Covington lifts the receiver again, listening hard. The color drains from his face as the voice on the line finishes its warning. He hangs up slow, like the phone weighs a hundred pounds.
Covington
They know. They know everything.
Dallas leans in through the cigar smoke, calm as a gun on a table. Jackson Temple waits outside, straight-backed and by the book, and Covington knows it.
Dallas Fontaine
Jax is right outside. He stays clean. You hand over the marriage file, and you keep breathing.
Covington
You think that makes me safe? That call just told me I am already out of time.
Covington’s hand slips from the receiver. His eyes dart to the file cabinet, then back to Dallas, fear fighting with resignation.
Covington
If I open that cabinet, I am signing my own warrant.
Dallas Fontaine
No. You are choosing a chance. Give me the file, and you walk out alive.
The office goes still except for the hum of the lights. Covington swallows, looking toward the cabinet as if it might bite him. The marriage file is one reach away, and Dallas can see him deciding whether fear or survival wins.
“Is Covington about to hand over the file?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 56)
Covington
I will give it to you, but you have to understand that once this file leaves this room, there is no going back for either of us.
Dallas Fontaine
I stopped looking back a long time ago. Just put it on the desk.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the secondary ledger
“Is Covington about to hand over the file?”
YES, AND MORE (Likely, rolled 11)
Covington
It is not just the file, Dallas. There is a secondary ledger in the back of the drawer, a list of every name that was scrubbed from the archives this year. If you take both, you are not just clearing your name, you are burning the entire oversight wing to the ground.
Dallas Fontaine
He is terrified of what happens when the truth is finally out in the open.
Covington
Take them. Just tell them I did not have a choice when you came through that door.
“I grab the file and second ledger. I call Jax in and say " I guess I can't make dog food out of this guy today. Take him into custody. He has divulged everything in return for a low security prison safely in another state."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Dallas takes the folder and the black ledger in one clean motion, then snaps his head toward the door.
Dallas Fontaine
Jax, come in. I guess I cannot make dog food out of this guy today. Take him into custody. He has talked, and he gets low-security prison, out of state.
Covington flinches at the words, then goes still, staring at the desk like it might save him.
Covington
He was not bluffing. I heard the phone go dead downstairs. I did what I had to do.
The office door opens. Jackson Temple appears in the frame, one hand already reaching for Covington, his eyes fixed on the ledger in Dallas’s grip.
Jackson Temple
You heard him. Hands where I can see them, Covington.
Covington lifts both hands slowly, surrender settling over him as the lamp throws hard light across the files. The marriage folder is now in Dallas’s coat, and the secondary ledger is pinned under his palm.
Quest Complete
Secure the marriage file
New Gift: Marital Reconciliation Insight
Quest Complete
Secure the secondary ledger
+ New Item Acquired
Marriage file
+ New Item Acquired
Secondary ledger