He had no answer.

Chapter 7: The Deputy Who Arrived Too Late

Deputy Hannah Mercer arrived several minutes later.

She was thirty-one and had worked in the sheriff’s department for six years.

She stepped out of her patrol vehicle and looked toward the two men.

The sheriff stood beside the silver pickup.

Isaiah remained near the driver’s door.

The atmosphere was tense.

Hannah approached.

“Everything okay, Sheriff?”

Cleary straightened.

“Routine traffic stop.”

Isaiah looked toward her.

“Deputy, may I ask for your name?”

“Hannah Mercer.”

“Deputy Mercer, I’m Isaiah Brooks. The sheriff requested my military identification and destroyed it.”

Hannah looked surprised.

“Destroyed it?”

Isaiah nodded toward the truck.

She looked inside.

Two pieces of plastic lay on the gray seat.

Hannah’s expression changed.

She recognized the general appearance of the card but did not attempt to make a final determination about its authenticity.

She knew that military identification procedures were specialized.

And she knew that destroying someone’s property during a routine stop raised serious concerns.

She looked toward Cleary.

“Sir, was there a specific reason to damage the card?”

The sheriff’s expression hardened.

“I believed it was fake.”

Hannah hesitated.

“Did we receive confirmation?”

Cleary stared at her.

“Not yet.”

The deputy nodded slowly.

“Then I think we should document the damage and request a supervisor or independent review.”

Cleary became irritated.

“I’m the sheriff.”

Hannah met his eyes.

“Yes, sir.”

She paused.

“But the incident still needs to be documented.”

Isaiah watched quietly.

He could see the young deputy was uncomfortable.

But she was trying to do her job properly.

And for the first time that afternoon, he felt someone was listening to the facts.

Chapter 8: The Video the Sheriff Forgot About

Cleary believed the encounter had been relatively private.

The road was empty.

There were no houses nearby.

And no pedestrians.

But his patrol SUV was equipped with a dashboard camera.

The system had activated when he initiated the traffic stop.