Then said quietly:
“No.”
He waited.
She continued:
“You could have avoided all of this by believing that information existed before deciding my refusal made me guilty.”
Beckett’s mouth tightened.
He walked away.
That sentence would later matter.
Not publicly at first.
But to Halpern.
Because he heard it.
And unlike Beckett, it kept bothering him.
Rosa waited until the officers left before rushing toward Amara.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Rosa grabbed her hands.
“You’re shaking.”
Amara looked down.
She was.
Only slightly.
But once noticed, impossible to hide.
Dante lowered his phone.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I should’ve stepped in sooner.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You recorded.”
“You witnessed.”
“You didn’t need to get arrested too.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I just stood there.”
“You did something.”
Amara turned toward the pool.
The water was still.
Beautiful.
Absurdly beautiful.
The Pacific beyond it seemed indifferent.
She suddenly hated the house.
Not permanently.
Only for that moment.
A place she had bought because it felt peaceful now carried a new image.
A police officer’s hand.
Her bag sliding across limestone.
Rosa shouting from doorway.
Amara walked inside.
She did not return to pool for three weeks.
By 5:00 p.m., attorney Marcus Greene sat at her kitchen island with a laptop.
No relation to previous people. Let's rename attorney Julian Price to avoid confusion.
Julian Price was forty-one.
Black.
Civil-rights litigator.
Amara had known him since college.
He had been her corporate counsel once, then left for impact litigation.
She trusted him because he rarely told her what she wanted to hear.
He watched Dante’s video twice.
Then body-camera access? Not yet. Only witness clip.
He paused.
“Do you want to sue?”
Amara stared.
“That fast?”
“You called a lawyer.”
“I called because I didn’t know what else.”
“Fair.”
He closed laptop.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know why Vanessa called.”
“That is separate.”
“Not to me.”
Julian nodded.
“We’ll obtain 911 recording.”
“Can we?”
“Eventually.”
“Public records maybe redacted.”
“Civil discovery if needed.”
Amara looked toward neighboring hedge.
“She knew I lived here.”
“Yes.”
“She told them she owned my house.”
“According to officer.”
“Yes.”
“That could be criminal false reporting depending facts.”
“Could.”
“Don’t assume.”
She looked at him.
“You sound like me.”
“You pay me to sound smarter than you.”