“What?”
She spoke quietly.
“Dispatch is pulling the original call.”
Mercer heard.
“Who are you calling?”
Denise looked at him.
“A colleague.”
Mercer stepped toward her.
Nathan moved between them.
Not aggressively.
Just enough.
Mercer stopped.
“Get out of my way.”
Nathan looked at the hand near Mercer’s belt.
Then at his face.
“I strongly suggest you remain where you are.”
That sounded like a threat.
It was not intended as one.
Mercer interpreted it that way anyway.
“You threatening an officer?”
“No.”
“Then move.”
Nathan did not.
Behind them, a second black SUV entered the park.
Then an unmarked sedan.
Mercer looked over.
Jordan saw his expression shift.
Only slightly.
Nathan did too.
Mercer recovered quickly.
He pointed at Jordan.
“Your son matched a robbery suspect.”
Finally.
An offense.
Nathan frowned.
“What robbery?”
“Convenience store.”
“What time?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Location?”
Mercer stared.
Nathan continued.
“I’m asking because he called his sister from this park nearly thirty minutes ago.”
Jordan blinked.
“How do you know?”
Nathan looked at him.
“Zoe called your mother because you stopped answering.”
Of course.
Jordan almost smiled.
Nathan turned back to Mercer.
“And because this park has cameras at the east entrance.”
Mercer’s face tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
Nathan glanced toward a pole.
A municipal camera sat just above the pedestrian crossing.
“I do now.”
Mercer looked toward it.
Nathan continued.
“If the reported offense occurred twenty minutes ago somewhere far enough away to require driving, location evidence may resolve this immediately.”
“You think you’re running my investigation?”
“No.”
“I think you’re refusing the fastest way to finish it.”
Ruiz spoke again.
“Sergeant.”
Mercer turned sharply.
“What?”
She held her radio.
“Dispatch just updated.”
Silence.
Jordan lifted his head.
Ruiz hesitated.
Mercer glared.
“Say it.”
“The complainant described a red jacket.”
Mercer looked at Jordan’s gray hoodie.
Nobody spoke.
Ruiz continued.
“Suspect reportedly had shoulder-length braids.”
Jordan’s hair was cropped short.
The woman beside the stroller whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Mercer’s face changed.
Then changed back.
People often imagine mistakes produce immediate humility when exposed.
Sometimes they produce the opposite.
Mercer tightened his grip on Jordan.
“The description can change.”
Ruiz stared.
“Sergeant.”
“He fled.”
“So?”
“Witness descriptions aren’t perfect.”
Nathan’s voice became colder.
“Yet you were confident enough to force him to the ground.”
Mercer pointed at him.
“You stay out of this.”
Jordan finally lost patience.
“You knew I didn’t match.”