She closed her eyes.
A second crack followed.
Then a third.
Mercer pulled the cream leather door panel away from the frame.
Wiring stretched.
One connector tore free.
The panel hit the pavement.
Bell stared.
“Jesus.”
Dalton looked inside.
“Anything?”
“No.”
“Keep going.”
Maya slowly sat back down.
Her heart pounded.
She could have screamed.
She could have demanded supervisors.
Threatened lawsuits.
Called people.
None would make them stop now.
Dalton had already committed himself to finding something.
The absence of evidence was no longer reducing suspicion.
It was increasing desperation.
Bell removed carpeting from the passenger footwell.
Mercer attacked the center console.
The first time the pry bar slipped, it gouged the dashboard.
The second time, the infotainment screen cracked.
Maya stared at the ruined interior.
That screen alone cost more than some used cars.
She said nothing.
Dalton watched her.
“You're awfully calm.”
Maya looked at him.
“Would you prefer I panic?”
“Most innocent people get upset when cops tear apart their car.”
“I am upset.”
“You don't look it.”
“That is not evidence.”
Dalton smiled.
“There she is.”
Maya turned away.
Another hour passed.
Panels came off.
Carpet came up.
Fasteners disappeared onto the wet shoulder.
Mercer crawled halfway into the cabin searching behind wiring looms.
Bell's reluctance grew more obvious.
At one point he said quietly, “Sarge, we're not finding anything.”
Dalton snapped toward him.
“That's because we're not done.”
Bell looked at the destruction.
“We've checked everything.”
“No.”
Dalton pointed toward the front.
“Frunk.”
Mercer opened it.
Maya's overnight bag came out first.
He unzipped it and dumped the contents onto the ground.
Jeans.
Sweater.
Toiletries.
Laptop charger.
Underwear.
Maya watched her clothes absorb moisture from the shoulder.
Dalton did not care.
“Pull the liner.”
Mercer tried.
It resisted.
“Bolted.”
“Then unbolt it.”
Some bolts came out normally.
Others did not.
Dalton eventually handed Mercer the pry bar.
The liner cracked.
Maya inhaled slowly.
Bell looked toward her.
For the first time, embarrassment appeared in his face.
Mercer peeled the liner upward.
Metal appeared beneath.
He tapped across the exposed structure with his flashlight.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Then:
Thud.
Mercer stopped.
He tapped again.
Thud.
His entire expression changed.
“Sarge.”
Dalton stepped closer.
“What?”
“Come here.”
Mercer pointed deep into a recess near the firewall.
“There.”
A matte-black steel plate sat flush against the surrounding structure.
Four hardened screws secured it.
It looked nothing like the factory aluminum around it.
Dalton's frustration disappeared.
Triumph took its place.
“I knew it.”
Maya stood.
Bell looked toward her.
She remained behind the line they had created.
Dalton shined his flashlight against the plate.
“Aftermarket.”
Mercer grinned.
“Hidden compartment.”
Dalton looked back at Maya.
“Guess software pays in more ways than one.”
Maya said nothing.
Dalton tapped the pry bar against his palm.
“What's inside?”
“You should stop.”
He smiled.
“Oh, now she wants to talk.”
Maya's voice remained flat.
“I am advising you not to remove that plate.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't understand what you're looking at.”
Mercer laughed.
“We understand plenty.”
Dalton looked toward Bell.
“Drill.”
Bell hesitated.
“Sergeant.”
“Drill.”
Bell brought the cordless tool from the Tahoe.
Dalton worked on the screws himself.
The bit shrieked against hardened metal.
Sparks hit the exposed chassis.
Some bounced onto the paint.
Maya watched tiny marks appear.
Dalton kept drilling.
It took nearly twelve minutes.
When the last screw finally gave, Mercer wedged the pry bar behind the plate.
He pulled.
The plate broke loose.
Behind it sat a sealed black enclosure roughly the size of a hardcover novel.
A small green indicator pulsed slowly on the front.
A circular glass aperture sat near one corner.
Several shielded cables disappeared into the vehicle's electrical architecture.
The three officers stared.
Bell spoke first.
“What the hell is that?”
Mercer leaned closer.
“Tracker?”
Dalton frowned.
“Storage device.”
Bell stepped backward.
“Could it be explosive?”
Dalton looked irritated.
“Don't be stupid.”
Maya spoke.
“Do not disconnect it.”
All three turned.
She walked several steps closer.
Bell raised one hand.
“Stay back.”
Maya stopped.
“If Officer Mercer cuts those cables, the protection circuit will deliberately lock several control modules.”
Mercer looked down at the device.
“What?”
“You wanted to know what I do.”
Dalton rolled his eyes.
“Here we go.”
Maya ignored him.
“I founded a company called Aegis Sentinel.”
Bell's face changed.
He knew the name.
Mercer did not.
Dalton clearly did not care.
Maya continued.
“We design encrypted telemetry, tamper detection, and evidence-preservation systems for high-value assets.”
Mercer looked at the box.
“You saying this is some security camera?”
“Not some camera.”
Maya pointed toward the small glass aperture.
“That is one of the control-node optics.”
Bell leaned closer.
“A lens.”
“Yes.”
Dalton's expression tightened.
Maya looked at him.
“The vehicle contains fourteen cameras.”
“Exterior.”
“Cabin.”
“Mirror housing.”
“A-pillars.”
“Dash.”
“Wheel arches.”
Mercer's smile vanished.
“Audio?”
“Multi-directional.”
Bell swallowed.
Dalton scoffed.
“So what?”
Maya looked directly at him.
“So you have been recorded since the traffic stop began.”
Silence.
Dalton recovered quickly.
“Then we'll seize the recordings.”
“You cannot.”
“Watch me.”
“They are not stored in the car.”
That stopped him.
Maya continued.
“The moment emergency strobes were detected behind the vehicle, the security system entered incident mode.”
“Video, audio, diagnostic telemetry, GPS, acceleration data, and external environmental feeds began transmitting automatically.”
Mercer stared at her.
“Transmitting where?”
“Encrypted cloud storage.”
Dalton looked toward the black box.
“Cut it.”
Maya almost smiled.
“That would accomplish nothing.”
His eyes moved toward her.
“The primary archive is already remote.”
She continued.
“My legal team's monitoring software was alerted when the first interior trim sensor registered forced removal.”
Bell looked at the damaged door.
Maya nodded.
“That was almost an hour ago.”
Nobody spoke.
“Every word Officer Mercer said about smelling marijuana is preserved.”
She looked toward Mercer.
“Every order Sergeant Dalton gave to dismantle the car is preserved.”
Then toward Bell.
“Every time Officer Bell questioned whether you had found anything is preserved too.”
Bell's face drained.
Dalton stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe your lawyers are sitting awake watching a traffic stop at two in the morning?”
Maya's expression barely changed.
“No.”
“They were sleeping.”
Dalton smiled.
“Thought so.”
“The system woke them.”
His smile vanished.
Maya continued.
“My counsel receives an automated high-priority alert when incident detection crosses a certain threshold.”
“Traffic stop alone is low priority.”
“Forced access to the vehicle is higher.”
“Structural damage triggers immediate review.”
She glanced toward the ruined McLaren.
“You triggered enough sensors to wake half my security team.”
Mercer lowered his hands.
Bell whispered, “Sarge.”
Dalton did not look at him.