Chapter 14: The Final Threshold
The taller of the two patrol officers stepped forward, resting a hand on his flashlight as the blinding LED beam swept across Vance’s face. The officer froze, his expression shifting from routine suspicion to sudden, stark recognition as he took in the silver badge pinned to Vance’s dark uniform shirt.
“Commander Vance?” the officer said, his hand hesitating above his holster. “Dispatch put out an APB on your vehicle. You’re ordered to halt right there and place your hands where we can see them.”
Vance didn’t stop. He kept walking forward at a steady, deliberate pace, his right hand holding tightly to Maya’s small, cold fingers while his left hand remained visible and open at his side.
“Son, look behind you at the federal courthouse steps,” Vance said, his voice carrying a calm, authoritative weight that made the young officer hesitate. “Look at who holds the jurisdiction on these steps. Are you willing to carry the weight of a municipal cover-up for a mayor who’s already packing his bags?”
The second officer stepped out, drawing his baton halfway from its ring. “Don't listen to him, Miller! He’s an active fugitive under municipal warrant—”
Before the officer could finish the sentence, Harrelson unzipped his bunker vest and pulled the blue vinyl binder free, holding it up high where the cruiser’s spotlight illuminated the embossed seal of the state investigation bureau.
“This is federal evidence concerning the premeditated arson and homicide of Captain Thomas Miller,” Harrelson shouted over the roar of the river wind. “We are walking directly across that threshold to deliver it to the federal prosecutor on duty. If you stop us, you are obstructing a federal investigation. Choose your next step very carefully.”
The two patrol officers exchanged a panicked, uncertain glance. The bright lights of the courthouse entrance flickered as a pair of armed federal marshals in dark tactical vests stepped out onto the top landing, drawn by the commotion, their weapons safely holstered but their presence unmistakably absolute.
The first officer slowly dropped his hand away from his holster and took a half-step back, lowering his flashlight beam to the wet concrete.
May you like
“Go,” the officer muttered, looking away into the rain. “Just… go.”
Vance didn’t waste a single second. He squeezed Maya’s hand and pulled her forward, breaking into a steady, determined walk past the cruisers, leaving the flashing red lights and the corrupt city behind them as they mounted the limestone steps of the federal building.
