“Sheriff Hayes, can I ask about what happened to your car?”
Camille nodded.
“Of course.”
“Do you think the deputy would have treated you differently if he’d known who you were?”
Camille paused.
“Possibly.”
The room became quiet.
She continued.
“But that is exactly why the incident matters.”
She looked across the audience.
“I shouldn’t have needed to be the incoming sheriff to receive professional treatment.”
Several residents nodded.
Camille continued.
“The same standard should apply to someone driving a twenty-year-old car, a family minivan, or a luxury Bentley.”
She paused.
“Law enforcement decisions must be based on facts, not assumptions.”
A woman near the front raised her hand.
“What happens if an officer makes a mistake?”
Camille answered carefully.
“Mistakes need to be examined. Sometimes training is appropriate. Sometimes discipline is necessary. Serious misconduct requires serious accountability.”
The woman nodded.
Camille continued.
“But accountability must be fair. It must protect the public and provide employees with a process based on evidence.”
The audience applauded.
Camille stepped away from the podium.
The work ahead would be difficult.
But she believed the department could improve.
Chapter 16: The Bentley That Was Never the Point
Six months after the incident, Camille drove through Magnolia Ridge Drive again.
Her Bentley had been repaired.
The replacement windows reflected the afternoon sunlight.
The interior had been restored.
And the vehicle looked much as it had before Voss shattered the glass.
But Camille remembered the encounter vividly.
The first crash.
The second.
The younger deputy’s warning.
And the moment the captain recognized her.
She parked in front of her aunt’s house.
Walter Jennings stepped onto his porch.
“Sheriff Hayes!”
Camille smiled.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Jennings.”
He walked toward her.
“Car looks good as new.”
She laughed softly.
“It does.”
Walter’s expression became serious.
“I’m glad things worked out.”
Camille nodded.
“Thank you.”
