young, merely trapped inside a decision he wished somebody else had made. A gust carried the smell of rain through the barn and rattled the tin roof. Hollis could hear the S780 engine still idling in the field, wasting fuel under an invisible order.
"Tell me what you know," she said.
Garnet hesitated. "The hold came through the compliance queue this morning, but the paperwork was prepared three days ago. It lists an unauthorized repair charge from 2023, though I couldn't find the corresponding warranty determination. The request was flagged as priority before the balance was sent to you. I thought it was a mistake."
"You thought it was a mistake and activated it anyway?"
"My supervisor told me the dealer had contractual authority."
"Did you read the contract?"
Garnet looked away. "No."
Hollis shut the binder. "Then you didn't know."
"I know that sounds bad."
"It sounds like you disabled three hundred thousand dollars' worth of equipment during harvest because someone told you to." She stood, conscious of how badly her hands were shaking. "Did you even ask why they waited until I was in the field?"
"I did. They said it would be safer to stop it while you were near the headland."
"You stopped it in the middle of a pass."
"The command took longer to apply than expected." Garnet swallowed. "I'm sorry."
She wanted to throw the binder at him. She wanted to demand his keys and force him to drive back to Schaefer Implement, stand before his supervisor, and explain every word. But a storm did not care whether she obtained a satisfying apology. She needed facts that might help her work. "Can you show me when the hold was requested and by whom?"
"I can provide the reference number and the time. I can't access the authorizing account details from this tablet." He shifted his weight. "I can ask for an escalation."
"Do it in writing. Copy me and the bank, because the lender owns a security interest in that machine. And I want your name on the report explaining that it was operating normally when you stopped it."
His eyes widened. "My supervisor won't like that."
"My father wouldn't like having his farm sold for taxes," she said. "We all have problems."
Garnet lowered his head. "All right."