still in charge.
“This town is a snake pit.” Park was studying Hazard openly now. “Here’s the conversation I wanted to have: I understand that you don’t believe your fiancé is connected to