Jared stared.
“Sheriff, that's not—”
“I said fake.”
Sarah leaned back.
“Call the number printed on the credential.”
Ryker glared.
“I'm not taking instructions from my prisoner.”
“Then use whatever verification procedure your department normally applies to federal military identification.”
Silence.
Oak Haven did not have one.
Ryker threw the card onto the counter.
“Put everything in property.”
He grabbed the secure device.
Sarah’s voice sharpened.
“Do not throw that.”
He looked directly at her.
Then deliberately slammed it into a plastic tray.
The impact echoed.
Jared flinched.
Sarah’s expression went cold.
Ryker smiled.
“What happens now?”
Sarah looked toward the device.
“You’ll find out.”
The internal accelerometer detected the impact.
A tamper protocol activated.
At a secure operations desk outside Atlanta, a monitoring screen changed from green to red.
DEVICE 7-ALPHA
UNAUTHORIZED HANDLING
STATIC LOCATION
OAK HAVEN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
A captain immediately called General Reed.
He was already looking at the clock.
3:52.
Sarah’s secure 4:00 briefing had not started yet.
But her device had triggered.
“Sir, Hayes’s communicator registered tamper.”
“Location?”
“Oak Haven sheriff.”
Reed stood.
“What?”
“Stationary inside the building.”
“Her watch?”
“Signal intermittent.”
“Vehicle?”
“Impounded.”
Reed’s face hardened.
“Activate legal response.”
“Already moving.”
He looked at the clock again.
“Get me the duty desk.”
Sarah requested her phone call.
Ryker leaned against the booking counter.
“Calling your lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Or your general friends?”
Sarah looked at him.
“Those categories may overlap.”
Jared turned away because he almost laughed again.
Ryker pointed toward the phone.
“One call.”
Sarah entered a number from memory.
The automated system answered.
“Authentication.”
She spoke quietly.
“Echo Seven Tango Niner. Black Sky Four. Priority Flash.”
Jared stopped typing.
Brenda looked up.
Ryker frowned.
A second voice answered.
“Defense Command Duty Desk. Authenticated.”
Sarah’s posture changed.
“Major General Sarah Hayes. My secure communications device has been confiscated and subjected to unauthorized handling. I am being detained at Oak Haven County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia. No lawful basis has been articulated. Confirm my location and notify General Reed.”
The response was immediate.
“Location confirmed, General.”
Ryker crossed the room and took the receiver.
“That’s enough.”
Sarah let go.
The voice on the other end said something.
Ryker frowned.
“Who is this?”
The line disconnected.
He hung up.
“Cell Four.”
Jared hesitated.
“Sheriff.”
“What?”
“Maybe we should verify before—”
Ryker slammed one palm against the desk.
“I said Cell Four.”
Jared looked at Sarah.
For one second, she saw conflict.
Fear against conscience.
Fear won.
He opened the cell.