“Did you call the hospital to verify her employment?”
Silence.
Williams leaned back in his chair. “So you arrested a woman with a clean license, driving a car that’s not reported stolen, carrying medical equipment and ID, and you didn’t verify any of her story before bringing her in.”
Hayes shifted his weight, uncomfortable. Mitchell’s face reddened.
“Sergeant, with all due respect, I used my judgment. Something didn’t add up.”
“What didn’t add up?”
“She just… it didn’t feel right.”
Williams stared at him long enough that Mitchell looked away. Then Williams picked up his phone and dialed.
“Metropolitan General, please. Yes, this is Sergeant Williams at Central Precinct.
I need to verify employment for Dr. Maya Richardson.”
Maya closed her eyes. Finally.
The voice on the other end was loud enough for everyone to hear and frantic. “Dr.
Richardson? Is she there?
We’ve been trying to reach her. We have a critical patient.”
“She was arrested.”
“Who arrested her? We need her here now.”
Williams looked at Mitchell. His expression said everything his mouth did not.
“Thank you. We’ll handle it.”
He hung up. The booking area was silent.
Williams stood, walked around the desk, and unlocked Maya’s handcuffs himself. “Dr.
Richardson, I apologize. You’re free to go.”
Maya rubbed her wrists, red marks where the metal had bitten in. “What time is it?”
“11:27.”
Her face crumbled. “Thirty-five minutes.
I was stopped at 10:52. It’s 11:27.
That’s thirty-five minutes.”
She looked at him with horror. “A gunshot victim to the abdomen can bleed out in twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the artery.
Marcus Webb is dead, Sergeant. That boy is dead.”
The words landed like physical blows. Williams’s jaw tightened.
“Dr. Richardson, I need to call the hospital.
He handed her the phone.
She dialed with shaking fingers. Dr.
Carter answered on the first ring.
”“Maya.”
“Patricia, tell me he made it.”
Silence on the other end. Silence that said everything.
“We lost him at 11:20. I tried, Maya.
I tried everything, but I couldn’t find the bleeder fast enough. I needed you.”
Maya’s knees buckled. Williams caught her and guided her to a chair.
She was crying now, quiet and devastated. “His mother?”
“She’s here. Maya, she knows you were arrested.
Someone told her. She’s asking for you.”
Maya looked up at Williams, then at Mitchell. Her eyes were red, but her voice was clear.
“Officer Mitchell, what’s your first name?”