But she'd never seen him behave the way he did in Naomi's garage.
The video frightened her.
Not only because of the potential consequences for his career.
Because she heard something in his voice she didn't recognize.
Contempt.
He wasn't speaking like a man carefully assessing a threat.
He sounded like someone determined to win an argument.
When Grant returned home after meeting with his representative, Melissa was waiting at the kitchen table.
She had paused the video on her laptop.
He saw it and sighed.
"Not this again."
She looked toward him.
"Elias, did you know she was the chief?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Did you believe the badge was fake?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Yes."
Melissa glanced at the screen.
"Why?"
He looked irritated.
"Because people lie."
She waited.
He continued.
"We get fake IDs, fake stories, people claiming they live in houses that aren't theirs."
Melissa nodded slowly.
"But she was standing beside her car in her garage."
"That doesn't prove anything."
She looked toward him.
"She offered her driver's license."
He didn't answer.
Melissa closed the laptop.
For several seconds, the kitchen was quiet.
Then she spoke.
"What scares me is that every time somebody gave you a reason to stop, you found a reason to keep going."
Grant stared.
He looked angry.
Then tired.
Finally, he said, "You weren't there."
Melissa nodded.
"No. I wasn't."
She glanced toward the laptop.
"But the cameras were."
For the first time, Grant had no immediate reply.
The encounter began affecting Imani's life in ways Naomi hadn't anticipated.
At school, classmates asked whether she'd seen the video.
Some were sympathetic.
Others were merely curious.
A few repeated comments they'd read online, including claims that Naomi staged the incident for publicity.
Imani tried ignoring them.
But one afternoon, a student asked whether her mother had deliberately refused to identify herself so she could get the officers fired.
Imani stared.
"My mother told him exactly who she was."
The student shrugged.
"That's not what somebody online said."
Imani felt anger rising.
She wanted to shout.
Wanted to show the video.
Wanted to explain every detail of the timeline.
Instead, she left the conversation and went to the school counselor.
Later that afternoon, Naomi received a call.
The counselor explained that Imani was overwhelmed by the public attention surrounding the incident.
Naomi felt her stomach tighten.
She'd spent so much energy ensuring the investigation was handled correctly that she hadn't fully understood how much pressure her daughter was carrying.
That evening, she sat beside Imani on the sofa.
For several minutes, they didn't speak.
Then Naomi asked how school had been.
Imani shrugged.
"Fine."
Naomi waited.
Finally, her daughter sighed.