50 Bikers Surrounded A Rookie Cop At A Gas Station Then Dropped To Their Knees

“What did it cost?”

Walt looked at the ground. “Everything.”

The stocky biker stepped forward. “The AG launched an investigation. Took four months. During that time, your father was still working in the department. And word got out.”

“They found out he was the one who reported it?” Ryan asked.

“Briggs figured it out within weeks. And he made your father’s life hell.”

“They froze him out,” another biker said. An older man in the back. Quiet until now. “No one would ride with him. No one would back him up on calls. They left him alone on patrol in the worst parts of the county.”

“Dispatch would lose his calls,” the thin biker added. “He’d radio for backup and it would take forty-five minutes. An hour. Didn’t matter the situation.”

“They were trying to get him killed,” Ryan said. The words came out flat.

“Or get him to quit,” Walt said. “But your dad was the most stubborn man I ever met. He wouldn’t quit. Said if he quit, Briggs won. Said the case would fall apart without him.”

“So he stayed. For four months. Working alone. No backup. No friends in the department. Coming home to a family he couldn’t tell any of this to.”

Ryan’s eyes burned. He thought about his father during that time. Quiet dinners. Tired eyes. The way he’d sit in the driveway for ten minutes before coming inside, like he needed to put on a different face.

Ryan had been twelve. He’d thought his dad was just tired from work.

“What happened when the investigation finished?” Ryan asked.

“Briggs and three officers were indicted. Charged with evidence tampering, false arrest, civil rights violations. Every case they’d built against our men was thrown out. All eleven charges dismissed.”

“Briggs went to prison?” Ryan asked.