Page 46 of Oleander

“You paid informants?”

“Yes.”

“You concealed evidence?”

“Yes.”

“You lied to law enforcement while serving Mr. Burton?”

“Yes.”

“And you expect immunity for telling this story now?”

“I expect to answer for what I did.”

“But you negotiated protection.”

“Protection is not innocence.” The attorney turned toward the jury.

“Convenient distinction.”

“Not if you have to live with it,” Voss said.

“You were the professional in the room, Mr. Voss. If crimes occurred, you knew how to stop them.”

“Yes.”

“But you did not.”

“Not soon enough.”

“Because Mr. Burton paid you.”

“Because I was proud enough to believe I could stand beside a corrupt man without becoming useful to his corruption.” The attorney paused.

“That sounds rehearsed.”

“I have had eleven months to find the accurate words.”

“And now you want this jury to believe you found a conscience?” the defense attorney asked.

Voss considered him.

“No. A conscience is not something you find. It is something you stop outrunning.”

The defense attorney moved closer.

“Isn’t the truth that you hated Hollis Burton by the end?” Voss looked toward the man who had once signed every one of his paychecks.

“No. Hatred would have made this about him. It was about the people we treated as expendable.”

“We?”

“Yes. We. I will not purchase credibility by pretending I was only following orders.”

“Yet you want the jury to distinguish between you.”

“They should. I stopped. He escalated.”