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“Appreciate that, sir.”
The lieutenant flipped open the second file, this one filled with information about Seth, and slammed his fist on the document. He glared at Seth. “Same goes for you,” he said, voice soft. “I will talk to your family members and set the record straight when this op is finished.”
“Thank you, sir.” Wouldn’t negate the confrontations to come with his family.
“The Brotherhood has a long reach, and they aren’t shy about bragging over their infiltration into law enforcement agencies in Tennessee. Unfortunately, they’re smart enough not to point fingers at specific agencies so we can’t track down the compromised officers. That’s why we’re putting on this show for your coworkers. So, let’s get on with it, shall we?”
The next few minutes were spent listening to Burnett rant and rave over their records for the benefit of their audience and Seth and Noah questioning his accusations, then the LT finally wound down to demanding their guns and badges because of new evidence implicating them both for Pico’s murder and several other charges that Murphy had slipped into the altered records. Murphy didn’t do anything by halves.
“You’re a disgrace to the uniform,” Burnett yelled, making sure his voice carried to the bullpen. “Both of you can consider yourselves suspended from duty until further notice. And if I were you, I wouldn’t ever expect to wear a badge and gun again. You’ll be lucky if you don’t spend the rest of your lives in prison.”
Seth leaped to his feet with his partner a split second behind. In a raised voice, he said, “Forget it, Burnett. I’m done.” He laid his weapon on the desk. That didn’t hurt since he had more than one weapon at home in his gun safe. Tossing his gold shield on the LT’s desk almost killed him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I quit. I’ve put in over ten years on the job for you. If you don’t have enough faith in me to believe in my innocence, I guess I can’t expect you to have my back when it counts, can I?”
Burnett surged to his feet. “What did you say to me?”
Outside the office, several detectives rose and headed toward his door to provide help if needed.
“You heard me. Calling me a disgrace to the uniform is rich. You’re supposed to have the backs of your men. Instead, you stabbed me and Noah when our backs were turned.”
“Get out of my office, Dixon,” he shouted. “Count yourself lucky you aren’t leaving in handcuffs.” Burnett swung around to Noah as Seth eased toward the door. “What about you, Mann? Got anything to say?”
Noah laid his weapon and badge on the desk, then backed away and followed Seth. “Watch your back, LT,” he murmured. “Until we know if our unit is compromised, you can’t trust anyone.”
A slight nod from Burnett.
Seth threw open the door and strode toward the office where Teagan and Violet waited. One of his fellow detectives stood in the hall, blocking access to the women. “Move, Kepler.”
The other man smirked.
The sound of a crash came from the office, followed by a groan. Kepler partially turned, frowning.
Seth shoved the detective aside and opened the door to the office. He rushed inside and skidded to a stop. His mouth gaped.
On the floor, Wilson, one of Seth’s squad mates, groaned. With him being curled up in a fetal position, didn’t take a genius to figure out that one of the women had either punched or kicked the detective in the groin.
Kepler shoulder-checked Seth as he pushed past him to kneel beside his friend. After a whispered conversation with his buddy, he glared at Teagan. “You’re under arrest for assaulting an officer,” he snapped, rising to his feet and reaching for his cuffs.
Seth shifted to stand between Teagan and Kepler. Without taking his attention from the other detective, he said, “What happened here, sweetheart?”
“Your friend on the floor was stupid enough to grope me. I don’t appreciate any man except you touching me without permission.”
Fury burned in his gut.
“You got proof of your accusation?” Kepler glared at her.
“Right here, Detective.” Violet turned her phone around and showed him the confrontation between Wilson and Teagan.
When the recording finished playing, Seth took a step toward Wilson, his hands balled into fists. The jerk had put his hands on Teagan more than once and shoved her into a corner before he gripped her shirt and tried to shove the hem up to her shoulders. One minute, he was up in her face, leering down at her. The next, he was on the floor after Teagan rabbit punched his groin and shoved him away from her.
Teagan gripped Seth’s forearm. “Let it go.”
“He assaulted you, baby.” He glared at Kepler. “Not only that, Kepler helped set up the assault.”
“What’s going on in here?” Burnett glowered at everyone in the office, especially Seth. “I thought I told you to get out of my station house.”