“You want a reason?”
Jacob held his gaze.
For one second, Alicia thought he might finally cross the line in the correct direction.
Then he looked away.
“No, sir.”
Granger nodded.
“Good.”
Trevor walked around the car.
Alicia watched him reach toward his patrol bag.
His back was partially turned.
His hand went inside.
When it came out, something small sat between two fingers.
A plastic packet.
White powder.
Alicia’s breathing remained steady.
Jacob saw it too.
His eyes widened.
He moved quickly.
“What are you doing?”
Trevor jerked his hand away.
“Nothing.”
“I saw that.”
“Back off.”
“You were going to—”
“Jacob.”
Granger’s voice cut across them.
Jacob froze.
Granger stared.
“Problem?”
Jacob looked toward Trevor.
Then toward Alicia.
Then toward his own badge.
Everything about him suggested war happening internally.
Finally, he lowered his head.
“No, Sergeant.”
Alicia understood.
Fear had won.
For now.
Granger looked satisfied.
“You’ll learn.”
Derek took his flashlight and slammed it against the sedan’s window.
The glass cracked slightly but held.
Several people jumped.
Devin stepped forward.
“She didn’t do anything.”
Mason grabbed him.
“You again.”
“Leave her alone.”
Mason shoved Devin backward.
He nearly fell.
An elderly man on the sidewalk lifted his phone.
Mason noticed.
“What are you recording?”
The man lowered it instantly.
“Nothing.”
“Then go.”
He went.
Another witness disappeared.
Then another.
Within minutes, half the crowd had scattered.
Only Sharon remained behind the locked convenience store door.
Her phone was recording through a gap between the blinds.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Let somebody see this.”
At FBI headquarters, an analyst called across the room.
“Samuel.”
“What?”
“Additional units are responding.”
A map appeared.
Three Red Creek cruisers were moving toward the intersection.
Monica frowned.
“More officers?”
Samuel nodded.
“This may be bigger than Granger’s group.”
He reached for secure communications.
“Isaac.”
A voice answered.
“Go.”
“Prepare Tactical Team One.”
“You want us moving?”
“Stand by.”
Isaac Monroe, leader of the FBI tactical unit, paused.
“How bad?”
Samuel looked toward the screen.
“Bad enough.”
Back in Red Creek, Granger checked his watch.
Then pointed toward Alicia.
“Cuff her.”
Derek smiled.
“Finally.”
Jacob looked stunned.
“For what?”
Granger did not hesitate.
“I’ll choose the charge before the report.”
Alicia’s expression did not change.
That sentence alone was worth months of testimony.
Derek took her wrist.
“You’re under investigation.”
“For what crime?”
He shrugged.
“Interference.”
“With what?”
“Police business.”
“I was standing on a public sidewalk.”
Granger laughed.
“See how annoying this gets?”
Alicia looked toward him.
“Every word matters.”
“For who?”
“You’ll find out.”
Something about the answer unsettled him.
Not enough.
Across the street, Mason had Devin by the jacket.
Devin looked toward Alicia.
“They’re breaking the law.”
Mason laughed.
“No.”
He shoved him against a utility pole.
“We’re writing the law.”
Alicia felt that sentence settle into memory.
Inside the convenience store, Sharon copied her security recordings onto a flash drive.
Every angle.
Every timestamp.
Devin helping the elderly woman.
Granger approaching.
The destroyed book.
The photograph.
Alicia filming.
The confrontation.
She pulled the drive from the computer.
Someone pounded on the front door.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Sharon froze.
Derek shouted through the glass.
“Open up.”
She backed away.
Another pounding.
“We know you’re in there.”
Sharon looked toward the rear storeroom.
The old delivery exit led into an alley.
She grabbed her purse.
Flash drive.
Phone.
Then ran.
Derek kicked the front door open less than thirty seconds later.
The bell crashed against the tile.
“Sharon!”
Nothing.
He searched the aisles.
Office.
Bathroom.
Storage area.
Gone.
When he returned outside, Granger looked furious.
“Where is she?”
“She ran.”
For the first time, genuine anxiety crossed Granger’s face.
Witnesses could be threatened.
Complaints could disappear.
Body cameras could malfunction.
But uncontrolled evidence moving beyond the department was different.
He looked toward Alicia.
She remained calm.
Too calm.
That frightened him.
“You know her?”
“No.”
“You told her to run?”
“No.”
“You planned this.”
Alicia said nothing.
Granger grabbed the front of her sweatshirt.
“You think you’re smarter than us?”
She looked down at his fist.
Then back at him.
“I think you keep making choices.”
Derek laughed.
“She thinks she’s giving warnings.”
Mason joined in.
“County lockup will fix that attitude.”
Jacob did not laugh.
He was looking toward the torn bag.
The phone.
Trevor.
The police units.
His expression had changed from fear to something closer to nausea.
Lieutenant Howard Sloan arrived with two additional cruisers.
He stepped out slowly, thumbs hooked near his duty belt.
“What’s happening?”
Granger answered.
“Woman interfering.”
Sloan looked Alicia over.
“Anything on her?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Then why isn’t this finished?”
Granger lowered his voice.
“She’s hiding something.”
Sloan nodded.
No question.
No independent assessment.
Just acceptance.
Alicia understood immediately.
The problem climbed above Granger.
Devin called out.
“She didn’t do anything.”
Sloan turned.
“You know her?”
“No.”
“Then mind your business.”
“I watched everything.”
Derek smiled.
“No, you didn’t.”
Devin stared.
“I was right here.”
Sloan sighed.
“Detain him too.”
Two officers grabbed Devin.
He resisted instinctively.
Not fighting.
Trying to keep his balance.
Within seconds, his face was pressed against the hood of a cruiser.