"For what?" The officer's face tightened. "I said on your knees. Don't make me repeat myself."
Francis knew he could comply immediately and perhaps reduce the chance of escalation. He also knew that an order without a stated basis could later be portrayed as part of an invented justification for the encounter. He chose his next words carefully and kept his body still.
"I'm not resisting," he said. "I'm standing on my property with my hands visible. I'm asking you to tell me why I'm being detained." Bellamy advanced half a step. "You heard the officer."
Mason's mouth curved into the same cold smile Francis remembered from the supermarket. "You think you're too good to listen? Is that it?" Francis did not respond. An argument now would only give Mason material for the confrontation he appeared determined to create.
Mason reached to his belt. A bright yellow taser appeared in his hand. Regina's front door opened at almost the same moment, but Francis barely heard it because he was watching the weapon rise.
The red aiming point drifted across his shirt and settled near the center of his chest. A gasp traveled along the sidewalk. Harold Price pulled his dog closer, and Mrs. Alden lowered her coffee mug so abruptly that liquid spilled across the porch rail.
"On your knees," Mason repeated. "Right now." Francis kept his hands open. He could feel the heat of the sun on the back of his neck and the cool wetness of soap drying against his wrist.
The distance between him and the taser was small enough that he could see Mason's finger poised near the trigger. He thought, unexpectedly, about the morning's unfinished breakfast dishes. An ordinary domestic detail was suddenly more frightening than the weapon, because it reminded him how easily a familiar life could be interrupted.
"Francis!" Regina's voice cut through the street. She was coming down the porch steps with her phone in one hand, already recording. "What is going on? Why is that pointed at my husband?"
Grayson turned toward her. "Ma'am, stay back." He sounded uncertain rather than threatening. Regina stopped on the grass, far enough away not to approach the officers, but close enough that her camera had a clear view of Mason's face, the weapon, and Francis's open hands.