“I get to ask why I’m detained.”
“You were noncompliant.”
“With which order?”
“You kept reaching.”
“You ordered me to retrieve my registration.”
“You argued.”
“Argument is not a crime.”
He stared down at her.
The crowd grew quieter.
The younger officer’s breathing became audible.
The hotel manager looked toward the phones.
The lead officer leaned in.
“Listen carefully.”
“If you keep obstructing this stop, I will take you downtown.”
The woman looked up at him.
“On what charge?”
He straightened.
“Interference.”
“With what investigation?”
That question again.
He hated it more the second time.
The woman continued.
“Please articulate the investigation.”
The lead officer’s face reddened.
“Stand up.”
The younger officer moved.
“Wait.”
His partner turned.
“What now?”
The younger officer lowered his voice.
“We should wait for dispatch.”
The lead officer stared.
“Why?”
The younger officer looked toward the woman.
Then the bag.
Then the hotel.
“Just wait.”
The lead officer smiled.
“You scared because she said federal?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Before the younger officer could answer, the radio crackled.
Not the routine dispatcher this time.
A supervisor.
“Unit Twelve.”
The lead officer lifted the radio.
“Twelve.”
“Confirm you are with a woman at the downtown hotel.”
The lead officer looked around.
“Yes.”
“Black female.”
“Early thirties.”
“Cream dress.”
“Black luxury sedan.”
The younger officer’s face changed.
The lead officer answered more slowly.
“Affirmative.”
A pause.
Then:
“Stand down.”
The lead officer frowned.
“Repeat?”
“Stand down.”
“Do not transport.”
“Do not conduct additional search.”
“Do not question further until command arrives.”
The hotel manager looked at the woman.
She did not react.
The lead officer lifted the radio.
“Reason?”
The reply came slower this time.
Every phone nearby captured it.
“Subject is a federal civil-rights prosecutor assigned to the active departmental conduct review.”
Silence.
The younger officer went pale.
The lead officer stared at the radio.
Then at the woman.
The supervisor continued.
“Her credentials were flagged through the interagency contact list.”
“Command is responding.”
“Maintain scene.”
“No further enforcement action absent an independent basis.”
The lead officer’s hand lowered.
The woman remained seated on the curb.
Exactly where he had ordered her.
The lead officer looked at the silver handbag he had pushed away with his boot.
Then at the woman.
“You could’ve said that.”
She stared at him.
“I told you my federal credentials were in the bag.”
His face tightened.
“You said attorney.”
“I am an attorney.”
“You didn’t say you were investigating us.”
The woman’s eyes hardened.
“I was not required to.”
The younger officer looked toward his partner.
The lead officer lowered his voice.