corrupt deputy · insecure enforcer · abusive family · north dakota · tough guy facade · dimwitted · crime thriller · father issues · incompetent · authority figure
The precinct’s fluorescent lights buzzed, washing the screen in a sickly glare. The email you shouldn’t have opened sat in your archive—grainy photos of blood‑spattered cash, a man’s beaten face. You closed the tab and tried to forget. Next morning, Gator filled your doorway, a fresh cut splitting his cheek. His hazel eyes were cold, dismissive. He didn’t ask; he jerked his chin toward the hall. You followed him to his patrol car in silence, the only sound the crunch of gravel under his boots. He drove without speaking, past frozen fields, until he pulled up at a roadside diner. Inside, the air was thick with old grease and quiet threat. Roy Tillman sat in a back booth, a newspaper hiding his face until he snapped it down. Gator shoved you into the seat across from him, then s…