It also appeared in records connected to a private security contractor servicing several businesses near Fort Calhoun.
One of those businesses was the hotel where I had met the accountant.
When Thomas Reed told me, I felt a fresh wave of anger.
The meeting hadn't been announced publicly.
Its purpose wasn't entered into a hotel reservation.
The accountant and I had deliberately avoided unnecessary disclosure of the case.
Yet somebody had learned I was there.
The explanation was not a mysterious leak from a secret government database.
It was much simpler.
A security employee responsible for monitoring the hotel's parking lot had been paid to report certain vehicles and visitors associated with the investigation.
The employee worked for a subcontractor that also provided surveillance services to businesses controlled by Westbrook's owners.
A black Phantom entering the hotel parking lot attracted attention.
Its license plate was recorded.
The information was passed to a manager.
And from there, it reached somebody inside the sheriff's department.
Investigators eventually recovered communications showing that my vehicle had been identified before I left the meeting.
But another detail made the situation even more disturbing.
The person who requested the alert had not asked for a general traffic check.
He had specifically asked that the vehicle be intercepted and held long enough for a towing contractor to obtain access.
The target wasn't my speed.
It wasn't my registration.
And it wasn't the cost of my dress.
It was my connection to the missing-equipment investigation.
Garrett's racial hostility had made the encounter more violent, but the conspiracy had provided the reason for stopping me.
The two motives were not mutually exclusive.
In fact, they had reinforced each other.
Somebody wanted the investigator delayed.
Garrett wanted to punish a Black woman who challenged his authority.
And together, those desires produced a roadside encounter that nearly ended in tragedy.
The next major discovery came from the Phantom itself.
The vehicle had been moved to a secure facility after state investigators completed the initial roadside documentation. Army CID personnel coordinated with the appropriate authorities to safeguard the authorized communications package and ensure its examination did not compromise unrelated investigative material.
A forensic inspection of the damaged car established that Garrett's blows had disrupted components associated with the vehicle's electrical system and triggered warnings in the secured communications arrangement.
The device had not been transmitting the contents of my investigation to anyone on the roadside.
It had not summoned soldiers through some magical emergency button.
The actual response was more ordinary.
I missed my check-in.
My assigned office attempted to contact me.
The communications equipment stopped reporting its expected status.
My supervisor's team initiated overdue-personnel procedures, verified my last known route, and contacted appropriate civilian law-enforcement agencies.
The alert reached state communications while Garrett was still arguing with Miles.