“Your Facebook page,” Leo said. “You have over five thousand followers from your local photography work, and your profile is public. I can tether my laptop to this car’s hotspot, log into your saved session via our encrypted home server, and blast this footage live to every local news tag in Seattle. But I need your permission, Marcus. Once we do this, there is no going back. Our faces, our names, our lives will be out there.”

I looked back out the window. The police lights were getting closer. I could hear the faint echo of a helicopter in the night sky. Miller was using the entire city’s resources to hunt us down, to silence us, to protect his empire. If we stayed quiet, we died in a ditch, framed as criminals.

“Do it,” I said, my voice hardening. “Burn it all down.”

Leo’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Uploading to Facebook Live… tagging Seattle PD Internal Affairs, King County Sheriff, King 5 News, KOMO News… and… we are live.”

On the laptop screen, the video began to broadcast. It showed the crystal-clear 4K footage from my dashcam. Detective Miller’s face was perfectly illuminated. You could hear his voice clearly, threatening my life, confessing to searching my apartment, admitting to hunting Leo.

Within ninety seconds, the view count exploded. 100 viewers. 500 viewers. 2,000 viewers. The comment section became a blur of shock, outrage, and tags to federal agencies. The local news stations immediately picked up the stream, their anchors interrupting regular broadcasting to show the live feed of a dirty cop caught red-handed.

Leo slammed on the brakes, pulling the SUV directly into the brightly lit parking lot of a crowded, 24-hour Walmart. “We stop here,” he said. “In front of witnesses. In front of store cameras.”

Seconds later, three police cruisers roared into the parking lot, surrounding our SUV. Officers jumped out, guns drawn, shouting orders. But they weren’t Miller’s men. These were regular precinct officers, their faces pale, their hands shaking as they looked at their dashboard computers. They had already seen the Facebook Live stream. They knew exactly who the real criminals were.

An hour later, state troopers and FBI agents arrived on the scene. Leo and I stepped out with our hands up, completely safe under the glare of dozens of cell phone cameras from late-night shoppers.

Detective Miller was arrested at his own home less than two hours later, caught packed and trying to flee to Canada. The digital ledger in my trunk was recovered by the FBI, dismantling a criminal network that spanned three states.

It started with a passive-aggressive note about a parking spot. It ended with the biggest police corruption bust in Seattle history. I still park my new car on Elm Street, but now, I never, ever skip out on the dashcam.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.

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