OFFICER GRANT: "You really don't know when to stop talking, do you?"
TESSA BROOKS: "I know exactly when to speak. Right now, I'm asking you to document the facts accurately."
Grant opened his door and stepped out.
He walked around the cruiser, unlocked the rear passenger door, and gestured for her to get out.
Tessa moved carefully, keeping her balance while her hands remained cuffed behind her back.
As she stepped onto the pavement, two officers near the entrance glanced in their direction.
One of them, a younger man named Officer Lewis, looked from Tessa to Grant.
OFFICER LEWIS: "What's the situation?"
OFFICER GRANT: "Possible stolen vehicle. Found her standing beside it."
Lewis glanced at Tessa.
OFFICER LEWIS: "Did the vehicle come back stolen?"
OFFICER GRANT: "We're handling it."
The answer was immediate and dismissive.
Lewis looked as though he wanted to ask another question, but Grant had already taken hold of Tessa's arm and was leading her toward the entrance.
Tessa noticed the exchange.
The younger officer had asked a reasonable question.
Grant had avoided answering it.
Inside the station, the air was cooler. Fluorescent lights illuminated a reception counter, a row of waiting chairs, and a corridor leading toward the interview rooms.
A telephone rang behind the counter.
Someone was typing at a computer.
A printer released several pages into a tray.
The ordinary sounds of the station made the handcuffs around Tessa's wrists feel even more surreal.
She had entered government buildings thousands of times without giving much thought to the procedures that governed them.
Now she was being escorted through one as an accused person.
Grant guided her toward a counter where a uniformed desk sergeant was reviewing a report.
DESK SERGEANT: "Name?"
OFFICER GRANT: "Tessa Brooks. Suspected vehicle theft."
Tessa immediately looked toward the sergeant.
TESSA BROOKS: "I have not stolen a vehicle. My car is registered in my name, and Officer Grant has already seen the registration."
Grant turned sharply.
OFFICER GRANT: "I didn't ask you to speak."
TESSA BROOKS: "You gave him an accusation. I'm correcting the record."
The desk sergeant stopped writing.
He looked at Grant, then at Tessa's restrained hands.
DESK SERGEANT: "Did you run the plate?"
OFFICER GRANT: "I'll get to that."
DESK SERGEANT: "You brought her in before checking the registration?"
OFFICER GRANT: "I said I'll handle it."
The sergeant leaned back slightly.
He had worked in the station long enough to recognize the difference between a straightforward arrest and a situation that was already generating unnecessary questions.
DESK SERGEANT: "All right. Bring her to the processing area. We'll need the incident details entered properly."
Grant nodded impatiently.
Tessa was led farther down the corridor.
She looked at the signs on the walls, the closed office doors, and the small windows set into several interview rooms.
She knew the general layout of police facilities, but familiarity with a building did not make the experience less unsettling.
Grant stopped outside a room with a plain metal door.
OFFICER GRANT: "Inside."
Tessa entered.
The room contained a table, three chairs, a wall-mounted camera, and a small window looking onto the corridor. The walls were painted a muted blue-gray, and the fluorescent lighting gave everything a flat, institutional appearance.
Grant directed her toward a chair.
Tessa sat down.
He remained standing for a moment before pulling out the chair opposite her.
OFFICER GRANT: "Let's start with the basics. Where did you get the SUV?"
Tessa looked at him steadily.
TESSA BROOKS: "I purchased it through a licensed dealership two years ago."
OFFICER GRANT: "Which dealership?"
TESSA BROOKS: "Westbridge Motors. The purchase documents are in my office, and the registration is in the glove compartment."
Grant opened a folder and began writing.
OFFICER GRANT: "And why were you in the parking lot?"
TESSA BROOKS: "I stopped at the pharmacy after a meeting."
OFFICER GRANT: "What meeting?"
TESSA BROOKS: "A professional meeting. The details are not relevant to whether I own my vehicle."
Grant stopped writing.
OFFICER GRANT: "I'll decide what's relevant."
Tessa took a controlled breath.
TESSA BROOKS: "Then please record that I offered to provide my driver's license, registration, insurance information, and any other reasonable identifying documents."
OFFICER GRANT: "You don't get to dictate how I write my report."
TESSA BROOKS: "I'm not dictating anything. I'm asking you to record what happened."
Grant closed the folder with a sharp movement.
OFFICER GRANT: "You seem to think being articulate gives you special treatment."
Tessa's expression became colder.
TESSA BROOKS: "No. I think the same basic procedure should apply to everyone."
Grant stared at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he leaned forward.
OFFICER GRANT: "You know what your problem is? You walk around here acting like nobody can question you."