Ransom Thompson is already there, sitting in a booth in the back corner. He sees me come in and gives me a subtle nod. I grab a coffee from the counter and slide into the seat across from him.
"Chief," he says, his voice low.
"Ransom." I take a sip of coffee, buying myself time. "Thanks for meeting me."
"You made it sound urgent."
"It is." I set down my cup and lean forward. "I need to talk to you about the operation. About Grant and Derrick."
Ransom's expression doesn't change, but I see his jaw tighten slightly. "What about them?"
"I'm worried they're too deep. Too embedded in Saint's Outlaws. And I need your help figuring out how to handle it."
"Handle it how?" His voice has a bit of an annoyed edge to it, probably because his son works at the garage, too.
I run a hand over my face, exhaustion settling into my bones. "I've got the sample they brought me. The fentanyl-laced weed from the Rebels. It's exactly what we need to make arrests, to start shutting this whole operation down."
"That's good news."
"It is. But if I move on it now, if I bring in the Rebels and start making arrests, Grant and Derrick's cover gets blown. The club will know someone on the inside fed us information, and they'll figure out who pretty quick."
Ransom is quiet for a moment. "So what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I need to buy us more time. I need to lie to them, tell them the sample didn't test positive for fentanyl. Tell them we need more evidence, that they need to keep working the case."
"You want to lie to your own officers?" Ransom's voice is carefully neutral.
"I want to protect them. And everyone around them." I meet his eyes. "If we move now, we get the Rebels. Maybe some of the Clarks if we're lucky. But Grant and your Derrick? They're dead men walking. The club will turn on them, and I can't guarantee their safety."
"So you're going to keep them under? For how long?"
"Until we can build a case that doesn't rely solely on them. Until we have enough evidence from other sources that when we do make arrests, their involvement isn't obvious." I pause. "But that means they keep living the lie. Keep getting deeper into the club. Keep making choices that blur the line between cop and criminal."
Ransom leans back in his seat, studying me. "You're worried they won't come back from this."
"Yeah. I'm worried exactly that." I take another sip of coffee. "Grant told me he loves the outlaw life more than being a cop. Do you know how dangerous that is? How quickly someone can flip when they start identifying more with the criminals than the badge?"
"I know." Ransom's voice is quiet. "But I also know both of them. They're good men. They went under to help people, to stop drugs from destroying lives. That doesn't just disappear."
"Doesn't it?" I challenge. "You've seen good cops go bad before. We both have. And it usually starts exactly like this. They get too close, they forget who they really are, and then one day they make a choice that can't be undone."
"So what do you want from me?"
"I want you to have Keegan continue to watch them. Keep an eye on Grant and Derrick, make sure they're not crossing lines they can't come back from." I lean forward. "And I want us to be ready to pull them out if things go sideways."
Ransom is quiet for a long moment, and I can see the conflict in his eyes. Finally, he says, "You need to be careful with this, Chief. Grant and Derrick aren't stupid. If you tell them the sample didn't test positive, they're going to want to know why. They're going to push for more details, more information."
"I can handle that."
"Can you? Because from where I'm sitting, you're asking two highly trained officers to keep working a case that we both know could already be closed. They're going to figure out you're lying eventually."
"Then I'll deal with that when it happens." I drain my coffee. "Right now, my priority is keeping them alive and keeping their cover intact. Everything else is secondary."
Ransom nods slowly. "Just make sure you know what you're doing. I've got two family members involved in this."
My stomach drops. "I know. I'm answering to Holden about it, too," I mention Leigh's husband who is my best friend and the ex-chief-of-police.
"Just be sure that you're thinking about them too. I'll pull Keegan out of this faster than his head can turn to the side," he threatens.
