Then the patrol officers.
“What happened?”
Naomi sighed.
“Good afternoon to you too.”
Thomas walked closer.
“You’re hurt.”
“I am mildly annoyed.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
Harris introduced himself.
Thomas barely acknowledged him.
He was staring at Mercer.
“You?”
Mercer looked away.
Naomi stepped between them.
“Thomas.”
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re thinking loudly.”
Elena Brooks suppressed a smile.
Thomas turned toward Naomi.
“Your comms team called when your location stopped moving longer than expected. Then the local credential verification request hit the liaison channel.”
Naomi looked at Mercer.
“There’s your mystery.”
He said nothing.
Thomas continued.
“When they ran your credential number, half the task-force command chain got alerted.”
Naomi sighed.
“Efficient.”
“Embarrassingly efficient.”
“Good.”
Thomas looked again at Mercer.
“What exactly did he do?”
Naomi glanced toward the camera on his chest.
“We have video.”
Mercer crossed his arms.
“You’re going to ruin me over this?”
Naomi looked at him.
“No.”
He seemed surprised.
“Your choices will be reviewed.”
“That’s a polished way to say yes.”
“You want a less polished answer?”
He stared.
Naomi stepped closer.
“You stopped a driver for an offense she denies committing.”
“You refused obvious verification.”
“You escalated because she questioned you.”
“You used force when she did not threaten you.”
“You described her as suspicious after seeing valid credentials.”
“You then called her armed as though lawful possession became dangerous because you were already angry.”
Mercer’s face reddened.
Naomi continued.
“You did all of that before you knew my title.”
She tapped the credential wallet against her palm.
“My title does not make those decisions worse.”
“It only makes them harder for you to hide.”
Nobody spoke.
Mercer looked at Harris.
“You going to let her talk to me like that?”
The lieutenant almost laughed from disbelief.
Naomi answered first.
“You still think this is about tone.”
Mercer looked away.
Harris removed Mercer’s body camera.
Then his weapon.
Then his badge.
“Administrative leave.”
Mercer stared at the badge in Harris’s hand.
For the first time, he looked less like an antagonist and more like a man watching the consequences of his own decisions assemble in front of him.
Naomi felt no satisfaction.
That disappointed part of her.
She had imagined moments like this earlier in her career.
Wrongdoer exposed.
Truth revealed.
Power reversed.
But real accountability rarely felt triumphant.
It felt heavy.
Because by the time consequences arrived, damage had already happened.
Harris instructed Bell to drive Mercer back to headquarters.
Before getting into the cruiser, Mercer looked at Naomi.
“You could have told me who you were.”
Naomi studied him.
“I did.”
“No. I mean really told me.”
“I gave you my name.”
“My federal credentials.”
“My agency.”
“My lawful carry status.”
“My destination category.”
“What else did you need?”
He stared.
Then finally said:
“Your position.”
Naomi nodded.
“Exactly.”
Mercer got into the cruiser.