“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
She looked directly into the body camera.
“I want the record to reflect that Sheriff Thomas Ryker seized a secured federal communications device after being told not to interfere with it.”
Ryker laughed.
“You think saying things into my camera makes them true?”
“No.”
“Evidence does.”
For the first time, his smile disappeared completely.
Deputy Jared Miller was working booking when Ryker arrived.
He heard the sheriff before he saw him.
“Open Four.”
Jared looked up.
Sarah entered first.
Handcuffed.
Then Ryker.
Jared recognized the woman’s outfit before her face because it seemed wildly out of place beneath fluorescent jail lights.
“What happened?”
Ryker tossed Sarah’s handbag across the booking desk.
It struck a stack of forms.
“Washington princess thinks she owns the highway.”
Sarah said calmly:
“I was arrested for asking why I was being detained.”
Ryker shoved her into a metal chair.
“Sit.”
Jared looked at her wrists.
Then at Ryker.
“What charges?”
“Disorderly.”
“Resisting.”
“Reckless driving.”
Sarah looked toward Jared.
“Reckless driving was not mentioned roadside.”
Ryker snapped:
“You don't conduct booking.”
Sarah nodded.
“I am documenting timeline inconsistency.”
Jared almost smiled.
He stopped himself.
Ryker emptied the handbag.
The secure device hit the counter.
Jared stared at it.
He had served six years in the Army before becoming a deputy.
He did not recognize the model.
But he recognized what expensive secure government technology looked like.
“That hers?”
Ryker picked it up.
“She says Pentagon.”
Sarah corrected:
“I said government communications equipment.”
Ryker smirked.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Jared looked at Sarah.
“Ma’am, military?”
Sarah held his gaze.
“Yes.”
“Active?”
“Yes.”
“Rank?”
Ryker laughed.
“She'll probably tell you she's Secretary of Defense.”
Sarah said nothing.
Jared looked toward the wallet.
“Can I see the ID?”
Ryker tossed it.
Jared opened the credential.
His eyes moved once.
Then again.
He looked up.
“Sheriff.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
“I already saw it.”
“Her rank.”
Ryker frowned.
Jared lowered his voice.
“Major general.”
Ryker stared.
Then laughed.
“Come on.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Deputy Miller is correct.”
The room changed.
Dispatcher Brenda Lawson looked over.
Ryker picked up the identification himself.
MAJOR GENERAL SARAH E. HAYES
United States Army.
He read it.
His confidence weakened.
Then pride rushed in to replace it.
“Fake.”