“Am I being detained?”
His smile remained.
“You are now.”
“For what reason?”
“I just gave you an order.”
Sarah looked at his badge.
Then at Miller, who had left the cruiser and was approaching from behind.
“Sheriff, I’m asking for clarification. Am I suspected of a crime?”
Ryker’s hand left the roof.
“Out.”
Sarah unbuckled her seat belt.
She opened the door carefully.
Ryker stepped back just enough to let her stand.
At five feet eight, Sarah was slightly shorter than he was. She did not square herself toward him. She kept her arms relaxed.
“Turn around.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
Sarah heard Miller stop behind her.
She could feel the decision approaching before Ryker made it.
So she said, calmly, “I will comply with lawful instructions. I would like you to state the basis for the detention.”
Ryker’s mouth tightened.
“You people always have a speech ready.”
Miller shifted.
Sarah looked directly at Ryker.
The phrase landed between them.
She did not ask what he meant.
She did not need to.
Instead she said, “Is your vehicle recording?”
Ryker’s expression changed.
Not much.
Enough.
Sarah turned.
“Hands on the car.”
She placed both palms on the roof.
Ryker patted the rear pockets of her jeans.
Then the front.
“Do you have any weapons?”
“Drugs?”
“Anything illegal?”
“Then you won’t mind if we look.”
Sarah lifted her head slightly.
“I do not consent to a search of the vehicle.”
Miller exhaled.
Ryker stepped around her.
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing. I do not consent to a search.”
“You don’t get to dictate how this works.”
“I’m not dictating anything.”
“Sure sounds like it.”
Sarah’s eyes moved toward the deputy.
Miller was looking at Ryker instead of her.
That mattered too.
Ryker held out his hand.
“Keys.”
“They’re in the ignition.”
He opened the driver’s door.
Sarah turned slightly.
“Sheriff, I do not consent.”
Ryker spun back toward her.
“I told you to keep your hands on the car.”
“They are on the car.”
“Then stop moving.”
“I turned my head.”
“You’re interfering with an investigation.”
“What investigation?”
That was the moment.
Sarah recognized it later as cleanly as a change in weather.
Ryker’s face hardened, not because she had threatened him, and not because she had resisted.
Because she had required him to explain himself.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
Miller looked up.
Sarah stayed still.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Hands behind your back.”
She brought them together.
The cuffs went on too tight.
Metal bit into the inside of her wrists.
Sarah looked at Miller.
His body camera faced her.
“What is the charge?”
Ryker answered.
“Disorderly conduct.”
Nothing else.
“Deputy Miller,” she said, “did you hear me threaten anyone?”
Miller’s lips parted.
Ryker cut in.
“She’s resisting.”
“I am standing still.”
“Now you’re resisting.”
Sarah turned her face enough to see him.
The sheriff was no longer smiling.
Miller looked uncomfortable.
Good, Sarah thought.