His voice lost some of its aggression, but he tried to maintain control. "I didn't know this was his store." Ryan's expression didn't soften. "Well, now you do. And if you think deleting that video is going to help you, you're wrong.
The store has security cameras that recorded everything, every word you said, every move you made. And I'm going to make sure Mr. Coleman sees all of it." Pierce looked at Khalil, then at Ryan, then at the crowd of people still recording on their phones. He realized that he had just made a mistake that was going to cost him more than he could afford.
He pulled out his keys, walked over to Khalil, and unlocked the handcuffs without saying a word. Khalil brought his arms forward and rubbed his wrists where the metal had dug into his skin. His hands were shaking, and his voice came out quiet and strained. "You had no right to do that to me." Pierce didn't respond.
He didn't apologize. He just muttered something about a misunderstanding and misinformation, pointed vaguely in Courtney Blake's direction like this was all her fault, and then got back into his patrol car and drove away as fast as he could without turning on his lights. Courtney, who had been standing off to the side watching everything unfold, realized that the attention was now shifting toward her. A few people in the crowd were looking at her and whispering. One woman said loud enough for everyone to hear, "She's the one who called the cops on him.
She's the one who lied." Courtney's face turned red. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something to defend herself, but nothing came out that would make the situation better. She turned and walked quickly away from the bus stop, pulling out her phone and pretending she had somewhere important to be. Ryan walked over to Khalil and put a hand on his shoulder.