"Maybe next time you'll learn what happens when a police officer tells you to cooperate."
The woman straightened.
Despite the beautiful gown, the expensive jewelry, and the shattered glass surrounding her feet, she looked neither defeated nor frightened.
She looked disappointed.
Almost as though she'd expected better from a man who should have known better.
"Deputy," she said quietly, "you've just made a very expensive mistake."
His face tightened.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No."
She glanced down the empty road.
"I'm telling you."
The deputy followed her gaze.
Nothing moved.
Beyond the asphalt, tall pine trees stretched across rolling Georgia hills. A narrow ditch ran beside the gravel shoulder, and distant pastures shimmered beneath the afternoon sun.
The nearest farmhouse was almost a mile away.
There were no traffic cameras.
No pedestrians.
And no witnesses that the deputy could see.
He smiled.
"You know what your problem is?"
The woman didn't answer.
He stepped closer.
"You think because you've got money, you can come down here and tell country folks how to run their business."
She remained silent.
"Well, let me explain something."
He pointed the baton toward her.
"Out here, I am the law."
The woman's eyes narrowed.
For the first time, her expression changed.
Not because he frightened her.
Because he'd just confirmed something she had suspected for weeks.
She took a slow breath.
Then looked directly at him.
"No, Deputy. You're not."
His face reddened.
He tightened his grip on the baton.
But before he could speak again, something interrupted the afternoon silence.
A distant siren.
The deputy frowned.
It came from somewhere beyond the trees.
Then a second siren joined it.
His expression changed.
He turned toward the road.
"What the hell?"
The woman said nothing.
A moment later, blue emergency lights flashed through the distant pine branches.
Two dark-colored state police SUVs emerged around the sweeping bend, moving quickly toward the shoulder.
The deputy's mouth fell open.
He looked back at the woman.
Then toward the approaching vehicles.
Then back at her.
"Why are state police coming out here?"
The woman slowly adjusted the upper edge of her gown.
She looked toward her shattered Rolls-Royce.
Then met his eyes.
"That's a question you should have asked before you broke my window."
The first state police SUV stopped several yards behind the Rolls-Royce.
The second pulled onto the opposite shoulder.
Doors opened.
Three uniformed troopers emerged, followed by a woman in civilian clothes who carried an identification wallet.
The deputy immediately straightened.
He lowered the baton.
Then attempted to recover the confident expression he'd worn moments earlier.