Maya leaned forward as far as the seat belt allowed. "Officer Cole, please confirm your body camera is recording."
He looked at her in the rearview mirror. "Sit back."
"Is it recording?"
"Sit back."
"I'll take that as a yes."
At Central Station, a desk sergeant named Linda Park looked up from a computer when Cole walked Maya through the side entrance. Park was in her fifties, with silver strands threaded through black hair and the tired eyes of someone who had spent too many years solving problems created by other adults.
"What've we got?" Park asked.
"Obstruction during vehicle burglary investigation."
Park looked at Maya, then at Cole. "Burglary?"
"Suspicious person call. Possible break-in."
"Any damaged vehicle?"
"Still investigating."
Maya said, "The vehicle is mine. Officer Ramos confirmed the plate is registered to me. Officer Cole also read my registration."
Park's eyebrows rose.
Cole tightened his grip on Maya's elbow. "She doesn't stop talking."
"I am represented by myself for the moment," Maya said, "and I am requesting the cuffs be removed because they are causing numbness in my left hand."
Park glanced down. "How long has she been cuffed?"
"Not long."
"How long?"
Cole exhaled. "Fifteen, twenty minutes."
Park walked around the desk and checked the cuffs. Her mouth tightened. "They're too tight."
She removed them. Maya flexed her fingers. Purple-red indentations circled both wrists.
"Photograph these," Maya said.
Cole laughed from behind her. "You really think you're building a case, don't you?"
Maya turned. "No. I think you are."
Park looked between them. "Everybody calm down."
"I am calm," Maya said.
"She's been like this the whole time," Cole replied.
Park pointed toward a bench near the processing desk. "Sit there. Cole, with me."
They moved a few feet away, but not far enough. Maya could hear most of the conversation.
"You arrested her after the registration matched?" Park asked.
"She obstructed."
"What did she do?"
"Wouldn't follow instructions, kept challenging everything."
"Did she refuse a lawful order?"
"She was argumentative."
"That's not obstruction."
"I know the statute."
Park's voice dropped. "Then tell me the act."
Cole muttered something Maya could not hear. Park rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Maya watched the station around her. A printer hummed. A wall clock clicked too loudly. Through a glass partition, a young officer was laughing at something on his phone. On the far side of the room, a handcuffed man in work boots stared at the floor. No one in the station recognized her yet, which was unusual but not impossible. Central Station handled city patrol cases; Maya's work kept her more often in federal buildings, county offices, and the state capital two hours away.
Her phone and purse were still in the car on Jefferson Avenue. So was the encrypted state laptop in her briefcase. That laptop held no open evidence without multi-factor authentication, but its existence raised another issue. The sealed folder beneath it contained affidavits connected to an ongoing state investigation into unlawful street stops by officers assigned to the Central District.
Maya almost laughed at the absurdity.
She was not leading that investigation. She had been brought in because the Civil Rights Enforcement Bureau needed an experienced litigator to handle emergency court applications while the investigative team interviewed residents. Three officers from Central District had already been named in complaints. Cole was not one of them.
At least, not yet.
Park returned to the desk. "Ms. Holloway, do you have identification somewhere we can access without conducting a search you object to?"
"Yes. My driver's license is in the card holder inside my purse, which is on the front passenger floor of my sedan. You may retrieve the purse solely for the purpose of handing it to me, or you may ask Officer Ramos to bring it here. I do not consent to any search beyond what is necessary to obtain the identification I've described."
Park nodded. "Fine."
Cole scoffed. "She wants to run the room now."
Park turned on him. "Go write your report."
"Sergeant—"
"Now."
He walked away.