A man in a dark suit emerged from the vehicle, carrying a thin black folder. He was older than Cross, perhaps in his late fifties, with silver hair and a measured expression that revealed very little.
The agents nearby straightened as he approached.
Cross walked toward him.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Director."
The man nodded and glanced toward Maya before turning his attention to the tablet.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Is this the driver?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Yes. Maya Johnson."
Director Vale studied Maya from a distance, then looked toward Reed.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "And the officer?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Daniel Reed. The physical confrontation is documented in the initial statements. We're preserving the available recordings."
Vale opened the folder.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Good. No one should draw conclusions before we've reviewed the evidence."
He turned one page, then another.
For a moment, his expression remained unchanged.
Then he stopped.
His eyes settled on a line near the bottom of the document.
He read it once.
Then he read it again.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Where did this reference come from?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "The regional notification."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Who verified it?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "That remains under review."
Vale closed the folder halfway.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Then we have a problem."
The words were quiet, but Cross's expression tightened immediately.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "What kind of problem?"
Vale did not answer at once.
Instead, he looked toward Reed, who had been watching the exchange from beside the second FPI vehicle. When their eyes met, Reed looked away.
Director Vale noticed.
He turned to Cross.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "I want to speak with Officer Reed privately. And I want the original record, not a summary."
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Understood."
Maya watched the director close the folder and hand it to Cross.
She could not see the words on the page.
But she could see the effect they had produced.
The FPI agents had arrived expecting to investigate a situation. Now their director was treating the information in that folder as a problem that demanded immediate attention.
And Officer Reed, who had behaved as though the entire roadside belonged to him, appeared increasingly desperate to avoid their questions.
Maya looked from the director to the officer.
For the first time, she wondered whether the man who had stopped her had known something about the record before the FPI vehicles arrived.
Or whether his own actions had exposed a connection he had desperately hoped would remain hidden.
Director Vale began walking toward Reed.
Reed straightened his uniform and attempted to compose himself.
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "Director, I can explain the stop."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "I hope you can, Officer."
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "The driver became aggressive. I had to take control of the situation."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "We'll examine the evidence before deciding what happened."
Reed nodded too quickly.
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "Of course."
Vale stopped a few feet away.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Tell me something, Officer. Before you activated your lights, did you know the identity of the person driving that vehicle?"
Reed froze.
The question seemed to catch him completely off guard.
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "No. I didn't."
Vale studied him for several seconds.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Are you certain?"
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "Yes."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Then you won't object to explaining how this stop relates to the notification we received earlier."
Reed's face lost what little color remained.
Across the shoulder, Maya felt her stomach tighten again.
The director opened the black folder.
And as Reed stared at the document inside, the silence between them became more revealing than any answer he had given so far.
Director Thomas Vale opened the black folder and removed a printed report. He held it in front of Officer Daniel Reed, allowing him enough time to read the identification number at the top of the page.
Reed's eyes moved across the document.
His expression changed.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Do you recognize this reference number?"
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "I don't know what you're talking about."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "Look at it carefully."
Reed looked again.
For several seconds, he said nothing. The wind moved through the trees beside the highway, and the agents standing nearby waited without interrupting.
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "It looks like an internal case reference."
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "It is. A reference connected to a report that was supposed to remain restricted until the preliminary review was complete."
Reed swallowed.
DIRECTOR THOMAS VALE: "That report was entered into the regional system several months ago. It was never supposed to become an instruction to stop a civilian vehicle."
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "I never received any instruction like that."