But when she saw Dale Kavalik's face on the screen, her stomach tightened.
She knew him.
Not personally.
Not well.
But she knew exactly how he looked when he decided someone had no right to question him.
Nine months earlier, Nia had been driving home from an overnight shift when a Briar County patrol vehicle stopped her near the same suburban neighborhood.
She was exhausted.
Her hospital identification badge hung from her rearview mirror.
And her ten-year-old car had developed a noisy exhaust that she planned to repair after receiving her next paycheck.
Kavalik approached her window.
He said the vehicle might be unsafe.
Nia explained that she had an appointment scheduled with a mechanic.
The sheriff asked whether she owned the car.
She answered yes.
He asked whether she had insurance.
She produced the card.
Then he asked whether the registration was valid.
It was.
But after examining the paperwork, Kavalik told her that the car needed to be impounded because of a possible administrative discrepancy involving its identification number.
Nia didn't understand.
She had purchased the car from a licensed dealership.
The registration was in her name.
And she'd never received any notice that the vehicle was stolen or improperly titled.
She asked for an explanation.
Kavalik told her that arguing would only make matters worse.
Then a Blackridge Recovery truck arrived.
Nia remembered the feeling of standing beside the road in her hospital scrubs while a man attached equipment to the car she needed for work.
She asked whether she could retrieve the booster seats for her children.
The tow driver allowed it.
Then the vehicle disappeared.
The next morning, she called the company.
They told her the car was being held pending verification and that storage charges would continue accumulating until the paperwork was resolved.
She contacted the county office.
She was transferred three times.
She visited the sheriff's department.
Nobody gave her a clear answer.
Finally, after eleven days, she received a notice stating that the car could be released upon payment of towing, storage, and administrative fees totaling nearly two thousand dollars.
Nia didn't have two thousand dollars.
She was already paying rent, medical bills, and childcare expenses.
She borrowed money from her sister.
Then discovered that an additional charge had been added.
By the time she gathered enough money, the company informed her that the vehicle had been transferred into a lien process.
She eventually recovered it through legal assistance, but the process took weeks and cost more than she could reasonably afford.