DANIEL PRICE: "You did the right thing by calling. Please preserve everything you have."
He ended the call and immediately reached for another phone.
This was no longer a scheduling problem.
It was a potential assault involving a sitting federal judge.
Daniel knew he had to act carefully. He did not want to make assumptions, but he also could not allow the situation to disappear into a local police report.
He contacted the courthouse security office and asked to speak with the appropriate supervisory official.
DANIEL PRICE: "I need to report an urgent incident involving Judge Amara Whitlock. She may have been detained by the Randolph County Sheriff's Office."
The security officer asked him to repeat the location.
DANIEL PRICE: "Kettle & Comb diner, near Highway 82. A witness says the sheriff assaulted her before taking her into custody."
The officer's tone changed.
SECURITY OFFICER: "Do you have confirmation of her current location?"
DANIEL PRICE: "The witness believes she's being transported to the county station."
SECURITY OFFICER: "Stay available. Don't make any public statements. We'll contact the appropriate authorities."
Daniel returned to his desk.
He looked at the unanswered messages on his screen.
Then he noticed something else.
Earlier that morning, Amara had been reviewing a collection of documents connected to an ongoing federal inquiry. One of the files contained references to Randolph County and several complaints involving the sheriff's department.
The name Dalton Voss appeared more than once.
Daniel opened the document.
He remembered Amara's instructions from their last meeting.
She had told him that the court needed to preserve every relevant record, even if the information seemed incomplete. She had also warned him that some witnesses were afraid to speak because they believed local officials could retaliate against them.
Now, the sheriff named in those documents had taken her into custody.
Daniel felt a cold sensation move through his chest.
He picked up the phone again.
This time, he called the federal courthouse's emergency contact.
Meanwhile, the patrol SUV was approaching the Randolph County Sheriff's Office.
Ethan drove with both hands on the steering wheel. Voss sat in the passenger seat, repeatedly checking the wallet and the identification card.
He had not spoken for several minutes.
Finally, he turned toward Ethan.
SHERIFF VOSS: "How many people saw what happened?"
DEPUTY COLE: "Most of the diner."
SHERIFF VOSS: "I mean how many people were recording?"
DEPUTY COLE: "I don't know."
SHERIFF VOSS: "You were standing right there."
DEPUTY COLE: "I saw one customer holding a phone."
Voss looked out the window.
SHERIFF VOSS: "Did you tell him to put it away?"
DEPUTY COLE: "You did."
SHERIFF VOSS: "And did he?"
DEPUTY COLE: "Yes."
Voss tapped the identification card against his knee.
SHERIFF VOSS: "A federal judge. In my county."
Ethan said nothing.
SHERIFF VOSS: "What are the odds?"
DEPUTY COLE: "I don't know, sir."
SHERIFF VOSS: "You don't know anything."
Ethan tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
DEPUTY COLE: "We should call the courthouse and confirm her identity."
Voss turned toward him.
SHERIFF VOSS: "You already saw the identification."
DEPUTY COLE: "I know. But we should make an official record."
SHERIFF VOSS: "There won't be an official record until I say there is."
DEPUTY COLE: "Sir, if she's really a federal judge—"
SHERIFF VOSS: "She is a woman who was sitting in a restaurant when I approached her. That's what matters right now."
Ethan glanced at him.
DEPUTY COLE: "But the identification—"
SHERIFF VOSS: "I said stop."
The SUV continued down the road.
Ethan had begun to understand that Voss was not simply angry about the confrontation. He was afraid of what might happen after it.
The sheriff looked at the identification again.
AMARA WHITLOCK.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
He remembered the federal investigation rumors. He remembered the questions that had arrived from outside agencies. He remembered the complaints that had been forwarded to his office and then quietly disappeared.
One of those complaints had involved an officer who confiscated a driver's phone during a traffic stop.
Another concerned property that had been taken from a local business owner and never returned.
Voss had dismissed all of them.
Now he wondered whether the woman sitting in his patrol vehicle had been investigating the very department he controlled.
He looked at Amara through the rearview mirror.
SHERIFF VOSS: "What were you doing in Randolph County?"
AMARA: "I already told you. I was having lunch."
SHERIFF VOSS: "Nobody drives through here dressed like that without a reason."