Hale spoke through the phone.
“Remove the restraints now.”
Mercer looked around the booking room.
Hannah.
The ceiling camera he claimed did not work.
The phone.
Ava.
The door where Briggs had disappeared.
Every object suddenly looked like evidence.
The sheriff unlocked the cuffs.
Metal opened around Ava's wrists.
She rubbed them once.
Mercer stepped backward.
Ava did not.
Hale asked:
“Agents are twelve minutes out.”
Mercer's head snapped toward the phone.
“Agents?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
Hale ignored the question.
“Ava, preserve the scene.”
“Understood.”
Mercer took another step backward.
“This is my station.”
Ava looked at him.
“For the next twelve minutes, I'd be very careful what you do with it.”
His jaw tightened.
He pointed toward her.
“Don't threaten me.”
Ava almost laughed.
“Still doing that?”
Hannah covered her mouth with one hand.
Mercer turned.
“What?”
Hannah lowered it.
“Nothing.”
“No.”
Mercer's voice sharpened.
“You think this is funny?”
Ava stepped between the sheriff and the counter.
Not protectively.
Deliberately.
“You're done intimidating staff.”
Mercer's eyes flashed.
“You don't give orders here.”
Ava looked toward the phone.
Then back.
“You just heard someone who does.”
That finally silenced him.
For several seconds.
Then the outside door opened.
Deputy Briggs returned.
He looked from Ava's uncuffed wrists to Mercer's face.
“What happened?”
Hannah whispered:
“She’s federal.”
Briggs stopped.
“What?”
Ava looked at him.
“Deputy Briggs.”
His eyes widened.
She had not previously used his name.
“Yes?”
“Do not touch any recording equipment.”
He looked toward Mercer.
The sheriff's posture changed.
Ava saw it.
Old reflex.
Subordinate.
Control.
Mercer said:
“Briggs, shut down the station cameras.”
Ava said:
“No.”
Briggs froze.
Mercer turned toward her.
“This is still my department.”
Ava looked at Briggs.
“Deputy, you just heard your sheriff order you to disable potential evidence after learning a federal investigative team is on the way.”
Briggs's face went pale.
Mercer snapped:
“She's twisting it.”
Ava asked:
“Do you want to execute that order?”
Briggs stared at his boss.
Then at the dome camera.
Then at Ava.
“No.”
Mercer stepped toward him.
“What did you say?”
Briggs swallowed.
“I said no, Sheriff.”
That might have been the most important thing that happened all morning.
More than the phone.
More than Ava's identity.
A subordinate had refused.
Mercer stared at him as though betrayal had entered the room.
Briggs looked terrified.
Ava understood.
Authority built over years did not disappear because someone said no once.
But it could crack.
Hannah slowly stood.
“Sheriff…”
Mercer turned.
“What?”
“The booking camera works.”
His face changed.
Hannah continued: