Maya felt her stomach tighten.
MAYA JOHNSON: "Does it involve me?"
Cross took a breath.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Your name appears in the associated record."
For several seconds, Maya could not speak.
The roadside seemed to grow quieter around her. The sound of distant traffic faded into the background, and her attention narrowed to the agent standing before her.
MAYA JOHNSON: "Why would my name be in a federal record?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "That's what we're trying to establish."
MAYA JOHNSON: "I've never been involved in anything like this."
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "I hear you."
MAYA JOHNSON: "Then tell me what the record says."
Cross glanced toward the vehicles.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "I want to verify the original entry before I tell you anything more."
Maya's frustration rose again, but this time she kept her voice steady.
MAYA JOHNSON: "You arrived here, asked me questions, and told me to stay. Now you're telling me my name is in a record you won't show me. How am I supposed to understand what's happening?"
Cross did not look away.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "You deserve an explanation. I simply don't want to give you one based on information that may be incomplete."
Maya looked past her toward Reed.
The officer was speaking to the agent who had taken charge of him. His face had grown pale, and he kept glancing toward the FPI vehicle as though expecting someone to emerge from it.
MAYA JOHNSON: "Does he know why my name is there?"
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "We haven't established that."
MAYA JOHNSON: "But he recognized your vehicles."
Cross remained silent for a moment.
Then she looked toward Reed.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "That is another question we intend to ask him."
Maya turned back toward the road.
The afternoon had begun with an ordinary journey and a routine-looking traffic stop. It had become a physical confrontation, a sudden arrival by federal agents, and now a mystery involving a record she had never known existed.
She had wanted to reach the city before sunset.
Now she was not sure when she would be allowed to leave the roadside.
Agent Cross's phone rang.
She checked the display and answered immediately.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Cross speaking."
A voice came through the receiver, too faint for Maya to understand.
Cross listened without interrupting. Her expression changed slightly, and she moved a few steps away from the group.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "You're certain about the timestamp?"
She listened again.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "And the original authorization?"
Another pause.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Understood. Send the verified copy directly to me."
She ended the call and stood still for a moment, looking down at the screen.
Then she turned toward Bell.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "We need to hold the scene a little longer."
AGENT MARCUS BELL: "Did they confirm the source?"
Cross glanced at Maya before answering.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "They confirmed part of it."
Maya stepped forward.
MAYA JOHNSON: "What does that mean?"
Cross looked at her, and for the first time since their arrival, she seemed to be weighing whether to reveal something before the review was complete.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "It means the record wasn't created today."
Maya's heart began to beat faster.
MAYA JOHNSON: "When was it created?"
Cross looked down at the tablet again.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "Several months ago."
Maya stared at her.
Several months ago.
She searched her memory for anything that might explain it: an old appointment, a misplaced document, a phone call she had forgotten, an ordinary interaction that could have produced a record in a government system.
Nothing came to mind.
MAYA JOHNSON: "I've never received a letter or a notice about anything like this."
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "That may be important."
MAYA JOHNSON: "What exactly am I supposed to have done?"
Cross held the tablet close to her side.
AGENT ELENA CROSS: "We haven't verified that the record describes an action you took. We only know that your identifying information appears in it."
The distinction should have been reassuring.
Instead, it made Maya more uneasy.
If the record did not necessarily describe something she had done, why had it been associated with her name? Who had entered the information? And why had the regional system sent a notification that led federal agents to this exact stretch of highway?
She looked toward the lead FPI vehicle.
One of the agents had opened the rear door and was speaking to someone inside, though Maya could not see who it was.
Then the agent stepped aside.