That had been a mistake.
Not because FBI failed planning.
Because somebody had known exactly where cameras were.
Maya entered the public pedestrian level at 6:31.
At 6:40 Vane's gray sedan arrived.
At 6:42 Danny Reyes appeared.
Maya photographed the meeting from behind a concrete column.
Envelope exchanged.
Reyes said something.
Vane laughed.
Then Vane looked past Reyes.
Directly toward Maya.
She knew immediately.
Compromised.
She turned.
Reyes followed.
Maya could have identified herself before he reached her.
Instead she wanted to know what he would do.
“Hey!”
She kept walking.
“Stop.”
Maya turned halfway.
Reyes was in civilian clothes.
No visible badge.
Hand near his jacket.
She moved toward the elevator.
He grabbed her arm.
She twisted free.
That was when his badge appeared.
“Police.”
Maya stopped.
She could have ended it.
Federal credential.
Phone call.
Supervisory contact.
Instead she said:
“Then show me your identification properly.”
He did.
She showed hers.
Reyes looked at it.
Then at her.
Then back at the badge.
And laughed.
“You serious?”
Maya understood something important.
He had not expected FBI.
Yet.
Fear arrived a second later.
The arrest followed.
Now, standing inside the Twelfth District booking area with red marks on her wrists, Maya wondered whether getting brought inside had been luck or opportunity.
Probably both.
Captain Hale led her, Priya and Lieutenant Brennan into the conference room.
Reyes was ordered to remain outside under supervision.
Maya placed her phone on table.
Hale stared.
“You had that?”
“Secondary.”
“Reyes took your phone.”
“He took one phone.”
Priya almost smiled.
Maya opened encrypted federal application.
A photograph appeared.
Reyes in garage.
Vane beside him.
Envelope between them.
Hale's face hardened.
“Ellis Vane.”
“You know him.”
“Everybody knows him.”
“That wasn't question.”
Hale looked at Maya.
“Yes.”
“Personally?”
“City contracts.”