Simone looked at the small light on his body camera. "Deputy, is your camera recording?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you."
Mercer reacted as though the exchange had been a personal insult. "You planning to file a complaint before I've even finished the stop?"
"I haven't said anything about a complaint. I'm glad the interaction is being recorded."
"You think you're smarter than everyone here, don't you?"
Simone took a breath. She had learned that a person's determination to be offended could make almost any answer sound provocative. "I think the reason for the stop and the basis for a search should be clear," she said. "That's all."
The sheriff took two steps closer. He was broad through the shoulders, and his size had served him well when he wanted people to retreat. Simone did not retreat, although she could feel her heartbeat increasing. She was aware of the pistol on his belt, the traffic moving beside them, and the simple fact that a misunderstanding involving armed officers could become dangerous before anyone recognized it. Her calm was deliberate work, not an absence of fear.
"Last chance," Mercer said. "Open the trunk."
"Get a warrant."
He looked at her for a long second, then turned away. "Keller. Get the entry kit."
Price stepped forward. "Sheriff, maybe we should call this in before we do anything to the vehicle."
"I didn't ask you for legal advice."
"I'm just saying there might be a way to verify the report first."
"You can verify it by letting me do my job."
Keller walked to his cruiser with a look Simone could not quite read. He returned carrying a department-issued tool case, set it beside the SUV, and waited for Mercer to tell him what to do. Simone knew from the way the sheriff stood that further argument would not persuade him. She also knew that suddenly reaching for her federal identification now, with three officers watching her hands and the sheriff already angry, could create a different danger. She kept her hands still, raised her voice enough for Price's camera to capture it clearly, and made the record she needed to make.
"Sheriff Mercer, I am explicitly denying consent to search this vehicle. You have not shown me a warrant or stated facts that would authorize this search. I am not resisting your instructions, but I do not agree to the vehicle being opened."
Mercer shook his head. "You lawyers all sound the same."
"I'm not your lawyer."
"Then you're wasting your breath."
Keller crouched by the rear of the SUV while Mercer pulled on the liftgate. Price stared at them, his camera fixed on their movements. From the other side of the road, the gardener had set down her hose and taken out a phone, but she remained behind her fence. None of these witnesses knew what Simone was carrying or why the sheriff wanted it. They knew only that a woman was objecting to a search and three officers were gathered around her car.