Chapter 5 - The Story He Chose
Bradley Dunn’s union attorney told him to stop talking.
He did not.
They sat inside a conference room at Elmwood police headquarters while Lieutenant Naomi Brooks adjusted a recorder.
Dunn’s lawyer, Martin Hale, leaned toward him.
“Answer only what is asked.”
Dunn nodded.
Naomi began.
“Why did you stop Sophia Jenkins?”
“She failed to stop.”
“Did your dash camera capture that?”
“I assume.”
“We reviewed it.”
Dunn swallowed.
Naomi continued.
“She stopped for approximately two seconds.”
“California stop.”
“This is Illinois.”
Hale interrupted.
“Lieutenant.”
Naomi ignored him.
“Why did you order her from the vehicle?”
“She was confrontational.”
“What did she say?”
“She questioned the stop.”
“Is questioning a stop grounds for removal?”
“No.”
“Then what was?”
Dunn shifted.
“Her demeanor.”
Naomi’s eyes stayed on him.
“Describe it.”
“She was… controlled.”
Naomi waited.
Dunn realized how it sounded.
“She was overly controlled.”
Hale closed his eyes.
Naomi asked, “What does that mean?”
“Like she was rehearsed.”
“She’s an FBI agent.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“She told you.”
“I didn’t believe her.”
“Why?”
“The credential looked suspicious.”
“How?”
Dunn hesitated.
“The printing.”
Naomi placed a photograph on the table.
“What specifically about the printing?”
Dunn stared at the image.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you receive training on federal credentials?”
“No.”
“Had you ever seen an FBI credential before?”
“No.”
“Then what basis did you have to determine it was fake?”
Dunn’s jaw tightened.
“Instinct.”
Naomi sat back.
“Your instinct?”
“Yes.”
“Was your instinct the same reason you destroyed DeShawn Miller’s employee card six months ago?”
Hale immediately stood.
“We’re done.”
Dunn looked confused.
“Who?”
Naomi watched him carefully.
“DeShawn Miller.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Medical delivery driver.”
“I make hundreds of stops.”
“You closed his complaint in a written response.”
Dunn’s face changed.
Hale put a hand on his shoulder.
“Do not answer.”
But Dunn already had.
“I thought that complaint was gone.”
Silence.
Naomi did not move.
Hale stared at his client.
“What did you say?”
Dunn’s breathing became shallow.
“I meant closed.”
“That is not what you said.”
“I meant closed.”
Naomi leaned forward.
“Who told you it was gone?”
Hale terminated the interview.
Within minutes Dunn was escorted from the building.
Naomi immediately called Morgan.
The chief listened without interruption.
When Naomi repeated Dunn’s exact words, Morgan closed her office door.
“I thought that complaint was gone.”
Morgan sat behind her desk.
“That could mean anything.”
“It could.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
Neither did Morgan.
She opened her computer and pulled up the DeShawn Miller complaint.
The closure memo claimed insufficient evidence.
No available video.
No corroborating witnesses.
No proof Dunn destroyed the identification.
Morgan frowned.
She called Naomi back.
“Where’s Dunn’s dash-camera footage from Miller’s stop?”
“Archive says file corrupted.”
“And the bodycam?”
“Device malfunction.”
Morgan felt sick.
Two cameras.
Same incident.
Both missing.
She searched the maintenance logs.
Neither device had reported a malfunction.
Then another detail surfaced.
The day after DeShawn filed his complaint, Deputy Chief Raymond Cole had authorized a manual deletion request for video labeled duplicate/corrupted.
Morgan stared at the approval line.
Her pulse accelerated.
She walked directly to Cole’s office.
He was sixty, silver-haired, controlled and politically gifted. He had served under three chiefs.
He looked up.
“Angela.”
“Did you delete video from Bradley Dunn’s stop of DeShawn Miller?”
Cole blinked once.
“No.”
“You authorized deletion.”
“I authorize hundreds of data-cleanup requests.”
“You reassigned the complaint to yourself.”
“Staffing issue.”
“You closed it under my credentials.”
Cole’s expression changed.
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“It’s a question.”
“No. It’s an accusation dressed as a question.”
Morgan placed the printout on his desk.
“Then answer it.”
Cole looked at the page.
“You know how administrative systems work. Credentials stay cached.”
“Mine do not.”
“Maybe yours did.”
“Raymond.”
He leaned back.
“You’re under enormous pressure. A federal agent was mishandled. The public wants blood. Don’t create a conspiracy because one officer behaved badly.”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed.
“One officer?”
Cole spread his hands.
“Dunn made a catastrophic mistake. Fire him.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
Morgan studied him.
Cole continued.
“Protect the department.”
Something in that sentence chilled her.
Because it echoed another conversation.
Eighteen months earlier.
Dunn’s hiring panel.
Morgan had hesitated after seeing an unresolved training note from West Briar.
Cole had leaned toward her.
Good family. Strong backing. Don’t punish the kid over paperwork.
Morgan had approved the hire.
Now she looked at Cole differently.
“What did Grant Dunn ask you to do?”
Cole’s face went still.
Morgan saw the answer before he spoke.
“Nothing.”
Her phone rang.
Naomi.
Morgan answered without looking away from Cole.
“Chief,” Naomi said, “we recovered part of the deleted Miller dashcam.”
Morgan’s heartbeat changed.
“What does it show?”
Naomi paused.
“Dunn tearing the man’s ID in half.”
Morgan closed her eyes.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“A second voice near Dunn’s cruiser after the stop.”
Morgan opened her eyes.
Naomi continued.
“We enhanced it.”
Cole watched her.
Morgan asked, “Whose voice?”
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
Naomi answered.
“Deputy Chief Cole’s.”
