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.
“You want a reason?”