Confirm the assault and secure the injured K9. The lead agent turned, voice booming across the lot. All individuals involved in the assault, stand still and keep your hands visible. Blake instinctively took a step back. Wait.
Wait. Hold on. This is insane. Two agents flanked him immediately. Hands where we can see them.
Connor raised his hands trembling, his face pale. We didn't do anything. This is a misunderstanding, Reed stuttered. I I was just filming. I didn't touch the dog.
The nearest agent snatched Reed's phone from his hand with surgical efficiency. Device confiscated for evidence. My phone! Reed yelped. The agent didn't blink.
You live-streamed a federal crime. The phone is evidence. Reed nearly collapsed. Blake glared at Malik. Rage and fear clashing in his expression.
You can't do this. We're just kids. This is This is excessive. Malik stepped forward, voice low and precise. You assaulted a federal K9 unit.
A dog assigned to Homeland Security. You obstructed aid. You harassed a minor. And you publicly recorded the crime. His eyes hardened.
You're lucky they're not cuffing you face down. Blake's lip trembled. The bravado from before melting like wax under heat. This isn't schoolyard bullying anymore, Malik added. This is federal.
A collective gasp rippled through the students. For the first time, Blake understood this was not a joke. The lead agent spoke into a radio. Three suspects located. Initiating direct detainment protocol.
Stand by for verification. Two more agents swept toward Shadow, kneeling gently beside the dog. Pulse weak, one murmured. Likely rib fractures, another added. Prepare K9 stretcher.
Zuri knelt next to them, her hands still on Shadow's fur. Her voice cracked. Will he be okay? One agent looked at Malik, then back at her. We'll do everything we can.
He's tough. Malik knelt briefly beside Zuri, his hand on her shoulder. They'll take care of him. I'm here now. She nodded shakily.
Meanwhile, Hemsworth shoved forward, voice cracking under pressure. You can't just come here and override my jurisdiction. The lead agent turned sharply. Officer Hemsworth, step aside. I will not step aside, Hemsworth shouted, face reddening.
These boys didn't commit a federal crime, they They assaulted a registered federal K9, the agent snapped. Their actions were documented from multiple angles, acknowledged by a supervising federal agent, and live-streamed to thousands. He stepped closer. Officer, do you have any idea how many laws were broken here? Hemsworth opened his mouth, then closed it.
The crowd whispered. He tried to cover it up. He protected them. He's in trouble. So much trouble.
Hemsworth forced a brittle smile. Look, maybe we all just calm down talk. We will, the lead agent said evenly. In the official misconduct inquiry, you'll be part of. The color drained from Hemsworth's face.
Students cheered under their breath. Justice not complete, not official yet, but finally taking shape began to feel tangible. Across the lot, Blake watched Shadow being lifted onto the K9 stretcher, guilt inching across his features. I I didn't mean to hurt him, he muttered weakly. One agent shot him a cold look.
Your intent doesn't erase the damage. Connor clutched his head. Man, this can't be happening, Reed whimpered. My parents are going to kill me. But the crowd wasn't sympathetic.
This time, phones weren't mocking. They were documenting. Show the whole world. Let Let news see it. They deserve this.
Three agents formed a perimeter around the boys. "Hands out." one ordered. Blake hesitated. An agent stepped closer. "Do not make us repeat ourselves." Blake lifted his hands.
Zip ties clicked around all three wrists, a sound louder than all their protests. "Justice beginning." Milo exhaled shakily. "This is This is insane." Jenna crossed her arms. "They wanted a show. Now they're in it." The agents checked the boys for weapons, none, then began escorting them away from the crowd.
Students recorded every step, each boy now a symbol of consequences they'd never imagined possible. Blake stumbled slightly. The lead agent steadied him, not gently. "Stand upright." he ordered. "Face forward." and Blake did.
For once, the self-proclaimed king of Brentwood High followed orders because fear had replaced arrogance, because consequences had replaced cruelty, because for the first time in his life, Blake realized this wasn't a game. As the SUVs' back doors opened, ready to detain the boys, murmurs from the crowd grew louder. "Wait, there's more." "Something else is happening. It's about the live stream." Reed's confiscated phone buzzed uncontrollably inside the agent's gloved hand. Notification after notification, Milo grabbed Jenna's arm.
"You're not going to believe this. Someone slowed down the live stream." "And they found something." Jenna's eyes widened. "What?" He swallowed. "A detail no one noticed before." The drama wasn't over, not even close. The crowd roared because the live stream held a secret ready to explode.
The chaos of the arrests hadn't even settled when a new wave of noise rippled through the crowd, gasps, shouted whispers, the frantic tapping of screens. Students who had been filming now turned their phones inward, replaying, pausing, enlarging every pixel of Reed's viral video. Look. Look at this angle. No, go back 5 seconds.
Slow it down slower. Oh my god. Is that Jenna stood in the middle of the crowd, holding her phone like it was made of glass and fire at the same time. Milo hovered beside her, his eyes trained on the tiny screen. Frame by frame, Jenna murmured, dragging her thumb across the timeline with surgical precision.
The gas station noise faded behind them. The students circled close, their faces illuminated by the cold blue glow of the playback. The video showed Blake raising his leg, then bringing it down, but slow motion revealed a detail missed by the chaos of real time. A detail that turned shock into horror. Blake didn't kick Shadow in the ribs.
He kicked Shadow in the head. And not gently. Not accidentally. But with full force heel first, aimed with cruel intention. Enough to make the dog's skull jerk violently sideways.
Jenna's voice cracked. Oh my god. That could have killed him. Milo's hands trembled. That did kill federal dogs on duty before.