Mara smiled faintly.
“Then someone gave you incomplete instructions.”
He had not known what to say to that.
His radio crackled.
“Unit twelve, return to station with vehicle.”
Evan looked toward the cruiser.
Then back at Mara.
“Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to come with me.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why am I going with you?”
He hesitated again.
“Sheriff's request.”
Mara looked down the empty road.
There were no other patrol cars.
No emergency.
No accident.
No visible investigation.
“Deputy,” she said, “who told the sheriff I was coming?”
Evan did not answer.
That was the first moment Mara became genuinely concerned.
Not because she was being stopped.
Because someone had known she was coming.
She got out of the car.
Evan escorted her to the cruiser.
He did not put her in handcuffs.
That was another detail Mara noticed.
She was not being treated like a suspect.
She was being moved like someone whose presence had already been arranged.
Twenty-three minutes later, she entered the booking room.
And Sheriff Colter decided to turn an unusual situation into a personal confrontation.
Now, after the red phone call, Mara understood that whatever had happened to her on County Road 18 was not an isolated mistake.
Someone had wanted her inside the sheriff's office.
Someone had wanted her without her credentials.
And someone had probably expected Sheriff Colter to react exactly the way he had.
Colter finally found his voice.
“Deputy Miller.”
Evan looked at him.
“Hang up.”
Evan's expression became alarmed.
“I don't think I should.”
Colter stared at him.
“I said hang up.”
Evan looked at Mara.
She shook her head once.
“No.”
Colter turned toward her.
“This is my facility.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“And that is a federal emergency line.”
The sheriff's face tightened.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know exactly what I'm talking about.”
She walked toward the booking counter.
Evan instinctively moved aside.
Mara pointed at the telephone.
“Ask them to identify the authorization code.”
Evan listened.
His eyes widened.
He repeated a sequence of numbers into the receiver.
Then he looked at Mara.
She nodded.
The voice on the phone continued.
Evan's posture changed.
He straightened.
“Yes, sir.”
Another pause.
“No, sir.”
He looked at Colter.
“Sheriff, they want you on the line.”
Colter didn't move.
“Who?”
Evan swallowed.
“The Department of Defense.”
Colter stared at him.
Mara said nothing.
“Put it on speaker,” she said.
Evan did.
A man's voice filled the booking room.
“Sheriff Colter?”
Colter slowly reached for the receiver.
“This is Sheriff Colter.”
“Sheriff, my name is Thomas Vance. I'm calling from the Department of Defense liaison office.”
Colter's throat moved.
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you have Special Operations Liaison Mara Ellison in your custody?”
Colter looked at Mara.
“She was detained.”
“I didn't ask what you called it.”
The room went silent.
Vance continued.
“I asked whether Mara Ellison is currently in your custody.”
Colter glanced at Evan.
Then at Mara.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Colter's confidence had nearly disappeared.
“She was involved in an investigation.”
“What investigation?”
Colter said nothing.
Vance's voice became colder.
“Sheriff, this woman entered your county under federal authorization. Her assignment was cleared through your state fusion center yesterday morning.”
Colter blinked.