He kept his voice controlled.
“Then Marcus?”
Evan looked toward him.
Marcus stared back.
Evan said:
“He’s free to go too.”
Isaiah asked:
“What changed regarding him?”
Nothing.
Evan knew.
Everyone knew.
He did not answer.
Isaiah nodded once.
“Officer Ortiz, please note the time.”
She did.
Marcus stood slowly.
Evan’s hand twitched near his belt by reflex.
Isaiah saw.
Marcus saw too.
His expression hardened.
Isaiah immediately said:
“He is free to stand.”
Evan lowered his hand.
Marcus looked toward Isaiah.
“I think I’m going home.”
Isaiah stood.
“Let me call you later.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“You're coming with me.”
“This is now your job problem.”
“It became my problem when he pointed electricity at my chest.”
Evan flinched.
Marcus saw.
For half a second, pity and anger crossed at once.
Then anger won.
“I’m not going anywhere until somebody tells me why sitting while Black became enough for a weapon.”
Ortiz looked toward him.
“Mr. Reed, I’m going to pull the call.”
“I understand.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive anything.”
“I’m telling you I’ll find the information.”
Marcus nodded.
Fair.
Isaiah looked toward his brother.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Honest.
Isaiah nodded.
“Me neither.”
Officer Ortiz returned to the patrol car.
Evan remained.
Isaiah faced him.
“Do you have a supervisor en route?”
Evan swallowed.
“Lieutenant Harmon.”
“Good.”
“Until he arrives, do not leave.”
“Do not turn off your camera unless policy requires it.”
“Do not review footage.”
“Do not contact other witnesses.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
Isaiah paused.
Then:
“And stop calling me Sergeant for the next five minutes.”
Evan looked confused.
“What?”
“Right now, you detained me.”
“I am a witness.”
“You are the involved officer.”
“My rank should not control the facts.”
Evan looked away.
That sentence seemed to hurt more than punishment would have.
Within fifteen minutes, Lieutenant David Harmon arrived.
Older.
Fifty-one.
Twenty-seven years on the job.
He greeted Isaiah with a tight expression.
“What happened?”
Isaiah answered:
“You’ll need to get it from the video and independent statements.”
Harmon nodded.
Correct answer.
“No briefing from you?”
“Only administrative facts.”
“Officer Cole detained two people.”
“Displayed a Taser.”
“No discharge.”
“No injury.”
“Several civilian witnesses.”
“Body camera active.”
Harmon looked toward Evan.
Then Marcus.
Then Isaiah.
“Understood.”
Ortiz returned from her cruiser.
“I have initial dispatch information.”
Harmon raised a hand.
“Before you read it aloud, has Cole heard it?”
“No.”
“Keep it that way until his statement.”
Good.
Isaiah felt some of the tension ease.
Procedure mattered most when emotion wanted shortcuts.
Marcus sat back down.
His coffee was gone.
Someone had apparently kicked the cup during the confrontation.