She gripped the edge of her desk.
Then she looked toward the open doorway.
Nobody was threatening her.
The sound had come from an ordinary accident.
Still, her hands trembled.
Later that afternoon, she contacted a military mental-health professional through the appropriate care system.
She did not treat it as a failure.
She had encouraged sailors to seek help for years.
Now she was following her own advice.
During an early appointment, the clinician asked what had frightened her most.
Naomi thought about the question.
"That he didn't seem to need a reason."
The clinician waited.
Naomi continued.
"I kept offering ways to verify the license. I kept answering questions. Every time I thought an explanation might help, he became more aggressive."
She looked down.
"I've worked in stressful environments. I've advised commanders during emergencies. But none of that mattered on that road."
"What did matter?"
Naomi considered the question.
"Whether he decided to stop."
The clinician nodded.
"That uncertainty can be deeply unsettling."
Naomi looked toward the window.
"I know."
Then she smiled faintly.
"I've explained stress responses to other people."
The clinician smiled back.
"Understanding them doesn't make you immune."
Naomi laughed quietly.
"No. Apparently not."
The sessions helped.
Not immediately.
Not perfectly.
But enough that she could begin separating the roadside encounter from every ordinary sound that reminded her of it.
The public attention was harder to manage.
A short video of Naomi holding her military credential spread across social media.
Someone had obtained footage of the roadside scene from a passing vehicle.
The clip showed her standing beside the gray sedan while Malloy looked at the identification wallet.
It did not include the earlier license destruction.
Nor did it show the dispatch verification.
The most popular version carried a sensational caption:
Racist Cop Messed With the Wrong Woman — Navy Commander Shuts Him Down.
Millions watched it.
People cheered the reversal.
They praised Naomi's composure.
Some claimed she was a military intelligence officer.
Others said she commanded an aircraft carrier.
A few insisted she had been on a secret mission to investigate the police.
None of those claims was true.
She was a Navy judge advocate returning from a scholarship luncheon.
She had not been conducting an undercover operation.
She had not ordered Malloy arrested.
And her military identification had not somehow erased civilian traffic law.
Yet the false versions spread faster than the corrections.
One afternoon, a television producer called her attorney.
He wanted Naomi to participate in a segment about how powerful people could stand up to abusive police.
Naomi declined.
Janelle asked whether she wanted to issue a statement.