She pointed toward the small device clipped beneath the edge of her blazer.
“Federal investigators don't use visible body cameras during covert operations.”
Mercer stared.
Then something else occurred to him.
“You're not here for a traffic stop.”
“No.”
“Then why were you here?”
Naomi looked toward the black sedan.
“I was waiting.”
“For who?”
“Someone from your unit.”
Mercer's face tightened.
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
Doyle looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Naomi's expression became harder.
“It means I came here because someone inside this department has been moving evidence before it reaches the property room.”
Mercer said nothing.
“And this morning,” she continued, “someone attempted to make me look like a drug offender.”
Doyle looked at the evidence bag.
“You think the powder was planted?”
“I don't think.”
She paused.
“I know.”
Mercer laughed nervously.
“You have no proof.”
Naomi looked directly at him.
“That sentence is going to age badly.”
He stared.
The radio crackled again.
This time a different voice came through.
Male.
Older.
Controlled.
“Naomi.”
She looked at the radio.
“Director.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Any injuries?”
“No.”
“Was Officer Mercer the contact?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Then we have a problem.”
Naomi glanced at Mercer.
“Yes.”
The director continued.
“Secure the scene.”
Naomi looked around.
“Already done.”
“Do not leave the location.”
“I won't.”
“Federal team is four minutes out.”
Mercer heard that.
His face changed again.
“Federal team?”
Naomi looked at him.
“Yes.”
His eyes went toward the road.
For the first time since he had stepped out of the cruiser, he looked frightened.
Not angry.
Not offended.
Frightened.
Doyle saw it too.
“Daniel,” he said quietly.
Mercer didn't answer.
Naomi walked toward the gold clutch.
Chapter 5
Mercer watched her.
She bent down and picked it up.
The corner had been scratched.
She wiped the pavement dust away with her thumb.
Then she turned toward Mercer.
“You kicked this.”
“I—”
“You kicked it after I told you not to touch me.”
Mercer said nothing.
“You shoved me.”
Nothing.
“You tried to arrest me.”
He looked at the ground.
Naomi held up the clutch.
“And you planted evidence.”
Mercer finally looked up.
“I didn't plant anything.”
“Then you'll have no trouble explaining where it came from.”
He swallowed.
The sound of distant sirens began to rise.
Doyle looked toward the road.
Naomi didn't.
She already knew.
Two black SUVs appeared at the far intersection.
They moved quickly but without lights.
Behind them came a dark sedan.
Mercer stared.
The first SUV stopped.
Three people stepped out.
One wore a dark suit.
Another carried a hard black case.
The third was a woman with an identification credential clipped to her belt.
She walked directly toward Naomi.
“Carter.”
“Agent Lewis.”
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
Lewis looked at the bruise beginning to form along Naomi's shoulder.
Her expression changed.
“Did he do that?”
Naomi didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Lewis looked at Mercer.
Mercer immediately raised both hands.
“I didn't know who she was.”
Lewis stared at him.
“That doesn't matter.”
“I thought—”
“You thought you could put your hands on a civilian?”
Mercer looked toward Doyle.
“Doyle, tell her.”
Doyle swallowed.
“Tell her what?”
“That she resisted.”
Doyle looked at Naomi.
Then at the evidence bag.
Then at the gold clutch.
“No.”
Mercer's face collapsed.
“No?”
“She didn't resist.”
Mercer stared at him.
“She told you not to touch her.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Doyle's voice became firmer.
“You touched her anyway.”
Nobody spoke.
Lewis walked to the cruiser.
She looked at the evidence bag.
“Who logged this?”
Mercer said nothing.
“Officer?”
“I found it.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Mercer looked away.
Lewis took out her phone.
“Run the bag.”
One of the agents opened the hard case.
Inside were evidence seals, gloves, digital scanners, and a camera.
Lewis photographed the bag without touching it.
Then she photographed the cruiser.
Then Mercer's uniform.
Then the pavement.
Then the gold clutch.
Naomi watched.
“This is no longer a traffic stop,” Lewis said.
“It hasn't been for several minutes.”
The younger officer remained still.
Doyle looked at Naomi.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Why did they send that warning over the radio?”
“Because the people monitoring your dispatch channel needed Mercer to know that I was protected.”
“Protected?”
“Yes.”
“From him?”
“From anyone who thought they could make me disappear before the investigation reached them.”
Doyle's face became pale.
Chapter 6
“You think someone would kill you?”
Naomi looked toward the houses.
“I think someone already tried.”
The words changed the atmosphere.
Mercer stared.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“What happened?”
“A brake line was cut.”
Doyle looked at the black sedan.
“Your car?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you drive it?”
“I didn't.”
She pointed toward the sedan.
“That car hasn't moved since yesterday.”
Mercer stared.
“Then whose car were you driving?”
Naomi looked toward the road.
“That's the interesting part.”
A dark gray SUV appeared at the end of the street.
Naomi's eyes narrowed.
“That's the vehicle.”
Lewis immediately turned.
“Everybody back.”
The SUV slowed.
Then stopped.
For two seconds nobody moved.
The driver seemed to look directly at Naomi.
Then the SUV accelerated away.
Lewis shouted.
“Vehicle!”
The federal agents moved toward their SUVs.
Doyle instinctively reached for his radio.
Mercer remained frozen.
Naomi watched the SUV disappear.
Lewis returned.
“We have the plate.”
“Good.”
“Stolen.”
Naomi nodded.
“I expected that.”
Doyle looked confused.
“You knew they'd come?”
“I suspected.”
“Why?”
“Because they weren't trying to kill me.”
He stared.
“What?”
“They were trying to scare me.”
Mercer finally spoke.
“Who?”
Naomi turned.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
She walked toward him.