She reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
They stayed like that for a moment.
Then he changed the subject.
"You're taking County Road Forty-Seven tomorrow?"
"Probably. It's shorter."
Walter's expression shifted.
"Take the interstate."
"Why?"
"People have been having trouble out there."
"What kind of trouble?"
He hesitated.
"Traffic stops. Tickets that don't make sense. Folks getting searched for no reason."
Renee leaned back.
"Who's telling you this?"
"People at church. People at the hardware store. The Jackson boy got stopped twice last month."
"Did he file a complaint?"
Walter gave her a tired look.
"With who?"
That question stayed with Renee.
She had heard it before, in different places and under different circumstances.
People who feared an institution often had no confidence that the institution would investigate itself.
Walter returned to the toaster.
"Just take the interstate."
"I'll think about it."
He pointed the screwdriver at her.
"That means no."
"It means I'll think about it."
He smiled.
But Renee noticed that he did not laugh.
Later that afternoon, she walked through the old neighborhood.
Bellhaven had changed since her childhood. A grocery store had closed. The public library had reduced its hours. A new distribution center had brought jobs to the outskirts of town, but the downtown storefronts still looked tired.
At the corner pharmacy, Renee met an old classmate named Denise Carter.
Denise had become a public defender in the neighboring county.
They had not seen each other in nearly eight years.
"Renee Lawson," Denise said, staring. "I thought you lived in another country."
"Sometimes it feels like I do."
They hugged.
Denise invited her for coffee at a diner across the street.
Their conversation began with classmates, family members, and the strange experience of returning to a town that remembered you as someone you no longer were.
Then Denise mentioned the highway.
"You still drive Forty-Seven?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
Denise looked down at her coffee.
"Because there have been complaints."
"About traffic stops?"
"Among other things."
Renee waited.
Denise lowered her voice.
"Several drivers say deputies stopped them without explaining why. A few claim officers demanded cash to settle minor violations. Others say their vehicles were searched and personal property went missing."
"Have you seen evidence?"
"Some. Not enough."
"Who's investigating?"
"That's the problem."
Denise explained that most complaints were handled internally by the county sheriff's office. Some were dismissed as misunderstandings. Others never produced a written response.
"One woman had video," Denise said. "But her phone was damaged during the stop. By the time she recovered the files, the department said there wasn't enough information to identify the deputies."
Renee stirred her coffee.
"Did she preserve the original recording?"
"Eventually."
"Did anyone take a statement?"
"Not officially."
Renee looked toward the window.
A patrol car passed the diner.
Denise followed her gaze.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Get that look on your face."
"What look?"
"The one you used to get when somebody picked on a kid at school."
Renee smiled faintly.
"I'm just listening."
"Good. Keep listening. And take the interstate."
They changed the subject.
But when Renee left the diner, she understood that the warnings were not simply small-town gossip.
Something was happening along County Road Forty-Seven.
She had no intention of investigating it.
At least, not then.
The highway had always been beautiful in the late afternoon.
Tall pine trees bordered the pavement, and narrow patches of sunlight moved across the road as the wind stirred the branches. Beyond the tree line were farms, abandoned barns, and occasional driveways leading toward houses hidden from view.
Renee drove with the radio off.
She liked silence.
During deployments, silence could mean that something was wrong. At home, it meant she could hear herself think.
She had left Walter's house shortly after three.
Her destination was a federal communications facility near Montgomery, where she would meet a training review team. Daniel Price had arranged to meet her closer to the facility, but she was driving the first portion alone.
The first patrol car appeared in her rearview mirror near the county line.
She noticed it without concern.
The second appeared several miles later.
That was unusual.
Renee checked her speed.
Forty-eight in a fifty-five-mile-per-hour zone.
She checked her mirrors again.
Both cruisers maintained their distance.
At first, she assumed they were traveling in the same direction.
Then she slowed for a curve.
Both vehicles slowed.
She accelerated slightly on the straightaway.
They did the same.
She considered calling dispatch, but there was no immediate reason.
Instead, she activated her vehicle's integrated dash camera.
A small indicator appeared on the dashboard.
Recording.
She had installed the system after an accident involving a distracted driver several years earlier. The camera recorded the road ahead, part of the cabin, and audio when activated.
Renee rarely thought about it.
That afternoon, she was grateful it was there.
The patrol cars followed for another six minutes.
Then the lead vehicle accelerated.
Renee saw it move into the opposing lane.
There was no oncoming traffic.
The cruiser passed her and cut across the road ahead.
She braked hard.
The second cruiser closed behind her.
For a moment, she had nowhere to go.
Then she guided the SUV onto the shoulder.
Gravel rattled beneath the tires.
The lead cruiser stopped diagonally across the road.
The second pulled behind her.
Renee placed the transmission in park.
She turned off the engine.
And she put both hands on the steering wheel.
She had no idea that the next twelve minutes would change several lives.
Officer Travis Mercer emerged from the lead cruiser.
He was broad-shouldered, with close-cropped hair and a rigid expression.
Deputy Cole Barrett approached from behind.
Mercer shouted before reaching the window.
"Hands where I can see them!"
"They're on the wheel," Renee replied.
"Window down!"
She lowered it several inches.
"Good afternoon, officer. Can you tell me why I've been stopped?"
Mercer leaned toward her.
"Roll it all the way down."
"I can hear you clearly."
"That's not what I said."
Renee kept her voice even.