“Sergeant Creel.”
Ryan’s expression answered before he spoke.
“He said the department received an anonymous tip.”
“Specific vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“Specific license plate?”
“Yes.”
“What did the tip claim?”
“Drugs being transported from Harrisburg.”
Mara smiled faintly.
“What time did the tip arrive?”
“I don’t know.”
“My rental was assigned at 9:14 this morning.”
Ryan said nothing.
“The reservation did not contain a plate number until pickup.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Then explain how an anonymous source knew the plate of a rental vehicle I had not yet received.”
Ryan looked at the table.
Mara leaned forward slightly.
“Did you find that bag under my seat?”
His jaw tightened.
She waited.
Ryan’s eyes moved to the camera again.
That told her the answer was complicated.
“Officer Keller.”
“I found it there.”
She listened to the wording.
Found it there.
Not saw it there.
Not reached under the seat and removed it.
“Did you see it before your hand went under the seat?”
Ryan’s face changed.
Small.
But enough.
“What does that mean?”
“You know what it means.”
He stood.
“This conversation is over.”
“Ryan.”
He stopped.
She had used his first name deliberately.
“You have a choice right now that will matter for the rest of your life.”
He turned.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not threatening you.”
“It sounds like it.”
“I’m telling you something my father taught me.”
Ryan waited.
Mara looked directly at him.
“If the facts scare you, that’s when you write them down.”
Ryan left without answering.
At 1:03 a.m., Mara’s cuffs were removed.
No explanation.
No charges.
Sergeant Creel did not appear.
A desk officer handed her property back.
Wallet.
Keys.
Phone.
The sedan remained impounded.
Mara immediately called her director.
Then a state prosecutor.
Then her mother.
That last call was the hardest.
Joyce Ellis answered on the sixth ring.
“Mara?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“It’s one in the morning.”
“I know.”
A pause.
“Are you all right?”
Mara looked through the glass doors toward the dark parking lot.
“Not exactly.”
Joyce became fully awake.
“What happened?”
“I’m at Dad’s old department.”
Silence.