Green looked at him.
“Sheriff.”
Ryker stopped.
Green turned to Sarah.
“You refused search?”
“Yes.”
“Did they have warrant?”
“No.”
“Did they claim probable cause?”
“Not until after I refused.”
Green looked back at the report.
Then Sarah.
“You requested attorney?”
“At the roadside after Sheriff Ryker put me in cuffs.”
“What did he say?”
Sarah repeated exactly:
“You don’t get to call Washington every time someone tells you no.”
Green looked at Ryker.
Ryker’s face hardened.
“I didn't know she was calling an attorney.”
Sarah said:
“I said, ‘I want to speak with counsel before answering additional questions.’”
Miller closed his eyes briefly.
Green noticed.
“Deputy?”
Miller opened them.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did she say that?”
He looked at Ryker.
Then down.
“Yes.”
Green returned his glasses to his face.
“That complicates your affidavit.”
No one spoke.
He read another minute.
Then closed the file.
“I will not find probable cause for reckless driving based on what is presented.”
Ryker’s jaw tightened.
Green continued:
“I will not find probable cause for disorderly conduct based on disagreement with law enforcement absent conduct meeting statute.”
“And I will not find resisting based solely on refusal to consent to a search.”
He looked toward cell.
“Ms. Reynolds, you are released.”
Ryker immediately said:
“General Reynolds.”
Sarah looked at him.
The correction told her everything.
Green turned toward Ryker.
“Why are you correcting me?”
Ryker said nothing.
Green understood.
He looked at Sarah again.
“Would you like your property?”
“Yes.”
Brenda stood.
“I’ll get it.”
Ryker said:
“I’ll handle it.”
Brenda stopped.
Sarah looked at her.
There was fear in the dispatcher’s face now.
Not of Sarah.
Of Ryker.
That mattered too.
“Ms. Lawson can handle it.”
Sarah said.
Ryker turned.
“This is my station.”
Sarah replied:
“And that is precisely why someone else should document the property return.”
Green looked at Brenda.
“Do it.”
Brenda nodded.
Ryker’s face hardened further.
Sarah stepped out of the cell.
Her wrists were sore where the cuffs had pressed.
She did not rub them.
She walked to the booking desk.
Brenda placed each item on the counter and read them aloud.
“Black handbag.”
“Brown wallet.”
“Two phones.”
“Watch.”
“Gold bracelet.”
“Keys.”
“Credential wallet.”
She stopped.
Ryker looked at the small black leather case.
Brenda looked at Sarah.
Sarah opened it herself.
The military identification sat beside Department of Defense credentials.
Ryker stared.
Major General.
Two stars.
Official photograph.
Sarah closed it.
“Anything missing?”
Brenda asked.