He decided Iron Creek could move the equipment through one of its warehouses.
Tomas noticed paperwork inside the cruiser containing Darren Pike’s company name.
“He said he was calling federal transportation enforcement.”
Dana asked what happened next.
Eli’s voice became barely audible.
“Rourke called Vance.”
Captain Douglas Vance arrived at the abandoned weigh station in an unmarked county vehicle. The three officers restrained Tomas while Rourke and Vance argued about what to do. Vance eventually opened an evidence pouch containing fentanyl seized during an unrelated narcotics case.
Marcus looked toward Dana.
Neither said anything.
“What did Vance do?” she asked.
Eli’s face broke.
“He injected him.”
“Where?”
“Under the jaw.”
Tomas began losing consciousness.
Rourke told Eli to help carry him into the sleeper berth.
They staged the truck.
Moved documents.
Removed part of the medical cargo.
Disabled body-camera files.
Then wrote a report claiming Tomas fled because narcotics had been discovered.
Dana asked whether Eli watched Tomas die.
He nodded.
“Why didn’t you stop them?”
His eyes filled.
“At first, I was already taking money.”
That answer came without defense.
Rourke had given him a few hundred dollars after several early stops.
Then more.
Eventually stolen freight.
Then falsified reports.
By the time Tomas died, Eli understood he was not simply working around corruption.
He belonged to it.
“Every time something happened,” he said, “I told myself that was the last one.”
Dana looked at him.
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Eli stared through the van window toward Rourke sitting in cuffs.
“Because after every one, I had more to lose by leaving.”
Search warrants were executed before sunset.
Federal teams entered Captain Vance’s home, Juniper County’s evidence facility, Iron Creek warehouses, several storage properties, and two commercial garages connected to Rourke’s relatives. They recovered pharmaceuticals, electronics, refrigeration equipment, truck parts, packaged foods, and large amounts of cash hidden inside tool cabinets and false storage walls.
The evidence room created an even larger scandal.
Drug seals were broken.
Quantities did not match intake records.
Evidence logs had been altered.