Then the vehicle stopped directly behind her.
Two uniformed officers stepped out.
The taller man approached aggressively.
"Ma'am, step away from that car."
Camille turned.
For a moment, she looked confused.
"Excuse me?"
The deputy pointed toward the Bentley.
"Where did you get this vehicle?"
Camille glanced toward Evelyn, who remained on the porch.
Then she looked back at the officer.
"I own it."
He frowned.
"Registration."
Camille nodded.
"Of course."
She reached toward her yellow handbag.
The deputy immediately raised his voice.
"Hands where I can see them!"
Camille stopped.
She lifted both hands slowly.
"My registration is inside the car. My license is in this bag."
For a brief moment, she thought the encounter would end with a simple verification.
Instead, the deputy smiled without warmth.
"Funny how everybody with a stolen car suddenly has paperwork."
And that was when the afternoon began turning into something neither woman could have imagined.
Deputy Colin Voss had already made up his mind before he approached the Bentley.
He'd been patrolling the western section of Hawthorne County with Deputy Erin Solis, a twenty-eight-year-old Latina American officer who had joined the department less than two years earlier. Their previous call involved a reported vehicle theft at a roadside hotel near the interstate, but the initial information was incomplete.
The hotel employee had described a dark luxury coupe leaving the parking lot after an argument between two guests.
No witness had confirmed a theft.
The partial license-plate information was uncertain.
And the vehicle's make and model had not been established reliably.
Solis understood that the description required verification.
Voss believed it gave him a reason to stop any expensive dark-colored vehicle that looked remotely similar.
When he saw Camille's Bentley parked near Evelyn's driveway, he immediately told Solis they had found their suspect.
She looked toward the car.
"That's a Bentley, Sergeant. The hotel caller wasn't certain what kind of vehicle it was."
Voss ignored her.
"Luxury coupe. Dark paint. County road."
Solis glanced at the mobile computer.
"The plate doesn't match the partial information we have."
He looked toward her.
"Then we'll check the VIN."
She nodded.
Checking the vehicle's identifying information through appropriate procedures could resolve the uncertainty.
But she was already uncomfortable with his tone.
He wasn't approaching the situation like someone gathering facts.
He sounded like a man preparing to prove a conclusion.
Camille stood beside the driver's door while Voss demanded her identification.
She knew she had no reason to panic.
Her license was valid.
The Bentley was properly registered.
The insurance was current.
And she could provide purchase documentation if necessary.
But the deputy's aggressive commands made the situation unpredictable.
"Deputy, my name is Camille Hayes. My driver's license is inside my yellow handbag."
Voss looked toward the bag.
"Open it slowly."