Lansing stood up, walked around to the back of his chair, and leaned on it as if it were the pulpit in his father’s church. Eve felt a speech full of fire and brimstone coming and braced herself for it.
“On the strength of your experience, and your record of producing results, Captain Moffett approved a costly sting operation to arrest the gang responsible for a series of home invasion robberies. But what we got was a shoot-out in a home that left two suspects dead and another on the run, leading to a carjacking and subsequent pursuit that caused a multivehicle crash that sent two civilians to the hospital.” Lansing glared at Eve. “The chase became an active shooter situation in a crowded grocery store that ended when a civilian gunned down the third suspect.”
He stared at them, using the silence as a bludgeon for a long minute before continuing.
“Three men dead, two people injured, and a civilian traumatized by having to kill a man. The department is probably facing tens of millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements. Tell me why I shouldn’t walk out of here with somebody’s badge in my pocket for this?”
Moffett stared at her, too, but there was also a glint of pleasure in his eyes. He was happy to see Eve getting reprimanded. But Lansing’s speech, rather than intimidating her, sparked her anger.
“You should absolutely take a badge,” Eve said.
“Are you offering me yours?”
“I’m demanding that you take Deputy Collier’s. This is entirely his fault.”
Moffett leaned forward on his desk and stabbed his finger in her direction. “You’re demanding? Does your arrogance, disrespect, and insubordination have any boundaries, Ronin? This was your operation, not Collier’s. You and Duncan were in the field, not him. You two were responsible for the situation. Don’t try to lay the blame on Collier for your catastrophic failures.”
“Collier’s job was to watch the video feed and send backup to the house the instant the invasion went down,” she said. “He didn’t do it.”
Moffett sat back in his chair. “He did fumble the ball due to circumstances beyond his control, but I’ve seen the video. You both let things go too far before you took action. You allowed the situation to spiral out of control.”
Duncan sighed, a dramatic exhalation that expressed his weariness and his frustration, then said, “We were playing for time, waiting for backup to arrive and catch the perpetrators in the act. But if I’d known the deputy you assigned to watch our backs was taking a shit instead, I would have pulled my weapon on those three assholes before they’d walked in the door.”
Moffett waved away Duncan’s criticism. “Even if Collier had acted immediately, I’m convinced backup wouldn’t have arrived in time to change anything that happened in that house.”
Lansing watched the back-and-forth as if he were a spectator at a tennis match. The ball was in Duncan’s court.
Duncan said, “What about the carjacking, chase, and the shooting in the grocery store? Are you convinced it wouldn’t have prevented that?”
That elicited another wave from Moffett. “Who can say? But I know it should have ended in the house with the two of you.”
“Dead,” Eve said.
Lansing looked at her now. “Excuse me?”
“I’m finishing the captain’s sentence,” she said. “It should have ended in the house with the two of you dead. That’s what Collier was hoping for when he went to the bathroom instead of calling for backup. If he actually left his post. I think he just waited to see how things played out for us.”
Moffett pointed his finger at her again. “You’re accusing a deputy of attempted murder.”
“I sure am. He’s got a Great White tattoo on his calf, just like the deputies I sent to prison.”
“So do dozens of other deputies who’ve served here over the years,” Moffett said. “It doesn’t make them all criminals or put their integrity in doubt.”
Eve knew that it was true. Deputy Tom Ross had the tattoo and he was a good cop. There were certainly more like him out there among the deputies in the clique. At least she hoped there were. But that wasn’t the point here.
“Collier saw an opportunity for payback and he took it.”
“You have no evidence to support that charge,” Moffett said.
“I have the three corpses in the morgue and the wound on Duncan’s face.”
Lansing turned to Duncan. “Do you agree with her?”
“I only slugged Collier when I saw him,” Duncan said. “But, in retrospect, I should have arrested him, too.”
Moffett rose from behind his desk. “You struck a deputy?”
“I also kneed him in the balls, not that he has any.”
“Unbelievable. This is a hell of a way to end your career, Duncan.”
Lansing nodded. “It certainly is. A lesser man would have shot the son of a bitch.”