“License and registration. And what the hell is this, you buy this badge off Amazon?”
The arrogant local cop smirked, leaning into the window with a look of pure disrespect. He thought he could just bully the calm woman sitting behind the wheel, completely ignoring the official FBI badge she held up.
“Special Agent Naomi Grant, FBI Joint Task Force. I’m on official business,” she stated, her voice cold, steady, and entirely unshaken.
But the cocky deputy just laughed right in her face. “FBI? Yeah, right. Nice clothes. Step out of the vehicle, ma’am.”
Instead of panicking, the woman didn’t even blink. She calmly reached for her collar and pressed her radio comms. “Bravo Command, this is Federal Task Force Commander Grant. I am currently being detained by Deputy Ryan on Highway 27. Patch me through to Sheriff Daniels. Now.”
At that exact moment, the deputy’s own police radio exploded with absolute, terrified panic. “Ryan! That is Commander Grant! She runs our entire task force! You release her right now and apologize!”
The arrogant cop’s smirk instantly vanished. He slowly lowered his aviator sunglasses, his face draining of all color as he realized he just tried to unlawfully arrest the most powerful federal boss in the county.
Naomi didn’t smile. She didn’t gloat. She simply held her hand out through the open window of her unmarked Chevy Tahoe. The sweltering afternoon heat of Oakhaven County beat down on the black asphalt, shimmering in waves around them, but the air inside the vehicle felt like ice.
“My license, Deputy,” she said, her tone flat.
Ryan’s hands were shaking so badly he nearly dropped the plastic card before placing it back into her palm. He took a clumsy step back, his thumbs awkwardly finding his duty belt, desperate to regain some semblance of the authority he had just irrevocably lost. “M-ma’am, I… Commander, I didn’t realize—”