Then toward the woman he had accused of driving a stolen car.
And for the first time, he understood how serious the situation had become.
Chapter 9: The Woman Who Refused Special Treatment
Voss began speaking immediately.
“Ma’am, if I’d known—”
Camille raised a hand.
“Stop.”
He fell silent.
She looked directly at him.
“If you’d known what?”
Voss hesitated.
“That you were the incoming sheriff.”
Camille nodded slowly.
“Would you have treated me differently?”
He said nothing.
She continued.
“Would you have verified my registration before destroying my property?”
Voss looked down.
“Ma’am—”
“Would you have listened when Deputy Price told you the vehicle wasn’t reported stolen?”
The older deputy remained silent.
Camille took a slow breath.
“Then the problem isn’t that you failed to recognize me.”
She gestured toward the shattered windows.
“The problem is that you believed you could treat an ordinary citizen this way.”
Captain Briggs listened.
Daniel stood beside the cruiser.
Several neighbors remained nearby.
Camille continued.
“I do not want this handled as a personal offense against the incoming sheriff.”
She looked toward Briggs.
“I want the incident documented and reviewed through the established process, with the necessary safeguards against conflicts of interest.”
Briggs nodded.
“Understood.”
Camille turned toward Daniel.
“Deputy Price, thank you for reporting what dispatch told you.”
The young officer looked relieved.
She continued.
“Please provide an accurate statement. Don’t exaggerate and don’t minimize what happened.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Then Camille looked back at Voss.
“You’re entitled to a fair review.”
She paused.
“But so am I.”
Chapter 10: The Midnight Summons
At 11:42 p.m., Sergeant Colin Voss received a message instructing him to report to sheriff’s headquarters.
He had spent the evening replaying the roadside confrontation in his mind.
The shattered glass.
The young deputy’s warnings.
Captain Briggs recognizing Camille.
And the moment he learned who she was.
