When the patrol car finally turned into the entrance of Central Precinct, Victoria straightened in her seat. The building stood behind a row of parked police vehicles, its glass doors reflecting the late-afternoon sun. Officers moved through the entrance while several people waited near the reception area.
Reynolds drove into a designated space and switched off the engine.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the officer opened his door and stepped outside. He walked around the vehicle, opened the rear passenger door, and gestured for Victoria to get out.
She carefully shifted toward the edge of the seat, trying to stand without losing her balance in her heels. The handcuffs remained fastened behind her back, and the officer offered no assistance.
VICTORIA HAYES: "Before we go inside, I want you to understand that I have cooperated with every instruction you've given me."
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "Save your explanation for the people inside."
VICTORIA HAYES: "I will. But I also want the record to show that I asked you to verify my ownership before you brought me here."
Reynolds looked at her with visible impatience.
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "Keep walking."
Victoria followed him toward the entrance.
The glass doors opened automatically, revealing a reception area filled with the ordinary sounds of a working police station. A telephone rang behind the front desk. A printer hummed somewhere down the corridor. Two uniformed officers stood near a noticeboard, discussing a report.
Nobody inside knew who Victoria was.
Nobody knew what had happened in the parking lot.
Nobody had seen her offer her identification or watched Reynolds dismiss the registration.
To the people in the station, she was simply a woman arriving in handcuffs, accompanied by an officer who appeared certain that he had done nothing wrong.
Reynolds guided her toward the intake area without explaining the situation in detail. Victoria looked around, noting the layout, the security cameras, the reception desk, and the people who might later be able to confirm when she arrived.
She had no intention of creating a scene. She wanted the facts recorded accurately, her identity verified, and the basis for her detention clearly explained.
But as the officer directed her toward a row of chairs near the interview rooms, Victoria realized that the next stage of the encounter might be just as difficult as the first.
The officer had ignored the registration in the parking lot.
Now she would have to discover whether anyone inside Central Precinct was willing to look at the evidence he had chosen to disregard.
Victoria was directed toward a narrow corridor beyond the reception desk, where several interview rooms stood behind plain gray doors. The atmosphere was different from the busy parking lot, but the feeling of uncertainty followed her. Fluorescent lights illuminated the polished floor, and the steady sound of telephones, printers, and distant conversations filled the building.
Officer Jack Reynolds walked a few steps ahead of her, apparently unconcerned by the questions she had been asking since their first encounter. He spoke briefly to a uniformed employee near the corridor, handed over a small intake form, and indicated that Victoria needed to be processed.
The employee looked at Victoria, then at the officer.
EMPLOYEE: "What's the charge?"
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "Suspected involvement with a possibly stolen vehicle. We're still checking the details."
Victoria turned toward him immediately.
VICTORIA HAYES: "You said you were investigating a report. You haven't explained what evidence connects me to a stolen vehicle."
Reynolds gave her a warning look.
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "You will have an opportunity to explain yourself."
VICTORIA HAYES: "I have already explained myself. I own the vehicle, and I offered you the registration."
The employee looked between them, clearly aware that the conversation was becoming uncomfortable. He had handled enough routine cases to recognize that a straightforward intake could quickly become complicated when an officer and a detainee disagreed about what had happened.
EMPLOYEE: "Do you have identification for the intake record?"
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "I have her driver's license."
VICTORIA HAYES: "And my name matches the registration in the vehicle."
Reynolds shifted his weight.
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "Let's get her into the interview room first."
The employee did not argue. He pointed toward a door at the end of the corridor and returned to his paperwork.
Victoria followed Reynolds inside.
The interview room was small and plain. A rectangular metal table stood in the center, surrounded by several chairs. A security camera was mounted high in one corner, and a clock hung above the door. The walls were painted a muted blue-gray, and the fluorescent lighting made the room feel colder than it actually was.