She then held up her phone’s screen to Tooley.‘Can you confirm that this is Red?’
There was a pause.
Tooley narrowed his eyes at the screen, then nodded.
‘Can you answer yes or no, please.You know for the…’ She smiled sweetly at the camera, like they were shooting home movies or something, holding up her camera to capture the photo on film.
Tooley swallowed a few times before squeaking out, ‘Yes.Um, that’s Red.’
‘So, can you confirm that you saw Red personally inspect the stock, the same stock you and Bob had switched out with your trailer-swap routine, and that he signed off on the paperwork?’
Tooley hesitated, licking his lips as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek.
Come on, say it.
Taryn clicked her pen.Once.Twice.A third time.Like this annoying countdown, but it made Tooley nervous.
‘Okay…’ Tooley shuffled in his seat.‘Yes.A few loads back, we’d just swapped the trailers over, and Red came by, checked over both truck loads, and gave Bob the new paperwork for me to deliver to the stockyards.’
And there it was.
The sentence that cracked the whole case wide open.
On video.
Taryn didn’t gloat.She didn’t so much as blink.
But Finn caught the flicker in her eyes.That spark.
He met it with a look of his own, with a breath of a nod.Damn, lady.You nailed it.
Tooley kept talking, none the wiser.
And they let him.
Because sometimes, the biggest wins came within the quietest moments.
And both he and the Fed got that—like how they got each other.No big gestures.No fanfare.Just a look that said all that needed to be said.And that was rare.
‘For the record,’ stuttered out Tooley, ‘I’m just a truck driver.I don’t look at stock, I don’t do the paperwork.All I do is check the weight’s right, and the trailers are in good nick, because it’s my trade.I just deliver the paperwork, and whatever they put on board, that’s their deal.’
‘But you knew they were stealing stock?Swapping out the original prime stock for different stock.’
Tooley leaned back, sighing so heavily his shoulders slumped over, as if finally realising the implications of his actions.‘I just saw it that the cattle stations were still getting paid for their livestock.Not—’
‘Stealing?’
Taryn closed the file, her forearms resting on the table as she looked the driver dead in the eye.‘We’re done for now.You will be processed and held pending federal charges.And if you continue to cooperate, we’ll put bail on the table where you might go home to your wife sooner than you think.’She then leaned in, only this time her voice was cold.‘But if you run—now that I’ve got your prints, ID, and a digital facial scan—we’ll find you faster than you can hitch your trailer.’
The driver swallowed hard.
Finn didn’t need to say a word.But he was coming back, with a plan just for Tooley.
Taryn stopped the video recording and walked out, clicking her pen like she’d just wrapped up a boardroom pitch.
He closed the door behind her, leaving Tooley to sweat it out for a bit longer.
But damn, it felt good to finally be moving in the right direction.
