And she'd offered documents that could resolve the dispute.
Bennett lowered her voice.
"Sir, there's no immediate danger here. We can check the order."
Mercer's jaw tightened.
"Are you questioning my authority?"
The younger officer swallowed.
"No, Sergeant."
"Then stay out of my way."
For a moment, Bennett considered contacting the code office directly.
But Mercer had already turned toward Talia again.
The sergeant demanded that she step away from the flowers.
She took a step back.
Then asked him to stop damaging the plants until the authorization was verified.
He moved toward her.
"You're interfering with a lawful order."
Talia held his gaze.
"Then show me the order."
Mercer shoved her.
The movement caught her by surprise.
She stumbled backward, and her handbag slipped from her shoulder.
A small wallet, phone, and keys fell onto the grass.
Mercer pointed toward her.
"That's it. You're under arrest."
Talia straightened.
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
Then she asked calmly.
"For what offense?"
He reached toward his handcuffs.
"Obstruction."
Bennett stepped between them slightly.
"Sergeant, she hasn't physically obstructed us."
Mercer's face reddened.
"Officer, cuff her."
Bennett looked toward Talia.
The woman slowly raised her hands.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Talia could see the younger officer struggling.
She didn't want an argument between them to lead to another use of force.
So she turned carefully.
"Officer Bennett, I'll cooperate. But I want it documented that I haven't resisted."
Bennett nodded almost imperceptibly.
Then she applied the cuffs.
The click of metal behind Talia's back seemed impossibly loud.
Margaret Ellis was standing at her front gate when the handcuffs closed.
She had watched the confrontation from her porch, initially assuming the officers would examine the code notice and leave.
Then she saw Mercer kick the roses.
She heard Talia shouting.
And she watched the sergeant push her backward.
Margaret's first instinct was to run across the street.
But she remembered how aggressively Mercer had spoken to Talia.
She also understood that an elderly woman rushing toward a tense police encounter might make things worse.
Instead, she took out her smartphone.
Her hands trembled.
She began recording.
Then she called to another neighbor.
"Daniel! Please come outside!"
A forty-eight-year-old man named Daniel Price opened his front door.
He saw the police SUV.
The damaged rose garden.
And Talia standing in handcuffs.
His expression changed.
"What happened?"
Margaret shook her head.
"I don't know. They're saying the flowers violate some city rule."
Daniel stared at the broken stems.
"Those roses have been there forever."
Margaret nodded.
Then she looked toward Talia.
"That's Lorraine's daughter."
Daniel knew the family.
He'd lived on Willow Street for nearly fifteen years.