"I'm not lying. You have the wrong person."
Daniel reached for her arm.
Josephine immediately pulled away.
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"Do not touch me."
DANIEL REED:
"Stop resisting."
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"I'm standing right here. I haven't done anything."
He seized the front of her blazer and pulled her toward him.
The sudden movement startled Josephine. Her briefcase slipped from her hand, struck the marble floor, and fell open.
Documents scattered across the corridor.
Several sheets slid beneath a bench. A photograph of a residential building landed near Daniel's shoes, while a folder containing court papers opened beside the wall.
Josephine looked down for a fraction of a second before turning back toward the officer.
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"Let go of my jacket."
DANIEL REED:
"I told you to cooperate."
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"And I told you that you have the wrong person."
Daniel's expression hardened.
He had already made up his mind about her. Every question she asked seemed to confirm his belief that she was deliberately making his job difficult.
Instead of stepping back and checking the information, he tightened his grip.
Then, in a sudden and completely unjustified act of aggression, he struck her across the face.
The sound echoed through the hallway.
Josephine's head turned with the impact. Her gold earring swung sharply, and she stumbled sideways before catching her balance.
For a brief moment, she could only stare at him.
The hallway seemed to fall silent around them.
Josephine slowly raised a hand to her cheek.
Pain spread across the side of her face, followed by a burning sensation near her mouth. She touched her lower lip and saw a small trace of blood on her fingertips.
Several people gasped.
The woman beside the elevator covered her mouth. One of the attorneys immediately reached for his phone. The older man on the bench stood up, his newspaper falling unnoticed to the floor.
Nobody could mistake what had just happened.
An officer had struck an unarmed woman in the middle of a courthouse.
And he was showing no sign of understanding the seriousness of his actions.
DANIEL REED:
"You should have listened when I told you to stop."
Josephine looked at him with disbelief.
Her cheek was beginning to swell, and her fingers trembled slightly as she pressed them against her injured lip.
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"You just hit me."
DANIEL REED:
"You forced this situation."
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"I did nothing to you."
DANIEL REED:
"Then you should have cooperated."
Josephine drew a slow breath.
She had encountered hostility before. During her years working in the legal system, she had met people who believed that confidence could replace evidence and that authority could excuse almost any behavior.
But standing in that hallway, with blood on her lip and strangers watching her, she was confronted with something more immediate.
Daniel was not simply refusing to listen.
He had decided what kind of person she was before he knew anything about her.
And he had acted on that decision with his hands.
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"Step away from me."
DANIEL REED:
"You're not giving me orders."
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"I'm telling you to stop touching me."
Instead of complying, Daniel moved closer again.
Josephine took a step backward, keeping her eyes fixed on him. Her briefcase remained open on the floor, and several important documents were now scattered among the shoes of people who had gathered to watch.
Daniel continued shouting.
DANIEL REED:
"You think you can walk into this building and ignore the law?"
JOSEPHINE CARTER:
"I am not ignoring anything. You have not even established who I am."
DANIEL REED:
"I know exactly what I'm dealing with."
The words made Josephine's expression change.
Not because they frightened her, but because they revealed how little Daniel understood the situation.
He did not know her name.
He had not verified the allegation.
He had not shown her a warrant or established that one existed.
Yet he spoke with the certainty of someone who believed that his assumptions were facts.
A man standing near the courtroom entrance began recording with his phone.
Another bystander called toward a security desk, asking someone to come immediately.
Daniel noticed the movement.
DANIEL REED:
"Put that phone away!"
BYSTANDER:
"Everyone can see what you're doing."
DANIEL REED:
"This is police business. Stay out of it."
BYSTANDER:
"You're hitting a woman in a courthouse."
Daniel turned back toward Josephine, his face reddening.