"Why would they do that?"
"Because they're hiding something."
Barnes raised his voice, commanding. "Listen to me. We are restoring power. No one is being left without relief. If you have been pressured to sign paperwork, do not sign anything until state investigators review it. Do you understand?"
Some people shouted back, some nodded, some just looked sick.
Barnes turned to the stage. Halverson stood there, face tight, eyes flicking toward the side exit where Pell had vanished.
In the phone light, Halverson looked less like a sheriff and more like a man watching the floor give way beneath him.
Barnes pointed up at him. "Sheriff Halverson, you are not leaving this building."
Halverson lifted his chin, trying to wear authority like a jacket in the dark. "I have a county to manage."
Barnes's tone went flat. "You have an obligation to cooperate. Step off the stage."
Halverson hesitated for half a second too long, then he stepped down, slow, careful, as if he were descending into water.
Barnes moved in close. "Where is Mr. Pell going?"
Halverson's eyes narrowed. "I don't answer to you about private citizens."
Barnes leaned in. "You do when that private citizen is tied to disaster buyouts and your signature appears on siren shutdown logs."
Halverson's mouth tightened. "Those logs are being misinterpreted."
Barnes held up a hand. One of the plain-jacket investigators approached and spoke quietly into Barnes's ear.
Barnes's expression didn't change, but something in his posture hardened. He turned back to Halverson.
"We are seizing your county-issued devices pending inquiry."
Halverson's anger flashed. "That's outrageous."
Barnes didn't blink. "Hand them over."
Halverson looked around as if expecting local deputies to back him. Rusk was in cuffs. The troopers were everywhere. The crowd was watching.
There was no rescue coming.
Halverson reached into his pocket slowly and produced his phone. He held it out like he was doing a favor.
Barnes took it without a word.
Halverson tried one last move, voice raised for the crowd. "You're watching state overreach. You're watching outside influence."
Barnes cut him off, loud enough for everyone. "You attempted to remove a resident from her property without consent. You ordered the seizure of her personal documents and your office detained a citizen without filing charges. That is not overreach. That is cause."
The room went so quiet the phones stopped wobbling.
Halverson's face drained. "You can't..."