Contractors.
People carrying cash for work.
People afraid of legal costs.
Formal forfeiture blurred into theft.
Keller said:
“At first it was twenty dollars.”
“Then fifty.”
“Then somebody took five hundred.”
“Nothing happened.”
“So the line moved.”
Nia listened.
That phrase mattered.
The line moved.
Not one dramatic corruption event.
Tiny permissions.
Each one making the next easier.
Rebecca asked:
“Who took Ernest Bell’s missing money?”
Keller closed his eyes.
“Price.”
“All of it?”
“No.”
“How much did you take?”
Silence.
“Mr. Keller.”
“One thousand.”
Nia stared.
“From church money.”
Keller’s jaw tightened.
“I didn't know it was church money.”
“He told you.”
No answer.
“You read the envelope.”
Keller said quietly:
“Yes.”
Nia wanted to hate him simply.
It would have been easier.
But sitting across the table, she saw something less satisfying.
A man who had become corrupt gradually enough to preserve a story about himself.
He probably still believed he was not the worst one.
People often survived their own behavior by comparing downward.
Rebecca continued.
“The planted drugs.”
Keller looked up.
“That was Vance.”
“You carried them.”
“Yes.”
“You opened Agent Brooks’s vehicle.”
“Yes.”
“Were you going to plant them?”
Long pause.
“Yes.”
Nia’s stomach tightened despite already knowing.
Rebecca asked:
“Before or after you pepper-sprayed her?”
Keller looked at Nia.
“After.”
“Why?”
“She said FBI.”
“So?”
“I panicked.”
“Explain.”
“Vance said if she was federal, we needed probable cause before she could identify herself.”
Nia stared.
“So you planned to manufacture it.”
“Yes.”
Keller’s voice broke slightly.
“I thought if drugs came out of the truck, everybody would slow down.”
“Everybody would wait.”
“Her people.”
“Prosecutors.”
“Media.”
“Enough time to figure something out.”
Nia whispered:
“You were going to destroy my career to buy yourself time.”
Keller could not look at her.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
That almost made the answer worse.
Chapter Eight: The Trial Before the Trial
Public reaction exploded after federal charges were unsealed.
Headlines focused on Nia.
WHITE GEORGIA COP PEPPER-SPRAYS BLACK FBI AGENT.
UNDERCOVER AGENT ASSAULTED DURING CORRUPTION STING.
BODY CAMERA CAPTURES OFFICER’S OWN DOWNFALL.
Camille Bell called Nia.
“You promised.”
“I know.”
“They aren't saying Daddy’s name.”
“I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
Nia looked toward the media staging area outside the courthouse.
“Fix it.”
At the press conference, Rebecca spoke first.