"Where is O'Grady? " Perry demanded, his voice raspy, trying to project a defiance he no longer felt. "I know my rights. I don't say a damn word until my PBA rep is sitting in that chair. " "Tom O'Grady went home to his wife, Bernard, " Donovan said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion.
He took one look at the evidence and decided the union doesn't cover federal obstruction and evidence tampering. "You're flying solo tonight, " Perry scoffed, though his eyes darted nervously toward the door. "Bluffing? The PBA doesn't abandon a senior officer over a scuffle with a combative suspect. You've got a rookie's word against a decorated veteran.
Good luck selling that to a grand jury. " Chief James reached into his trench coat pocket. He didn't pull out the badge he had confiscated. Instead, he pulled out a single sheet of paper, the printed transcript of the text message. He slid it across the cold metal table.
It came to a stop directly under Perry nose. Kevin Lewis in dispatch sends his regards, James said quietly. It intercepted the deletion request. They locked the server. The dash cam footage of my daughter driving perfectly for four blocks is secured in an encrypted internal affairs vault.
The body cam footage of you assaulting her is secured. And now we have your written attempt to solicit a city employee to destroy evidence of a civil rights violation. Perry stared at the paper. The words blurred together. The blood roared in his ears.
A deafening waterfall of absolute catastrophe. The text message was the killshot. There was no spinning this. There was no feared for my life defense. It was premeditated documented corruption.
He looked up at Dimitar James. The chief's face was a mask of carved granite showing zero mercy. 20 years in a federal penitentiary, Donovan stated, checking his watch as if the matter were already concluded. That's the mandatory minimum we will seek when we hand this over to the FBI public corruption squad at 9:00 this morning. A cop like you, Bernard, you won't last 2 years in general population.
Perry's breath began to come in short, hyperventilating gasps. The bravado shattered completely, leaving behind a terrified, desperate man clinging to the edge of a cliff. His mind raced frantically, searching for any leverage, any piece of collateral he could use to bargain for his life. "Wait! " Perry croked, his hands trembling so violently he had to press them flat against the table.
"Wait, you want to talk about corruption? You think I'm the only one? You think Kevin Lewis wiped server files out of the goodness of his heart? " James and Donovan exchanged a micro glance. This was the crack in the dam they had been waiting for.