That answer changed his expression.
“I said give me the phone.”
“I heard you.”
“You refusing a lawful order?”
“I’m refusing to surrender personal property without legal justification.”
Derek laughed.
“Listen to this.”
He looked toward Granger.
“We got ourselves a constitutional scholar.”
Granger smiled.
“I love people who know the law.”
He leaned closer.
“They’re usually shocked when the law stops caring.”
Inside the convenience store, Sharon’s face changed.
She had seen that smile before.
Devin began gathering his belongings.
Mason kicked the broken photograph farther away.
Devin looked at him.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“You know.”
Mason stepped closer.
“You want another problem?”
Alicia felt anger rising again.
She kept her voice level.
“I don’t want trouble.”
Granger turned toward her.
“Then hand over the phone.”
“No.”
He stared.
She stared back.
Finally, he nodded toward Derek.
“Get it.”
Derek reached for Alicia’s jacket.
Her body responded before thought.
One small pivot.
A shift in balance.
His hand missed.
Derek stopped.
So did Granger.
That movement had been too clean.
Too efficient.
Derek narrowed his eyes.
“You’re quick.”
Alicia immediately softened her stance.
“Don’t grab me.”
Granger watched closely.
“What do you do for work?”
“Consulting.”
“What kind?”
“Private.”
“Sounds fake.”
“It’s still my answer.”
Granger smiled.
“Trouble found you today.”
Devin called from across the street.
“Leave her alone.”
Every officer turned.
Derek laughed.
“Your boyfriend?”
Alicia ignored him.
Devin shook his head.
“I don’t know her.”
“Then shut up.”
Mason shoved him into the park bench.
Devin’s back hit the wooden edge hard.
Several pedestrians gasped.
Nobody moved forward.
Alicia’s thumb brushed the side of her phone.
An encrypted application activated.
No visible icon.
No sound.
No notification.
The phone began streaming video directly to federal servers.
Everything from that moment forward would exist somewhere the Red Creek Police Department could not erase.
Granger did not know that.
He nodded toward Trevor.
“Run her plate.”
Trevor crossed toward the gray sedan.
He laughed when he reached it.
“This thing yours?”
“Yes.”
“Looks like it survived three wars.”
“Still runs.”
He entered the plate into his mobile computer.
Waited.
Then frowned.
“Clean.”
Granger turned.
“What?”
“Registration matches.”
“No warrants?”
“Nothing.”
Derek shrugged.
“We’ll find something.”
Jacob Reed finally spoke.
“Sergeant.”
Nobody acknowledged him.
He tried again.
“Sergeant Granger.”
“What?”
Jacob looked at Alicia.
Then the sedan.
“We don’t have cause to search.”
For several seconds, nobody said anything.
Granger turned toward him slowly.
“What did you say?”
Jacob swallowed.
“I said the plate is clean.”
“That wasn’t what you said.”
Jacob looked toward the pavement.
“We don’t have probable cause.”
Granger smiled.
It was worse than anger.
“Probable cause has a funny way of showing up when people stop cooperating.”
Jacob said nothing.
Granger turned back toward Alicia.
“Unlock the car.”
“No.”
Derek laughed.
“She really likes that word.”
Granger nodded.
“Search it.”
Alicia stepped between them and the sedan.
“I do not consent.”
“Good thing permission isn’t required.”
Sharon locked the convenience store door.
Not because she feared customers.
Because she feared officers.
Alicia noticed.
So did Devin.
Granger walked toward the driver’s side.
Alicia did not move.
“Step aside.”
“No.”
Derek reached for her wrist.
She pivoted again.
Not enough to strike him.
Only enough to keep his hand away.
Derek immediately shouted.
“She’s resisting.”
Alicia almost laughed.
“You haven’t detained me.”
Granger pointed toward her.
“Now we have obstruction.”
Jacob stared.
“For stepping away?”
Granger turned sharply.
“You want to supervise this?”
“No, sir.”
“Then shut up.”
Derek lunged again.
This time Alicia allowed the contact.
He grabbed her forearm.
Her phone slipped.
Trevor caught it.
“Got it.”
He held it up.
Granger smiled.
“See?”
He looked toward the bystanders.
“Everybody makes things easier eventually.”
Trevor opened the phone.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Granger stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
“Hardly any apps.”
“Contacts?”
“Barely.”
“Photos?”
“Random stuff.”
Derek frowned.
“She was recording.”
“Video isn’t here.”
Alicia stood quietly.
Because the phone was a decoy.
The real value had never been the device.
It was the transmission.
At the Atlanta FBI field office, Supervisory Special Agent Samuel Grant watched a monitor flash yellow.
SECURE EMERGENCY STREAM ACTIVE.
He stood immediately.
“Monica.”
Special Agent Monica Ellis rolled her chair beside him.
“What happened?”
Samuel opened the feed.
Red Creek filled the screen.
Five local officers.
Alicia.
A homeless man.
A crowd retreating.
Monica’s expression hardened.
“They made her.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She’s still undercover.”
“How can you tell?”
“She hasn’t shown credentials.”
Monica watched Granger approach the sedan.
“They’re escalating.”
“I see it.”
“Do we move?”
Samuel remained silent.
They had spent eight months constructing a federal conspiracy case.
Moving too early could arrest five street-level officers while leaving the command structure intact.
Moving too late could get Alicia hurt.
That calculation became unbearable very quickly.
Back in Red Creek, Granger pointed toward the sedan.
“Search it.”
Derek tried the door.
Locked.
Mason peered through the rear window.
“Nothing.”
“Break it.”
Jacob stepped forward again.
“Sergeant.”
Granger exhaled dramatically.
“What?”
“We can’t break somebody’s window because she filmed us.”
Derek rolled his eyes.
“Here comes Internal Affairs.”
Jacob ignored him.
“We need a reason.”
Granger looked directly at him.