He recognized her.
“Oh, God.”
Mercer looked at him.
“You know her?”
Bell answered without taking his eyes from Naomi.
“She briefed command.”
Mercer swallowed.
The second cruiser arrived.
Lieutenant Daniel Harris stepped out before it fully stopped.
He approached fast.
Fifty-one.
Gray at the temples.
No sunglasses.
His expression suggested he already understood enough.
“Director Carter.”
“Lieutenant.”
“Are you injured?”
“No significant injury.”
Mercer immediately jumped in.
“She resisted—”
Naomi turned toward him.
“No.”
The single word stopped him.
Harris looked at Mercer.
“Body camera running?”
Mercer touched his chest.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Harris faced Naomi again.
“What happened?”
Naomi glanced toward the road.
Traffic continued.
Birds moved between the trees.
Everything looked ordinary.
That was often the strange thing about moments that became career-defining later.
The world rarely looked different while they happened.
“He stopped me for alleged failure to maintain lane.”
Harris looked toward the SUV.
“Any citation issued?”
“No.”
Naomi continued.
“He questioned my federal employment, examined my credentials, declared them suspicious without verification, ordered me out, slapped the credentials from my hand, kicked the door, shoved me twice, used a knee strike to force me down, then characterized me over radio as an armed subject with fraudulent identification.”
Mercer shook his head.
“That’s not exactly—”
Harris snapped toward him.
“Do not interrupt.”
Mercer stopped.
Bell looked uncomfortable.
Naomi appreciated that.
Comfort would have worried her.
Harris said:
“Director, I am placing Officer Mercer on administrative leave pending review.”
Mercer’s head jerked toward him.
“What?”
“Turn over your weapon.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Lieutenant, I made a stop.”
“You put hands on the federal director overseeing our task force.”
Mercer pointed at Naomi.
“That’s exactly the problem. Everyone’s losing it because she’s important.”
Naomi looked at him.
And despite everything, that was the first intelligent thing he had said.
Harris heard it differently.
“Grant, shut your mouth.”
“No.”
Mercer’s fear turned into anger.
“You want to suspend me because of who she is.”
Naomi stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
“You should suspend him because of what he did before he knew who I was.”
Mercer stared.
Naomi looked toward Harris.
“If the only reason this becomes serious is my title, your department has learned nothing.”
Harris nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Naomi glanced at Mercer.
“He believed I was nobody.”
Nobody contradicted her.
She walked toward her SUV.
Harris followed.
“Director, we should get you checked medically.”
“I’m fine.”
“With respect, you were shoved against a vehicle.”
“With respect, Lieutenant, I have meetings.”
“You can miss one.”
Naomi almost smiled.
“Everybody says that until it’s their meeting.”
A black Chevrolet Tahoe pulled in behind the police units.
Two people stepped out.
One was Assistant Special Agent Elena Brooks.
The other was Thomas Reed, deputy director for operations.
Thomas saw Naomi’s face.
Then the dirt on her trousers.