The men skidded to a halt as the heavy sedan swung over their heads, dripping mud and debris onto their expensive jackets. Elias stood in the open cab, holding the satchel high so they could see it in the moonlight. “I know everything!” he screamed over the roar of the crane’s engine.
The Mayor stepped forward, his face twisted in a mask of rage and desperation that Elias had never seen before. “Give us the bag, Elias, and we can make this go away for your family,” the Mayor pleaded, his voice trembling. “Think about your brother’s reputation; think about your own life.” Elias looked at the bag, then at the men who had ruled his town through fear and silence for forty years. He didn’t drop the bag; instead, he pulled out his cell phone, which had been recording the entire confrontation. “It’s already live-streaming,” he said, his voice calm for the first time.
The silence that followed was broken only by the sound of sirens in the distance, but these weren’t local sirens. State police cruisers began to pour into the clearing, their blue and red lights reflecting off the rusted metal of the car. The secret was out, and the walls were finally closing in.
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