"Certain," the secretary said. "I . . . oh," she said, looking at the computer screen.
"What is it?" Nicky said.
The secretary swallowed and looked up. "I'm getting a picture of a police officer named Rawley in Frankstown--"
"That's the one," Ken said.
"--but it looks like he was let go from his position three months ago."
"What for?" Nicky asked. This case was seriously starting to stink.
"Soliciting prostitution," the secretary said. "Seems like he was a dirty cop."
Nicky looked at Ken. He gave her a steely gaze that said he was thinking the same thing: this had corruption written all over it.
"Anything else you can tell me about him?" Nicky asked. "Did he ever have anything to do with any missing persons reports?"
The secretary scrolled down her screen, which was reflected in her glasses. "There's not much on him or his history here. You'd have to go down to Frankstown if you want to know more."
Nicky looked at Ken and nodded. "I guess we should pay them a visit."
***
The moment Nicky walked into the Frankstown police station, she could smell the corruption. It was a dirty little police station, with its cracked paint and stains all over the floor, the walls decorated with an incoherent collection of posters and some of the worst paintings she had ever seen. Nicky could see the smug look of superiority among the police officers. At one desk was a large man with a belly the size of a house. He was laughing with another officer, but even from here, Nicky could see the disdain in his eyes.
They all went quiet as Nicky and Ken made their way in. They'd fixed their disguises from earlier so they were looking like normal agents again, and surely, these cops could smell that from a mile away.
The oversized police officer got up, looking down at them and sneering. "Yeah?"
"Hello, I'm Agent Nicky Lyons," Nicky said, showing her badge as she walked up to his desk. "This is my partner, Agent Ken Walker."
"I'm Sheriff Corbin. Feds, huh?" he said, his voice hostile. "What brings you here?"
"We're here to talk to you about a man named Rawley," Ken said.
"I'm not sure what you're referring to." Corbin sat on his desk, crossing his arms over his barrel chest.
"We need to talk about a certain missing person's case. A woman named Sarah Mills," Nicky said. On the way over here, Nicky had asked Ken to dig into the alleged missing woman Darren was talking about, and he had come up with Sarah Mills. However, there wasn’t much information on the case in the database, according to Ken.
"What about it?"
"We would like to know the details of the case. Based on our intel, it was in your jurisdiction. An officer named Rawley was on the case before he was discharged.”
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Corbin said.
Nicky's jaw clenched. Why was he being so stubborn? "We know your precinct was working on a case involving Sarah Mills. Why did it go nowhere?”
The sheriff leaned back and laughed, his belly jiggling. "Now, why would I do that, darlin'? The Feds are just a bunch of pencil pushers anyway."
Nicky's blood boiled. She and Ken knew this was the kind of cop that never would have passed the FBI training. The kind of cop that would have been thrown out the first day. She took a deep breath.
"Sheriff Corbin, I don't appreciate your attitude," she said.
"You need to watch yourself, little girl," Corbin said. "I don't take to smart talkin' from women and I sure as hell don't take to Feds messin' around in my police station."
Nicky's blood was burning. She was about to bite back when Ken stepped in.
"If you aren't willing to cooperate with the FBI, we can bring the man upstairs down here to deal with you," Ken said, "and expose this station of yours for its corruption."