The young man glanced toward the sergeant.
Then answered.
“Please remain in the vehicle.”
She nodded.
“I'm not going anywhere.”
A minute later, the sergeant returned.
He opened the driver's door.
The supercar's upward-opening panel rose smoothly.
“Step out.”
The CEO looked toward him.
“Why?”
“Further investigation.”
She considered the instruction.
Then complied carefully.
The unusual skirt made exiting the low vehicle more difficult than usual.
She placed one white-gloved hand against the door frame and stepped onto the pavement.
Her cape settled around her shoulders.
The sergeant looked her up and down.
Then laughed.
“Unbelievable.”
The younger officer looked away.
The CEO straightened her sunglasses.
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then please explain the basis for the search you're discussing.”
The sergeant stepped closer.
“You don't run this stop.”
She remained calm.
“I haven't suggested that I do.”
“Then stop asking questions.”
He turned toward the passenger side.
“Search it.”
The younger officer froze.
“Sergeant?”
“You heard me.”
The young officer looked toward the open door.
Then toward the woman.
“Do we have consent?”
The CEO answered before the sergeant could.
“No. I do not consent to a search.”
The sergeant's face darkened.
“We have probable cause.”
The younger officer hesitated.
“Based on what?”
The sergeant turned sharply.
“Do your job.”
The young officer swallowed.
Then looked toward the passenger compartment.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
The veteran officer stepped closer.
“Come on.”
The younger man looked at him.
The veteran continued.
“Sergeant's directing the search.”
That was the moment.
The moment the youngest officer could still have stepped back.
Could have asked for a supervisor.
Could have refused to participate without a valid basis.
Instead, he bent into the passenger compartment.
And began looking.
The CEO stood beside the driver's door.
Her handbag remained in one hand.
The sergeant watched it constantly.
He wasn't interested in the vehicle's ordinary registration documents anymore.
He had already checked those.
The concern about a stolen car was becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
The officer knew it.
But he also knew the contractor was expecting him to find something.
A small encrypted drive.
Supposedly silver.
Possibly kept inside the woman's handbag or the interior storage compartments.
The sergeant didn't know exactly what the device contained.
He'd been told only that it could damage important people.
He also knew that a large payment depended on recovering it.
He stepped toward the CEO.
“Hand over the bag.”