Back in the holding facility, two deputies approached Briggs nervously. “Chief… someone from Washington keeps calling. They say they’re high-level.”
Briggs laughed. “Tell them to pound sand. I’m not letting a criminal walk because she’s got friends who play FBI on the phone.”
Nia called from her cell, “Chief Briggs—this is your last chance to correct a catastrophic mistake.”
He walked to the bars, expression twisted. “My last chance? Lady, you’re nobody.”
“And you,” she said calmly, “are about to learn how wrong you are.”
He banged the bars. “Quiet!”
But before he could say another word—
Every phone in the station lit up simultaneously. Lines blinking. Alarms chiming. A dispatcher ran inside holding a radio. “Chief! Washington just issued a full federal lockdown order. They’re mobilizing armed units to this building!”
Briggs paled. “What units?”
“ALL of them, sir.”
