Dale's Last Stand

Sheriff Dale Morrison's POV

Dale Morrison slammed the police station's steel door shut just as bullets started hitting the windows.

His hands were shaking as he dragged a heavy desk in front of the door. Outside, he could hear Webb's men shouting orders and taking places around the building.

"I should have stopped this years ago," Dale whispered to himself, his voice breaking with guilt and fear.

Twenty minutes earlier, Dale had been hiding in his patrol car, listening to his own daughter's brave voice on the radio as she revealed Webb's crimes to the entire town. When Emma started telling everyone about Judge Brennan's corruption and the murders, Dale finally knew what he had to do.

He'd raced to the police station and broken into Webb's secret office, finding boxes full of proof that proved everything Emma had said. Bank records showing millions in bribes. Photos of talks between Webb and known criminals. Lists of people who had been killed over the past twenty years.

And most shocking of all - Dale's own file, showing how Webb had threatened to kill Emma and his wife Sarah unless Dale helped cover up the crimes.

"I was trying to protect my family," Dale said out loud, his words echoing in the empty station. "But I became part of the problem."

Now Webb's army was surrounding the building, and Dale was trapped inside with proof that could destroy the entire conspiracy.

Dale grabbed the police radio and tried calling for help.

"This is Sheriff Morrison calling any state police units. I need immediate help at Millbrook Police Station. We have multiple gun suspects and..."

Static filled the radio. Then Webb's cold voice came through the speaker.

"Sorry, Sheriff. I've been jamming your signals for the past hour. No one can hear your desperate little calls for help."

Dale moved to his cell phone, but the screen showed no signal bars. Webb had blocked everything.

"You're all alone, Dale," Webb's voice continued over the radio. "Just like you've always been. A weak man who let fear run his life."

Dale's anger shot up. "I may be weak, Webb, but at least I'm not a killer!"

"Oh, but you are," Webb answered with a laugh. "Every time you looked the other way while I removed a threat, you became an accessory to murder. Your hands are just as bloody as mine."

Dale knew Webb was right. For twenty years, he'd known that people were dying under strange circumstances. Car crashes that weren't really accidents. Heart attacks in totally healthy people. House fires that started too easily.

And Dale had done nothing to stop it because Webb had threatened his family.

"The difference is," Dale said into the radio, "I'm finally ready to make things right."

Dale opened Webb's evidence boxes and started spreading papers across the floor. Financial records, photos, recorded talks - twenty years of proof that Webb and Judge Brennan had been running Millbrook like their personal criminal empire.

But as Dale studied the documents, he found something that made his blood run cold.

A list marked "Final Cleanup - Emergency Protocol Seven."

Emma Morrison's name was at the top, followed by Jake Morrison, Maya Chen, Tommy Whitfield, Danny Santos, and dozens of other people who had learned too much about the plot.

At the bottom of the list was Dale's own name.

"Even after all these years of helping you," Dale muttered, "you were planning to kill me too."

Webb's voice crackled over the radio again. "Did you find your name on my list, Sheriff? I've been planning to retire you for months. Tonight just moved up the schedule."

Dale felt sick understanding how completely Webb had manipulated him. Every time Dale thought he was defending his family by cooperating, Webb had been planning to murder them all anyway.

"You never intended to let us live," Dale said.

"Of course not. Witnesses are risks, Dale. Even useful witnesses finally become dangerous."

That's when Dale heard cars pulling up outside the station. Through the windows, he could see armed men taking places behind cars and trucks. At least twenty of them, all carrying military-style guns.

Dale was one man with a gun, facing an army.

Gunshots erupted from every direction as Webb's men started fire on the police station. Windows burst inward, sending glass across the floor. Bullets punched holes through the walls and shredded the furniture Dale was hiding behind.

"This is your last chance, Sheriff!" Webb yelled from outside. "Come out with your hands up, and I'll make your death quick!"

Dale crawled across the broken glass to reach the emergency radio system - the same one Emma had used to announce to the town. If he could get it working, maybe he could call for help on channels Webb couldn't stop.

More bullets crashed through the station as Dale worked furiously with the radio controls. His hands were bleeding from the glass, and his heart was racing so hard he could barely think straight.

Finally, the emergency radio crackled to life.

"Emma," Dale whispered into the microphone, hoping his daughter could hear him somewhere in the chaos. "Emma, if you can hear this, Daddy loves you. I know I made terrible mistakes, but everything I did was to keep you and Mommy safe."

Tears ran down Dale's face as he kept talking.

"I should have been braver. I should have stopped the bad men years ago. But I was scared they would hurt you, so I helped them instead. I'm sorry, sweetheart. Daddy is so, so sorry."

The gunfire outside increased. Dale could hear Webb's men getting closer to the building.

"But I want you to know something, Emma. Your daddy is finally doing the right thing. I have all the proof of their crimes, and I'm going to make sure the good guys get it. Even if it costs me everything."

Dale gathered the most important papers and photos into a waterproof bag. If he was going to die tonight, at least the evidence would live.

"Emma, tell your brother Jake that I'm proud of both of you. You're stronger than your old man ever was."

That's when Dale heard a sound that made his heart stop.

A low rumbling noise, like big machinery moving outside the building.

Dale crawled to a window and peered through the bullet holes in the glass. What he saw made him understand that Webb wasn't just going to kill him.

Webb was going to destroy the entire police station.

Two guys were rolling what looked like barrels of explosives around the building's foundation. Other men were tying wire between the barrels, connecting them to a central detonator.

"They're going to blow up the whole building," Dale realized with fear.

Webb's voice came over the radio one final time.

"I hope you said your goodbyes, Sheriff. In five minutes, there won't be enough left of that police station to fill a coffee cup. And all your precious proof will be nothing but ash and smoke."

Dale looked at the bag of papers in his hands. Even if he died, this proof had to live somehow. But how could he get it to safety when the building was ringed by armed men and about to explode?

That's when Dale remembered something from his army days. The old storm drain that ran under the police station, linking to the same tunnel system that ran under City Hall.

The same tunnels where Jake and Emma were probably stuck right now.

"If I can get this proof into the drainage system," Dale thought desperately, "maybe the water will carry it to safety. Maybe someone will find it after..."

Dale grabbed the waterproof evidence bag and ran toward the downstairs door. Behind him, he could hear Webb counting down over the radio.

"Four minutes, Sheriff. Better make them count."

Dale reached the basement and found the old drain entry panel. The rusty cover was stuck tight, but he finally managed to pry it open.

Dark water was rushing through the drain pipe, moving fast and deep from all the recent rain.

"This is crazy," Dale muttered, but he pushed the evidence bag into the water anyway. "But maybe crazy is what this town needs."

The bag disappeared into the rushing water, going toward the underground tunnel system.

Dale climbed back upstairs just as Webb's voice revealed the final countdown.

"One minute, Sheriff. Hope you made peace with whatever God you believe in."

Dale Morrison sat down behind his desk and pulled out his father's old service handgun. If he was going to die, he was going to face it like the lawman he should have been all along.

"I'm not running anymore," Dale said into the radio. "I'm Sheriff Dale Morrison of Millbrook, and I finally did my job."

Outside, he could hear Webb's men fleeing to a safe distance.

"Thirty seconds," Webb announced.

Dale closed his eyes and thought about Emma's brave voice on the radio, telling the whole town the truth that he'd been too scared to speak for twenty years.

"Ten seconds."

That's when Dale heard something impossible.

The sound of helicopters coming fast, with searchlights cutting through the darkness.

And sounds. Lots of alarms, getting closer from every direction.

Real cops were finally coming to Millbrook.

But Webb had already started the countdown, and Dale could see the red light blinking on the trigger outside his window.

"Five... four... three... two..."

Dale Morrison held his breath and waited for the blast that would either end his life or mark the beginning of justice finally coming to his town.

The last thing he saw before the world went white was Emma's photo on his desk, smiling at him like she was proud of her daddy for finally doing the right thing.