The answer was delivered without anger.
That made it worse.
Miller felt his authority slipping away, not because Marcus had taken his badge or physically overpowered him, but because every attempt to intimidate the man had produced the opposite result.
He had started the encounter expecting obedience.
He had planted evidence expecting panic.
He had initiated a physical confrontation expecting submission.
At every stage, Marcus had refused to react the way Miller expected.
The officer took a step back and attempted to steady his breathing.
A faint sound of distant traffic drifted through the street. The black sedan's windows reflected the streetlights, and the small bag remained clenched in Miller's hand.
Marcus watched him carefully.
MARCUS VANCE: "You still have time to make the right decision."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "What decision?"
MARCUS VANCE: "Stop digging."
Miller gave a short, bitter laugh.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You walk around here acting like you own the place, and you expect me to believe you're innocent?"
MARCUS VANCE: "You don't have to believe anything. You just have to tell the truth."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "The truth is whatever I put in my report."
Marcus's expression became noticeably colder.
He had been waiting for Miller to reveal how far his arrogance extended. The officer had already demonstrated his willingness to plant evidence, initiate violence, and threaten a stranger without presenting a legitimate reason for the encounter.
Now he had openly suggested that an official report mattered more to him than the facts.
MARCUS VANCE: "That's what you believe?"
Miller realized he had said too much.
He tried to recover immediately.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You heard nothing."
MARCUS VANCE: "I heard you clearly."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You'd better watch yourself."
MARCUS VANCE: "I've been watching you all night."
The sentence caused Miller to freeze.
He looked at Marcus again, this time with a different kind of suspicion.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "What is that supposed to mean?"
Marcus did not answer.
Instead, he glanced briefly toward the front pocket of his jacket and then returned his attention to Miller.
The movement was small, almost insignificant, but the officer noticed it.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "What have you got in there?"
MARCUS VANCE: "Nothing you need to worry about."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "Show me your hands."
Marcus slowly raised them, keeping his movements visible.
MARCUS VANCE: "They're right here."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "Don't get clever with me."
MARCUS VANCE: "I'm not the one who needs to be clever."
Miller's face flushed.
He had reached the point where reason no longer guided his decisions. Every answer sounded like disrespect, every pause seemed calculated to humiliate him, and every sign of Marcus's composure felt like a personal insult.
He moved forward again.
Marcus remained in place.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You're going to put your hands behind your back, and you're going to do it now."
MARCUS VANCE: "For what offense?"
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "Possession. Resisting. Assaulting an officer. Take your pick."
MARCUS VANCE: "You intend to charge me with crimes you watched yourself create?"
Miller's eyes narrowed.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "I can charge you with whatever the evidence supports."
MARCUS VANCE: "Then you'd better hope nobody examines that evidence."
For the first time, Miller looked genuinely worried.
It lasted only a second.
Then his pride returned, and he tried to bury the feeling beneath another display of authority.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You think you're smarter than me?"
MARCUS VANCE: "That isn't the question."
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "Then what is?"
MARCUS VANCE: "How many times have you done this?"
The question struck harder than Miller expected.
He said nothing.
Marcus watched the change in his expression.
MARCUS VANCE: "How many people have you stopped without a reason? How many reports have you changed? How many people have you accused because you thought nobody would believe them?"
Miller's fingers tightened around the plastic bag.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "You don't know anything about me."
MARCUS VANCE: "Not yet."
The answer was quiet, but its implications were unmistakable.
Miller looked toward the intersection again.
The street remained mostly empty, yet he suddenly felt exposed. The same darkness that had made him comfortable when he first approached Marcus now seemed to conceal possibilities he could not account for.
He wondered whether the man had an accomplice nearby.
He wondered whether the delivery driver had recorded the confrontation.
He wondered whether Marcus had been sent there for a reason.
Most of all, he wondered why a man who had just been falsely accused and physically attacked seemed more interested in asking questions than in defending himself.
OFFICER BRAD MILLER: "Who are you?"
Marcus held his gaze.
MARCUS VANCE: "Someone who gave you a chance."
Miller stared at him, waiting for an explanation that never came.
The silence grew uncomfortable.
Then Marcus took one measured step forward.
Miller immediately shifted backward, raising his hands defensively.
The movement was instinctive, and he appeared to recognize his own reaction only after it had happened.
Marcus stopped.
MARCUS VANCE: "You see? You know what you did."